General Gnaeus Julius Agricola stood on the
wet heather at the very edge of humanity. It was beginning to rain and a misty drizzle
was being carried inland on the saline air. This truly was a savage place - a place where
the gods had not worked their benevolence as they had on his Mediterranean home. He looked out across the deep waters of the outer edge of the known world. The campaign was over, but Agricola had one
last command to undertake. After four decades of sporadic conquest and
numerous setbacks, the Roman army was poised to finally enter the Highlands of northern
Caledonia, to wipe out the remaining native resistance and determine
the limits of Europe. Agricola would go on to confirm that the British
landmass was an island by navigating unfamiliar seas, exploring undiscovered coastlines and
making contact with previously unknown peoples. Calgacus, the leader of the local barbarians,
the one they called ‘The Swordsman’, had said that beyond these shores lay only rocks
and sea. That was probably true, but as he watched
the rain clouds roll back over the north-western sunset, Agricola wondered… He cast his mind back thirty years to when Claudius had just begun his conquest of Britain. Agricola had been a student in Massalia, ancient Marseille, a Greek-founded city. Under Roman rule it was a respected centre
of learning with a prominent statue of the legendary Greek seafarer Pytheas. Four centuries earlier, in the time of Alexander
the Great, Pytheas had entered the Atlantic and explored the furthest limits of the ocean
beyond Britain. He had claimed to have seen a further great
landmass positioned far to the north. It was his belief that three vast islands
formed the North Atlantic Isles – Britain, Ireland, and Thule. “Pytheas states that he set foot on every part of Britain. He also gives an account of Thule and describes
a region where he says the land, sea and air are no longer separate elements. Instead, there is a thick compound resembling
a sea-lung (jellyfish) which suspends itself over the ocean and land merging and binding
elemental matter. This material cannot be travelled over, or
sailed through.” In the long half-light before the first stars
appeared, Agricola looked out at the darkening horizon. Was the legendary island of Ultima Thule out
there at the very rim of the globe where daylight lingered? And so he mused to himself…if he had come
this far … why not go further? Beneath him the Roman fleet had reassembled
in a deep inlet to shelter from a sudden autumn storm. The war galleys and support vessels were making
ready to range northward, supporting the Legions who were pushing forward into the Highlands
and forests. Agricola watched as the ships shifted on an
incoming tide. He would have told his fleet commander what to expect out there... Roman knowledge of the North sea suggested that latitudes beyond Britain would be subject to frozen currents and biting cold winds from the far north. And beyond Britain the sea became cold and began to solidify. This process began with platelets of floating
sea-ice that resembled a shoal of encroaching jellyfish. But as the cold increased, these ice plates
merged into sheets that could immobilise, then crush timber vessels. Agricola had seen with his own eyes
the white mass of a Caledonian sea mist hang over an early frost. Truly a ‘compound resembling a sea-lung’,
as Pytheus had claimed some four centuries prior. And so - were the Roman military about to
encounter Ultima Thule? Would the explorers sent out by Agricola soon
tread the beaches of this remote, mysterious, and semi-mythical land? But of course this was not the first time the Romans had explored beyond the limits of the known world or crossed the boundaries of knowledge. A long sequence of adventure, conquest and
ambition had led Rome and its armies far beyond the familiar, to the boundaries of the unknown. Centuries of expansion had pushed the Eternal
city to the ends of the earth - not only to the far north, but far east, west and south
too. And so this is that story. This is the story of the Edges of the Empire. The Roman soldier's diet was mainly wheat
- some sources tell us that salt was so prized that soldiers in the Republic were paid in
salt - and this was the root of the word salary. This video has been sponsored by Factor,
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content on Youtube. In the third century BC, the embattled Roman
State was largely confined to Italy with a powerful network of Italian city-state allies. But in the century that followed, proud legions
captured and subdued Macedonia, seized the prosperous island of Sicily and laid claim to territories
in western Spain. Finally, after generations of persistent rivalry
and warfare they closed in on the already beaten and beleaguered Carthaginians on the
coast of North Africa. Following a three-year siege, the monumental
conflict between these two opposing empires was at last concluded. The Roman general Scipio Aemilianus oversaw
the final brutal capture and destruction of the seaport of Carthage. He gave orders that the Roman army should
burn, destroy and demolish everything in their path. During six days of savage fighting in the
city streets the order was repeatedly given to ‘clear the thoroughfares’. The wounded and dying citizens were dragged
away and heaped along with corpses and debris from collapsing buildings. Then both living and dead bodies were cast
into pits filled with rubble and other charred remains. Appian writes:
To make the streets passable they cleared the debris with axes, mattocks, and pronged
tools. With these iron instruments the dead and the
living were rolled and dragged along like debris before being hurled together into pits. The trenches were filled with the dead and
still living. Finally, over 50,000 traumatised survivors,
who had taken refuge in an inner citadel, surrendered. They were secured in the iron chains of the
Roman slave dealers.[1] Surrounded by his closest advisors, Scipio
oversaw this final destruction of the city from a distant vantage point. As the ruins of Carthage smouldered down to
embers and ashes, Scipio is said to have suddenly stood very still in quiet reflection. The battle was over. The threat of death was gone and the thrill
of killing had subsided. He became lost in thought. Was this the ultimate destiny of all empires? Appian records:
Scipio beheld the final destruction of a city which had flourished 700 years from its foundation. It had ruled over so many lands, islands,
and seas. It had been prosperous with great armies and
fleets, elephants, and wealth of money. It had been equal to the mightiest monarchies,
but surpassed them all in bravery and ambition […] Now the city had met its end in a final
and complete destruction. Scipio, beholding this spectacle, is said
to have shed tears and publicly lamented the destiny of his enemy. A Greek advisor called Polybius, who was standing
nearby, overheard Scipio mutter a quote from Homer - a verse from the Iliad concerning
the destruction of the legendary city of Troy. The great campaign was over, but what next? Perhaps, thought Polybius - a new Odyssey
was about to begin. He turned his back on the broken city and
looked out towards the sea where new possibilities awaited. Could he become a new Odysseus? Rome was victorious, Carthage was gone, and
its possessions in North Africa were now the property of the expanding Roman Empire. The sea-lanes leading into the Atlantic were
suddenly open to Roman shipping, but what unknown lands lay beyond the Mediterranean
and the fabled Pillars of Hercules? Scipio was determined to destroy all remnants
of Carthage and this included its diaspora. The Carthaginians had established small colonies
and trade stations on the arid outer shores of North Africa (modern-day Morocco). Had these Atlantic connections provided the
Carthaginians with their great wealth and good fortune? Perhaps. So Scipio offered his Greek advisor Polybius
command of several Roman war-galleys and instructed him to find the westward limits of Carthaginian
power. And so his journey west began. By following the African coast, Polybius passed
the High Atlas Mountain range and prepared to enter the Atlantic. But he was crossing through more than a physical
limitation. He was intruding into the domain of gods,
myths, heroes, and monsters. Deities always existed, where practical experience
faltered, and common knowledge ended. As they passed into uncharted regions, Polybius
and his small fleet, like Odysseus, prepared themselves for supernatural hazards as well
as physical dangers. To begin with, it was said that the world-bearing
Titan Atlas held the weight of the sky on his shoulders. Indeed, the fossilised remains of this godlike
giant might yet be seen in the High Atlas Mountains. Perhaps his massive form would be glimpsed
as a vast mountain column projecting upwards, far beyond the tallest peaks. The Romans strained their eyes looking inland
at the ranges, to discern the shape or form of the primordial Titan. At the edge of the Mediterranean a high cliff-like
promontory hove into view on the European coast. This was the Rock of Gibraltar which formed
one flank of the legendary ‘Pillars of Hercules’, the gateway between the Mediterranean and
the Atlantic. It was said that the legendary demi-god Hercules
had cut a channel through a mountain to join the seas and enter the Atlantic - though other
accounts suggested Hercules had merely fortified an existing sea-passage, so that giant oceanic
monsters might not stray into the peaceful Mediterranean. This rock hewn passage was the strait through
which Polybius and his ships now passed. As he passed this legendary spot, Polybius
must have considered the reports of his Greek forebears, who had themselves heard second-hand
accounts from Carthaginian seafarers. For it had been in the sixth century BC that
a Carthaginian commander named ‘Hanno the Navigator’ had voyaged beyond the Pillars
of Hercules and explored the western seaboard of the African continent. Hanno had left an account of his voyage - this
had been translated into Greek and circulated among Roman authorities in an abbreviated
form. It was said that Hanno had commanded a settler
fleet intended to colonise distant regions - but south of Morocco the Carthaginians had
encountered only a bleak and hostile coastline. The Greek writer Arrian read the translated
report: “...as Hanno sailed south, he encountered
crippling obstacles – a lack of water, scorching heat and streams of lava gushing into the
sea. Perhaps these explorers had sailed beyond
the southern limit of the vast Saharan Desert and witnessed volcanic lava spilling into
the sea at Mount Cameroon. More terrifying were the human-like creatures
encountered in the region. Hanno had reported:
In this lagoon was another island, full of savages. Most of them were women with hairy bodies,
whom our interpreters called ‘Gorillas’. Although we chased them, we could not catch
any males. They all escaped, since they were good climbers
and could defended themselves with stones. However, we caught three women. They refused to follow those who carried them
off, biting and clawing at them. So we killed them and flayed them and brought
their skins back to Carthage. We could not sail any further, because our
provisions were running short. These pelt-like skins had been taken to Carthage
and hung as curiosities in the Temple of the Goddess Tanit - macabre trophies lingering
on as a testament to a strange, never to be repeated voyage. For almost four centuries the hides hung silently
in the shrine, until the destruction of Carthage when the Romans looted the city and burned
the sacred temple. By contrast, the temperate shores of western
Europe were explored by Carthaginian merchants who sailed to distant northern islands in
pursuit of valuable resources. Somewhere out in the Atlantic Ocean were trade
routes to the distant Isle of Albion (Britain) and Ierni (Ireland). The Celtic peoples of southern Britain supplied
essential tin which was alloyed with commonly found copper to produce sturdy, alluring bronze
metal. Other strange materials reached the Mediterranean
through these Atlantic sea-lanes including valuable Baltic amber. This was thought to be the congealed rays
of the setting sun. Sometimes strange tropical insects could be
seen in the solidified centre of this highly desirable substance. Perhaps they were evidence of an undiscovered
tropical zone in the faraway frozen north? And so it was, that after the destruction
of Carthage, Scipio sent out a small exploratory Roman fleet commanded by Polybius. Passing cautiously through the Pillars of
Hercules, they sailed south around the coast of Morocco. The Roman writer Pliny the Elder records:
After sailing round the coast, Polybius reported that, in a westerly direction beyond Mount
Atlas, there are forests teeming with the wild animals that Africa produces… Beyond this is the river Non, which is full
of crocodiles and hippopotami. From the Non there is a line of mountains
going right up to a high peak that the Greeks call ‘The Chariot of the Gods’. With their greatest rival, Carthage, removed
from power, the Romans had finally reached the western gateway of the Mediterranean and
entered the Atlantic Ocean. The coastal ports of western Gaul now within
their reach. A new direction for exploration, contact and
conquest had been revealed. The routes of Roman fortune were now opened
into the west - but this was just the beginning. In another region of the ancient world, another
leading general of the Roman Republic was also suddenly overcome by emotion at his very
moment of supreme victory. Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, Pompey the Great,
stood in shock as he was presented with the semi-embalmed corpse of his royal enemy Mithridates. Those given the task of preserving the royal
remains had failed to remove the brain tissue and the putrid object set before him filled
Pompey with a deep revulsion. Nevertheless, one of the greatest foes the
Romans have ever faced - was dead. Pompey’s grand campaign for vengeance, exploration
and conquest . was over. The year was 65 BC and yet another great kingdom
had fallen to the rising power of Rome and its relentless legions. The Pontic King Mithradates VI, Eupator had
been betrayed by his allies and subjects in the Crimean Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus. This had been his last refuge, and the king
had ended his own life rather than suffer humiliation as a captive in Rome. In his pursuit of Mithridates, Pompey the
Great had entered the Caucasus Mountains, passed through the dark forests of Colchis
and explored the snow-capped mountains between the turbulent Black Sea and the mysterious
Caspian region. Now that the archenemy of Rome was dead, the
General reflected on the extraordinary discoveries he had made in these far eastern territories. The heavily forested territory of Colchis,
on the west coast of the Black Sea, had always been a dangerous and largely unknown region
- a wilderness zone where tall dense forests fringed mountain ranges. Near where the Rioni river emptied into the
Black Sea was an ancient Greek harbour-town named Phasis. A frontier trading outpost that retained its
wild and dangerous character throughout antiquity, statues of classical gods stood in the harbour
and town centre displaying the strange influence of barbaric local cults. The site was a hub for numerous merchants
and fugitives who mingled with guides, translators and dubious representatives from the nearby
mountain tribes. And so it was Phasis that had served as the
outer limit of the furthest Greek voyages. Indeed, not even Alexander the Great had dared
to enter this region. This meant Colchis was the subject of longstanding
myth and legend - once again a region thought to encroach on the realm of the gods. Many in Rome must have wondered - what had
Pompey found out there - at the limits of the known world? Greek myth had long warned of the dangers
of exceeding human knowledge contrary to the will of the Gods. It was said that the Titan Prometheus had
fashioned mankind from clay, giving his creation thought and reason. But this primaeval deity had suffered eternal
punishment for giving his prodigies the key to technology - an understanding of fire. On the orders of Zeus, Prometheus had supposedly
been chained to a rock in the furthest reaches of the Caucasus Mountains. Bound on a high mountain peak, a giant eagle
would descend each day to tear out the innards of the helpless immortal. Ancient Colchis was too immortalized in the
story of Jason and the Argonauts - who sought the Golden Fleece in this forbidding region. Accounts of gold dust and giant dragon-serpents
filled the minds of Greek writers regarding these unexplored mountains. The main anchor from Jason’s ship the Argo
was on display in the centre of Phasis as a monument to the ancient myth. Some visitors doubted the authenticity of
this object since it was made of relatively un-weathered iron, but there sceptics were
shown fragments of an older stone object that better fitted the antiquity of the myth. And so this was the place where King Mithridates
had fled to rally his tribal allies against Rome, and this was where Pompey had to follow
to defeat this great enemy. But Pompey was also eager to lead his soldiers
into a land of myth and legend. According to Appian:
Pompey wanted to gain knowledge of the country visited by the Argonauts, Castor and Pollux,
and Heracles. He especially desired to see the place where
they say that Prometheus was fastened to Mount Caucasus. From the Pontic Kingdom, Pompey marched on
and invaded the small kingdom of Caucasian-Iberia. Colchis was now cut-off from Armenia and Iran,
but Pompey did not push onwards to the coast of the mysterious Caspian Sea. Instead, he headed inland to find the Rioni
River and capture the city-port of Phasis. This connected him with the Roman fleet operating
in the Black Sea. But once more he discovered that Mithridates
had fled. Pompey thought of pursuing the fugitive with
the Roman fleet and sailing past Mount Strobios where Prometheus had been chained by Zeus. Would a Roman general dare look upon the site
where the creator of mankind had withstood his eternal punishment? But suddenly, a new plan entered the mind
of Pompey. He realised that he would only retain his
command while Mithridates remained a threat to Rome. While the defeated king was confined to the
far north, the Near East was exposed to immediate Roman conquest. Plutarch reports:
Pompey was seized by a great and eager passion to claim Syria and march through Arabia to
the Red Sea. His victorious career would therefore touch
the Ocean which surrounds the world on all sides. For in Africa he had been the first to conquer
as far as the Outer Sea and in Spain he had made the Atlantic Ocean the western boundary
of the Roman domains. In his recent pursuit of the Albani, he had
narrowly missed reaching the Caspian Sea. So, now Pompey put his army in motion, determined
to reach the Red Sea and complete the circuit of his military expeditions. Pompeii marched south with his legions, seizing
Syria and making the kingdom of Judea subject to the Roman Empire. In Jerusalem, Pompeii and his entourage entered
the Great Temple of the ‘One True God’ of the Jews. They ignored all appeals and threats by the
priests and defied the Holy Law by gazing upon the artefacts of the Lord. As his men held back the protesting High Priest,
Pompeii inhaled the heavy scent of hallowed incense and stepped forward, to vanish behind
the veil that covered the darkness of the inner sanctuary. His soldiers waited for the general to reappear
with the idol of the ‘Lord God Almighty’ of the Jews. Would he smash it before the distraught priests,
or carry it back to be mocked in a great triumphal procession through the streets of Rome? Time passed, --- but he did not immediately
reappear. Josephus records at Pompey had simply examined
the artefacts preserved in that holy place, but removed nothing. He reappeared empty handed - - - and then
departed in silence. But Pompey continued the march south. The Nabatean Kingdom in northwest Arabia was
next to submit to Rome and the legions were encamped near the rock-cut city of Petra. All the threats of divine curses and catastrophes
had proven false and the Near East was now under imperial control. The region belonged to Rome and the outer
sea was within their grasp. But the campaign led by Pompey had far exceeded
its objectives. This was irrefutable when news reached him
that Mithridates was already dead. There had been an uprising in the Cimmerian
Bosporus and the king had ended his life as a final escape from the pursuits of the Romans. The war was done. Pompey received the messengers and was presented
with the semi-embalmed corpse of Mithridates. But the general chose not to look upon the
putrid remains or reflect upon this man’s great fall from regal power and glory - for
it was now he realised that the exploratory aspect of his mission must also cease. Pompey had failed to encounter any monsters
or meet any living divinities in the distant Caucuses. But at Phasis, the Romans did find Indian
commodities among the goods trafficked overland from the Caspian Sea. These Indian goods came from Bactria (Afghanistan)
via the Oxus River to the Caspian Coasts. Pompey had discovered a possible route to
India that could bypass Iran and the rival Parthian Empire. But who amongst ordinary merchants and travellers
would dare traverse this route through distant and dangerous lands? Not Pompey. Fifteen years later he finally met his fate
in the east. Defeated by Julius Caesar in the Roman Civil
Wars, the dejected general was betrayed by his own officers and murdered. When his severed head was presented to Caesar,
the dictator too turned away in disgust and horror. Despite the political conflict, Caesar mourned
the loss of his former friend and colleague. From that moment on, it would be Caesar and
his dynasty who would decide the fate and further expansion of the Roman Empire. Eudaemon Arabia, in ancient Yemen, had been
the main harbour of the mysterious Sabaeans. But now the harbour-buildings were engulfed
in flames, sending high columns of acrid smoke ascending into the sky. For Eudaemon Arabia had been the victim of
a Roman raid designed to test the logistics and feasibility of a maritime campaign-route
that could reach outer Arabia. It was the prelude to war. Planned as a precursor to a larger invasion
of southern Arabia led by the Roman commander Aelius Gallus, the attack was ordered by Augustus,
the successor to Julius Caesar and the first true Emperor of Rome. But what great prize or knowledge had brought
Roman conquest to this distant region? The answer could be found in the acrid stench
that was streaming from the harbour and rising up into the darkening sky, like some perverse
sacrifice to the gods of war. Incense. Arabian incense was sacred to many ancient
cultures. Whether you were Roman, Greek, Jew, or Persian,
when the pungent smoke released from burning desiccated tree saps ascended skyward, it
carried holy fragrances towards the heavens. Indeed, incense was a much more appealing
offering to the many gods than the odour of animal sacrifice. But it was not not easy to obtain. Arabia was a remote land of extreme deserts
and the stunted trees that produced this sap grew only on its southern coasts. The cliffs and promontories of this seaboard
were difficult to approach from the coast and the region was seldom entered by outsiders,
and so the hardened drops of sap produced by lacerating the wiry incense trees was sent
inland through desert trails to reach distant trade stations near the Mediterranean or the
Persian Gulf. These Incense Trails crossed a thousand miles
through restricted caravan routes where Arabian merchants carried their precious loads on
heavily burdened camel teams. Incense was so valuable that even small pouches
of this alluring substance could only be purchased using multiple pouches of gold and silver
coins. Early accounts of the Biblical King Solomon
describe how he received an incense caravan from the Queen of Sheba. The ‘Book of Kings’ contains the verse:
And Sheba came to Jerusalem with a very great caravan, with camels that bore incense, and
very much gold, and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she communed
with him concerning all that was in her heart. Indeed, in 332 BC Alexander the Great acquired
vast stocks of Arabian incense when he captured the Phoenician city of Tyre on the Syrian
seaboard. A decade later, with his Persian conquests
complete, Alexander had planned to seize southern Arabia by launching a fleet from the Persian
Gulf. But his sudden, unexplained death in Babylon
had ended the invasion plans. Three centuries would pass before another
great ruler would attempt the conquest. And so it was 25 BC when the Emperor Augustus
planned to surpass Alexander and add Arabia to the Roman domains. Although this was an economic decision as
much as anything else. Five years earlier, when Egypt became an imperial
province, there had been a boom in consumer spending across the Empire when vast wealth
was released from the Ptolemaic royal treasuries to be awarded to Roman citizens. Augustus understood that large quantities
of Roman gold and silver were passing into the hands of Arab merchants through the incense
traffic and trade. This was an outpouring of finite imperial
bullion to acquire a renewable resource. Why then, shouldn’t the Romans possess this
region and control the substance that was most sacred to their gods? Strabo reports:
A report had prevailed from early times, that the Arabians had become very wealthy from
trading aromatics and valuable gemstones for gold and silver. But they never exchanged any part of this
accumulated wealth with outsiders. Augustus therefore expected to deal with wealthy
allies, - - - or master wealthy enemies. With this conquest, the Romans could even
dream of outflanking the rival Parthian Empire which dominated Iran and controlled the Persian
Gulf. And so - war. In preparation, the Roman Governor of Egypt,
Aelius Gallus, was given command of 10,000 soldiers, equivalent to two complete legions. At first the Romans assumed that a seaborne
campaign conducted through the Red Sea would provide the best route to reach the Sabaean
Kingdom. But the reports were not favourable. The Red Sea coasts of Arabia were barren and
largely inaccessible due to strong tidal currents and dangerous uncharted reefs. It was therefore decided that the Roman conquest
of Arabia would be a full-scale landward invasion through the hostile desert along the mysterious
caravan routes. Gallus crossed from Egypt into the neighbouring
kingdom of Nabataea in northwest Arabia. This territory was still subject to the Empire
and the Roman army was received and resupplied at the oasis city of Petra. In neighbouring Judea, King Herod the Great
sent 500 desert-equipped soldiers to assist the Romans on their campaign. Led by Nabatean military guides the Legionaries
marched past the giant rock-cut edifices that flanked the main routes into Petra. They must have marvelled at the salmon-coloured
cliffs and the massive ornate buildings carved into these steep rock-facades. This was only the outer frontier of the lucrative
Incense Trails that extended vast distances across the shifting sands. Surely there were greater wonders in the as
yet unexplored desert itself? The campaign force successfully captured a
series of oasis towns and outposts which became a network for future Roman travel. But their progress was extremely slow and
after six months on the outbound operations, their supplies dwindled. A suspicion began to form in the minds of
some soldiers crossing this forbidding terrain. What if the Nabateans had contrived some treachery
against the Romans to preserve their own stake in the lucrative incense trade? Finally, the Romans did reach the Sabaean
Kingdom on the southern edge of Arabia. Rocky hills rose into view and groves of palm
trees and cultivated fields became more frequent. Great dams had been constructed to collect
streams from the coastal highlands to irrigate this desert periphery. Crops provided sustenance for cluttered mud-brick
cities encircled by tall walls. On the plains before the settlements, ranks
of disciplined legionaries formed-up to engage poorly equipped mob-like defenders with little
experience in professional warfare. The Sabaean army fled to their cities and
prepared to defend their walled capital Marib. The legions had almost reached their objective. But as the siege of Marib continued, a mysterious
affliction spread through the troops. Their limbs weakened and their teeth began
to loosen in their mouths. Maybe they were offending the gods by seeking
to possess the incense? Had the stricken Roman army fallen from divine
favour? The effects were real and the psychological
impact traumatic. Roman medics could not diagnose the true cause
of this unknown aliment and they urged Gallus to withdraw before the entire army succumbed. Perhaps the condition was scurvy caused by
a lack of Vitamin C in the campaign diet - the Nabatean supply-lines must have been at their
maximum capacity and the Sabaeans would have stripped all food resources from the land
as they retreated within their walled cities. Finally, the increasingly diminished and demoralised
Roman army began a desperate retreat north to Nabatean territory. Strabo reports:
Gallus was informed by his captives that he was only two days' journey from the country
that produces aromatics. But he had used up six months on his outbound
marches because of bad guidance. Gallus reached Petra in sixty days, but many
soldiers had died on the journey due to hardships, disease, and insufficient supplies. Gallus possibly went on to report that something
in the water of southern Arabia was harmful to people from Mediterranean climates. And so even though Arabia had been invaded
and explored, Augustus concluded that it could never be permanently conquered or added to
the Roman domains. This route to India was closed. In AD 52, a group of distinguished royal envoys
from a remote kingdom were ushered into the audience hall of the Roman Emperor Claudius. These astonishing strangers, with their dark
complexions, were from the far south. They were the mysterious ‘Counterlanders’
who lived beneath another sky and witnessed the influence of different stars. Pliny records:
The envoys marvelled at the new aspect of the heavens visible in our country. They observed the stars that formed the Great
Bear (Ursae Majoris), the Little Bear (Ursa Minor) and the Pleiades. They told us that in their own country even
the moon only appears above the horizon from the 8th to the 18th day of the month. They said that Canopus, a large and brilliant
star, lights their sky by night. But what surprised them most was that their
shadows fell towards our sky and not towards theirs. Also, the sun rose on the left-hand side of
the observer and set upon the right. These ‘Counterlanders’ came from an island
on the outer edge of India, known to Greek and Roman merchants as Taprobane – ancient
Sri Lanka. This was the most distant diplomatic contact
the Roman Empire had never received. It seems that a tax-collecting Roman businessman,
a freedman of Annius Ploclamus, had made contact with this semi-legendary region. The result was this remarkable event - the
arrival of distant envoys seeking opportunities for political friendship and commercial alliance
in Rome. But this wasn´t the first time the Indian
subcontinent had come into contact with the Greco-Roman world. Half a millennium earlier in 518 BC, the first
Greeks to explore India had arrived as part of the Persian army commanded by the Achaemenid
King, Darius the Great. Herodotus reports:
Darius discovered the greatest part of Asia. He observed how crocodiles could be seen in
the Indus River just like the Nile. Wishing to know how it connected to the sea,
he sent a team of trustworthy men including Scylax of Caryanda to sail down the river. …they sailed westward and after a voyage
of thirty months, they reached a place in Egypt [...] Once the voyage was completed,
Darius conquered the Indus and the Persians made use of the sea in those regions. Two centuries later, Alexander the Great led
his Greco-Macedonian armies towards India on his own mission of conquest and exploration. In the high mountain passes leading to the
Hindu Kush, his homesick soldiers thought they detected signs of their own gods and
heroes who travelled to this remote region. Could the wild vines and creepers growing
near Nysa be evidence that Bacchus, the Greek God of revelry and wine, had passed by this
ancient city? And perhaps the mountain people who fought
with clubs and wore animal skins were followers of Hercules? Alexander launched his own fleet on the Indus
River to support his army on its progress south toward the ocean that encircled the
whole world. Marvels were seen on the coast including giant
vivid-coloured clams with folded bivalve shells. Out at sea the humps of blue whales rose and
fell on the ocean foam, suggesting the presence of great leviathans in the unknown depths. Arrian reports:
Large whales live in the outer ocean and there are fishes much larger than those that exist
in our inland sea. Nearchus records that when they departed at
daybreak, they saw water being blown upwards from the sea as if it was being propelled
by the force of a waterspout. The crew were astonished and asked the pilots
of the fleet what might be causing this disturbance. They replied that creatures roving about the
ocean will spout up water to a great height. The sailors were so startled by this sight
that the oars fell from their hands. But Nearchus encouraged and cheered them onward. As he sailed past the galleys, he signalled
to them, to turn their bows towards the whales as if to give battle. Then raising their war-cry they advanced with
rapid strokes of the oars. With this great sound the sailors regained
their courage. Then, as they neared the monsters, they shouted
with all their effort, bugles blared and the oars pounded the water. The whales, now visible at the bows of the
ships, were terrified, and dived into the depths. Under the command of Alexander, Greek military
fleets could have explored the outer limits of the Indian Ocean. But this was not to be. Plans were made for the conquest of southern
Arabia, but when Alexander died mysteriously in Babylonia, his empire was divided between
generals who claimed royal titles and established regional dynasties. The possibility of trade and communication
with far-off India was lost - for nearly two centuries. And so it wasn't until 118 BC in one of the
kingdoms founded by Alexander´s generals - Ptolemaic Egypt - that contact between west
and east was once again made. The House of Ptolemy had established ports
and harbours on the Red Sea coast and sent Greek hunting parties south by ship to capture
live African elephants. This created a military network with an infrastructure
through the Eastern Desert to ports furnished for distant voyages. By chance one of these royal patrol ships
encountered a strange wreck with a lone survivor clinging to its wooden frame. Strabo explains:
According to the account, a certain Indian was brought to the king by the patrol ships
that sail the gulf next to Arabia. They said they had found him alone and half-dead
on a stranded ship…The king placed the Indian under the charge of Greek instructors so that
he could learn our language. When he had learned Greek, he explained that
he had been on a voyage from India. His ship had lost its course due to a strange
mischance and only after all his companions had died from starvation, he had safely reached
Egypt. When his story was doubted, he promised to
act as guide on the journey to India. A group of men were selected by the king and
Eudoxus became a member of this group. Eudoxus (of Cyzicus) was a man inclined to
search out and explore the peculiarities of new regions and he was well-informed about
nature. Departing on his first voyage in 118 BC, Eudoxus
reached the Indus kingdoms to return with a rich cargo of spices, pearls, and precious
stones. From this moment onward, the realms of India
were within reach of the boldest Mediterranean merchants who made voyages across the distant
ocean. But the commerce did not reach its full potential
for almost a century, until Rome annexed Egypt and Augustus was proclaimed the first Emperor. At the beginning of the first century AD Roman
ships did not sail beyond the west coast of India - the deep hulled merchant vessels were
too large and cumbersome to safely navigate the line of reefs, swells and shallows that
extends from India to Sri Lanka. And so this island, known to the Romans as
Taprobane, was therefore unexplored territory. Roman seafarers even feared that Taprobane
might be the outer edge of some vast southern continent - the Antipodes as suggested by
Pythagorean theory - vast land masses or separate otherworlds, occupying the southern hemisphere. But these speculations were finally challenged
in AD 52 during the reign of Claudius, with the arrival of the Counterlanders. Pliny relays the story of why the Counterlander
envoys were sent to Rome, starting with another Roman trade vessel ship blown off course:
Taprobane, also known as the territory of the ‘Counterlanders’, was long considered
to be another world […] That is, until Annius Plocamus had obtained a contract from the
State Treasury to collect Red Sea taxes. One of his freedman agents was sailing round
Arabia when he was carried by gale-force winds from the north and swept beyond the coast
of Carmania. After a fortnight they made the harbour of
Hippuri in Taprobane. The unfamiliar looking lost Roman tax collector
had been taken to the Sinhalese king and his extraordinary cargo inspected by royal agents. The strange vessel and its prized cargo seemed
astonishing. The ship was carrying a large consignment
of high-value imperial gold and silver coinage that had been destined for the southern Arabian
incense markets. The Sinhalese king and his royal ministers
carefully examined the foreign coins. They scrutinised the metallic faces of distant
rulers and marvelled at the fine die-struck portraits of Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula,
and Claudius. The reverse of these coins depicted the outline
of strange buildings, foreign temples, and the images of unknown gods. Within six months the Roman traveller had
learnt the local language and could converse with his hosts. Could the accounts he told them of his home
in a great western civilisation possibly be true? Pliny records how the Sinhalese king sent
four envoys to investigate the Roman Empire and introduce the Anuradhapura Realm as a
political ally and commercial associate. One of the final notable acts of the Emperor
Claudius was to receive and acknowledge these exotic ambassadors. This meant that during his time as emperor,
Claudius had both occupied Britain and established diplomatic contacts with Sri Lanka – distant
islands on opposite edges of the earth. After this remarkable contact, Roman ships
began making direct ocean crossings to Sri Lanka and the Anuradhapura Kingdom. Roman captains developed faster voyages across
the ocean and, by sailing around Sri Lanka, they extended their ventures to trade ports
in east India, the Ganges and Burma. A series of ambitious unnamed merchants, each
prepared to undertake longer and riskier voyages, added to the range and scope of Roman trade
contacts across the vast eastern ocean. These commercial explorers headed ever further
east, tracking rumours and distant contacts towards the mysterious Seres – the Silk
People at the edge of the known world. And so the Romans kept pushing the boundaries
of their knowledge. Centurions from the Praetorian Guard had trekked
for weeks through the canyon deserts of Nubia - south of Egypt. Now, finally they were entering the royal
audience hall of the king of Meroe - the leading African kingdom in these distant lands. These Roman officers, caked with the debris
and dust of long-distance travel, had journeyed more than 900 miles from the frontiers of
Egypt. The Empire had already conquered and controlled
the Mediterranean coastline of north Africa that faced southern Europe. But this narrow strip was only a fraction
of the vast African continent. Inland from the fertile coastal zones, Africa
became increasingly arid as it merged into desert wastelands - the Saharan Desert covering
North Africa with a belt of barren land almost 3,000 miles wide, stretching from the Red
Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. Extending nearly a thousand miles from north
to south, it had an expanse larger than the landmass of the entire Roman Empire. In the ancient past, Berber caravans with
knowledge of wells and oasis stations were able to cross this brutal landscape. But the extreme conditions confined the Romans
to the seaboard fringe of North Africa. Though there was another route across this
desert expanse. After the Romans conquered Egypt, they had
gained control of the northern part of the Nile River. But they were reluctant to extend their rule
south into the barren wastes. This zone was under the control of an African
kingdom known as Meroe, or ancient Kush. The earliest Greek legends recalled an era
when the people of Kush conquered Egypt, and African pharaohs with distinctive dark complexions
commanded a unified Nilotic kingdom. The Twenty-fifth Dynasty, that had ruled Egypt
during the eighth century BC, was contemporary with the famous Greek author Homer who composed
the Iliad and the Odyssey. Homer had recited the legend of Memnon, the
champion-king of Kush, who led an African army north to support the Trojans in their
war against the Greeks. Memnon, was a warrior of great skill and valour,
but he was slain in epic combat with the supreme Greek hero Achilles. The Romans regarded the Trojans as their legendary
ancestors - so how should they view Meroe? Surely as potential allies? Based on Greek knowledge of Africa, the Romans
believed that the Continent terminated just south of the vast Saharan Desert. Early accounts had confirmed that these distant
territories contained bush savannahs and semi-forested regions. These were the homelands of Africans known
collectively as ‘Ethiopians’. Pythagorean theory also suggested that nature
had created symmetry and all natural phenomena had an equivalent opposite. Africa therefore had similar dimensions to
Europe and the Nile was expected to follow an east-west direction equivalent to the Danube
River. But where was its origin? Determined to learn the truth of the great
river, the Emperor Augustus sent a Roman army into the central Sahara led by a commander
named Cornelius Balbus. In 20 BC Balbus crossed the inner desert headed
towards the Fezzan region of southern Libya. He conducted a rapid campaign, marching 600
miles south from Regio Tripolitania on a course through the open desert that took at least
twenty-four days to accomplish. The Romans captured the main oasis centres
of Garamantia, but their engineers were utterly perplexed by the outflow of endless fresh
water the Garamantes had access to. They reasoned that perhaps the Garamantes
had tapped into a vast underground river. Did the Nile actually flow beneath the desert? In reality the Garamantes were accessing prehistoric
aquifers. These underground water sources were the residue
of vast upland lakes that had seeped below the earth in earlier millennia. The Romans who surveyed this arid terrain
did not understand the true age of the earth, nor could they begin to fathom the extraordinary
alterations caused by changes in climate. Hence, the underground river theory provided
a credible explanation for hidden water sources. Beyond this, all Balbus discovered was desert. Though he did celebrate a Triumph in Rome,
the Empire withdrew from Garamantic territory. It seems that Augustus and successors were
prepared to leave the mystery of the Nile and its emergence from distant origins unanswered. But not for long. For when the Romans seized direct control
over the subject kingdom of Mauretania in AD 40, new discoveries were made. Ancient Mauritania was situated on the Mediterranean
seaboard of northwest Africa stretching from Algeria to Morocco. The sudden Roman annexation provoked an uprising
on the desert frontiers. Two legionary armies were redeployed to suppress
this rebellion, one of the commanders a man named Gaius Suetonius Paulinus - and Gaius
was an ambitious man. In AD 41 Paulinus marched his army south towards
the Atlas Mountains that formed the furthest limits of the kingdom. He led his legionaries through sweltering
forests on the edge of Morocco and encountered strange and startling animals including tarantulas,
scorpions, and bizarre monkeys. Undeterred, Paulinus ascended and crossed
the Atlas range, passing beneath African peaks still covered with snow even during the height
of summer. From these high vistas, Paulinus surveyed
the landscape beyond the mountains and saw the glint of a river flowing on the arid desert
plains below. He led his troops down into the scorching
black-sand desert, but when they reached the distant river, they discovered it to be a
weak trickle meandering through barren lands. Paulinus abandoned his expedition. This was the furthest territory that the Romans
had explored, but there was no sign of any ‘western’ Nile. Pliny the Elder hinted at the true purpose
of the mission: An exploring party…was recently sent by
the Emperor Nero. It seems that, among his other wars, he is
actually contemplating an attack on Ethiopia (Inner Africa). And so, in AD 61, the Praetorians left Roman
territory in Egypt and headed south to seek an audience with the king of Meroe. Posing as diplomats and explorers, the Roman
party took a careful note of distances and resources on an estimated 945-mile trek from
Syene to the royal capital of Meroe. Ancient Egyptian texts recorded about twenty-five
urban centres along the Nubian Nile. However, on their trek south, the Romans discovered
that most of these settlements had been abandoned centuries earlier - Praetorians following
the course of the Nile examined dry crumbling ruins of outposts and temples built by past
civilisations of immense antiquity. Based on these reports, Pliny argued:
It was not Rome that made this country a desert. This region was worn out by alternate periods
of dominance and subjection in a series of wars with Egypt, having been a famous and
powerful country even down to the time of the Trojan Wars. The Nubian Desert ended near the outskirts
of Meroe. Here the land finally became fertile and forested. Pliny records:
Greener herbage appears near the city and stretches of forest come into view where the
tracks of rhinos and elephants can be seen. On arrival at Meroe, the trail-weary Praetorians
declared their status as envoys and asked for an audience with the ruler of the city. They were eventually taken to the royal audience
chamber. In the gloom of the temple-like palace hall,
towering stone statues loomed from between ornamental pillars. Tall reliefs displayed images of strange lion-headed
gods - but also disturbing scenes of past conflicts. A century earlier, Merotic armies had stormed
the frontier city of Syene in southern Egypt. Taking some Roman prisoners and decapitating
bronze statues of the Emperor Augustus, some reliefs in Meroe depicted Roman soldiers made
to kneel in submission. It was a reminder that the Empire of Rome
was not always triumphant on the edges of the empire. The leading tribune of the praetorians stepped
forward to request a favour from the African king - a message from the golden Emperor Nero,
the ruler of mighty ‘Arme’ - Imperial Rome. For Nero wanted something from inner Africa. The praetorians waited while the king considered
his response. The acrid scent of Somali incense filled the
audience hall, drifting through shafts of brilliant sunlight and penetrating through
elevated openings near the ceiling. Unfamiliar faces with uniquely dark complexions
scrutinised the new Roman arrivals. Exhausted by their travels through strange
and arid lands, the Praetorians must have struggled to maintain their composure. Their fear and unease was justified - Meroe
was not a subject nation and Rome had no dominion here. But the King of Meroe…offered them support. Seneca confirms that:
The King supplied them with assistance and gave them letters of introduction to the neighbouring
rulers. Then they set out on their long journey into
the centre of Africa. The course of the Nile did not extend westward
as most Roman authorities had supposed. The Praetorians found themselves pushing deeper
into Africa following the White Nile south 600 miles until they reached a seemingly impassable
barrier. The Sudd. This is a primordial wetland in Southern Sudan
filled with ferns, fields of papyrus reeds and thick mats of rotting vegetation. In the rainy season it becomes a vast humid
swamp teeming with mosquitoes and other insects. Those who entered this region had to endure
sweltering heat with the fear of disease and the threat of starvation. The Sudd was too deep to be safely crossed
on foot, yet the water was too shallow to be explored any further by boat. It was also vast. It included almost 300 miles of swollen wetland. The heavy clay soils retained and expanded
the outflow of semi-stagnant water, far beyond the vision of any explorers. The water teemed with strange sharp-finned
fish and the explorers must have kept keen watch for the outline of crocodiles among
the drifting debris. The dense hulking shapes of hippopotami would
watch, half submerged, snorting in sputtering bursts as the travellers passed by. They were to be avoided in case these monstrous
animals decided to charge, gore or batter crew and craft. The Praetorian must have realised that these
beasts were large and powerful enough to overturn and smash their small vessels. What use were swords and javelins against
such strong and swift moving horrors? All the while, the persistent sun blazed down
upon this wretched landscape. These sluggish pools teamed with clouds of
incessant mosquitos and even at microscopic level this water was a living poison. Miniscule water-borne parasites infected the
bladder and kidneys causing skin-irritations, stomach cramps and diarrhoea. Skin sores, cuts and lesions would not heal
in this infected decaying environment. It must have seemed to the despairing Romans
that they had reached the chaotic and primordial edge of nature where matter became indistinct,
and creation was half formed. Finally, sodden and exhausted the Praetorians
could go no further. The Tribune gazed out across the endless shimmering
haze of swamp and gave the order – Turn back On their return to Italy, the Roman explorers
told Seneca: We came to great swamps, the borders of which
even the natives did not know. We could not find the limits of this place. The river was completely entangled with vegetable
growth, and the waters were impassable by foot because of the muddy overgrowth. But we saw two rocks from which an immense
quantity of water issued. Perhaps, they prudently suggested, this was
one of the underground sources of the Nile issuing forth like a fountain to flood the
land. From the reports given by the explorers, Roman
cartographers prepared a diagram that outlined the main invasion routes into Sub-Saharan
Africa. Pliny describes this object as ‘the schematic
plan of Ethiopia recently presented to the Emperor Nero’. Nero set his plans into action. An imperial residence was prepared in the
Egyptian capital Alexandria, and troops were sent to the city in preparation for an imminent
campaign. Legions X Fretensis and V Macedonica were
sent to Egypt to extend Roman rule deep into Africa. But it was not to be. There was an uprising against the Romans in
Judea at the same time as the legions in northern Europe rebelled against the Emperor. Eventually, even the Praetorians withdrew
their support and the Senate declared Nero an enemy of the state. The fugitive emperor fled the imperial palace
and took his own life rather than suffer the pain and humiliation of a public execution. The Romans would never find the true source
of the Nile - and soon their probing reach would turn northwards. Much of Northern Europe was covered in a dense
and ancient woodland known to the Romans as the Hercynian Forest. Tall deciduous trees towered over the thick
leaf-matted forest floor creating a gloomy canopy that hemmed in and overshadowed anyone
moving through this vast and claustrophobic expanse. It was a disorientating wilderness, utterly
strange and disconcerting for Roman travellers. Savage wild animals lived in these places
and hostile Germanic tribes-folk could stalk or ambush those who trespassed through their
dark domains. Scattered somewhere in this silent eerie forest
was the scene of an atrocity – the Teutoburg massacre. Butchered remains of three entire legions
littered the forest floor, their corpses desecrated and displayed on trees in strange Germanic
customs, presented as offerings to savage hostile gods. What could possibly tempt Roman adventurers
to brave this wilderness? The answer was amber resin. Early Greek theory suggested that amber was
the congealed rays of the sun as it set into a frozen atmosphere. It had already been established that the cold
of northern regions could turn sea water into a solid substance and condense the air into
an impenetrable fog. But over time this idea had changed. Burning amber chippings produced the smell
of pine sap and there were strange and exotic insects, scorpions, beetles, and wasps embedded
in the solidified substance. This would suggest that that the material
was probably some sort of tree resin. However, the process that transformed sap
to gem was unknown. Might the Romans discover the mystery? Was there a land of perpetual daylight concealed
in the far north? And so Nero´s interest had been piqued. Another envoy had returned to Rome having
undertaken a distant mission far beyond the frontiers of the Empire for the emperor. He had followed trade routes north beyond
the Danube frontiers, crossing 600 miles of hostile and unknown territory to acquire a
valuable prize, a mysterious resource from the frozen oceans of the far north – Baltic
amber. A fossilised tree resin found in deep sub-surface
sediments on the Baltic coast, it was the remains of a vast coniferous forest from the
Eocene Epoch over 44 million years ago. The erosion of this strata by turbulent North
Sea storms and tidal flows cast amber onto the shores where it was gathered by ancient
peoples. Germanic populations offered amber to the
ancient Britons and conveyed it inland through the rivers of central Europe to reach outposts
of classical civilisation in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Centuries before the Roman era, amber from
the Baltic coasts of the North Sea had reached the Greek world. It was cut, ground and polished into ornaments
and these bright translucent orbs had the value of precious gemstones. It was a strange and intriguing material used
to adorn Greek necklaces and decorate the shields of Carthaginian soldiers. Greek myth suggested that pieces of amber
were the tears shed by the sisters of Phaethon when they heard of his demise. They were the offspring of Helios, the sun
god, who had allowed his child Phaethon, the semi-divine youth, to drive the sun chariot. But the boy lost control of the speeding vehicle
and tumbled to his death somewhere in the frozen north. In Roman Syria, amber was prized for the household
craft of spinning yarns. It had electrostatic properties and would
draw fibres and threads towards the spindle. Amber was therefore known as ‘harpax’
or ‘the snatcher’. Pliny observed that when amber was warmed
by rubbing it could ‘pick up dry leaves, or straw and catch the fine fringes of garments’. Noting these strange properties the Greeks
called amber ‘electrum’ or ‘the shining one’. Yet, the peoples of northern Europe remained
distant and unknown to the Romans until the outbreak of the Cimbric War. In about 120 BC, a sudden environmental shift
caused great flood tides around the Jutland Peninsula, destroying farmlands, herds and
habitats. Faced with starvation, the Germanic peoples
known as the Cimbri and Tuetons began a mass migration into Gaul. Merging with Celtic warriors and moving with
their families they became an invasion force as they pushed south towards Roman Italy. In 101 BC after more than a decade of conflict
the Roman Legions finally defeated and destroyed the last of these Germanic invaders. But the distant homelands of these people
remained a curious mystery. The Roman annexation of Germania finally began
in 16 BC when the first Emperor Augustus placed his adopted son Nero Claudius Drusus in command
of the legions and tasked him with a great campaign of conquest and exploration. Crossing the Rhine, the armies led by Drusus
reached the Elbe River which flows into the North Sea near the Jutland Peninsula. When Drusus died from an injury on campaign,
Augustus appointed his successor Tiberius as the replacement commander, who launched
seaward operations as far as the Jutland Peninsula and secured Greater Germania for the Empire. Augustus boasted of these achievements in
his memorial statement: I restored the provinces of Gaul and Spain,
and pacified Germany, securing the ocean from Cadiz to the mouth of the river Elbe. [...] I commanded my ships to sail the ocean
from the mouth of the Rhine east to the lands bordering the Cimbri, where no Roman had gone
before either by land or sea. The Cimbri, the Charydes, the Semnones and
the other Germans of this territory sent envoys seeking alliance with me and the Roman people. But the Roman advance would not be a lasting
conquest. In AD 9 the Germans staged a rebellion and
massacred three entire Legions in the dark and wild Teutoburg Forest. The elderly Augustus suffered a severe reaction
when he heard this news, never fully recovering - Drusus and Tiberius seemed to have set the
limits for Roman knowledge and expansion on the northern fringe of Europe. To many Romans it then seemed as if they were
fighting against nature itself in their efforts to conquer and pacify Germania. The Emperor Tiberius continued the conflict,
but in AD 16 the Roman fleet was caught in a severe storm while ferrying a land army
from the Ems River back to the Rhine frontier. The disaster was described by a Roman poet
named Albinovanus Pedo. The work has not survived, but a passage quoted
by Seneca clearly expresses Roman fears about the northern ocean. Pedo wrote:
They witness daylight, but the sun is left far behind. They are long exiled from the well-known limits
of the world. They have dared to go into the forbidden gloom-filled
territories at the edge of creation to try and reach its farthest shores. Now they behold the Ocean, which has monsters
beneath its sluggish waves. On all sides are savage sharks and dogs of
the sea. Crashing waves and wrathful billowing winds
seize their ships, rising them high in the water and swelling them with fear. As their fleet is caught by swift winds they
feel their ships impacting on a shoal. The remorseless fates will mangle them or
deliver them, to the wild creatures of the ocean. One man stands defiant on the high prow. He cries out the thoughts of his imprisoned
soul: 'Where are we being taken by the storm? Should we even be searching for nations who
dwell beyond another sky? We are violating foreign seas and sacred waters
with our oars. Why do we trouble the untouched dwelling-places
of the gods?’ During the storm, the great fleet was smashed
apart and dispersed with an enormous loss of life, equipment, and prestige. In the aftermath of the disaster, Tiberius
finally abandoned Roman plans to recover the region and Greater Germania remained permanently
outside the Empire. Due to this decision, Baltic territories beyond
the Jutland Peninsula remained poorly explored by Roman authorities. In his Natural History completed in AD 75,
Pliny the Elder still relies on the accounts of Pytheas to describe the territories beyond
Jutland. He writes:
Pytheas says that a German people called the Gutones inhabit the shores of an estuary of
the Ocean called Mentonomon. Their territory extends six thousand stadia
(600 miles). The islanders burn the amber as fuel or trade
it with their neighbours’. The ‘Gutones’ are possibly ancestors of
the Goths, who centuries later would invade the Roman Empire contributing to its decline,
fragmentation and eventual collapse. North, South, East and West - had they yet
reached the ends of the earth? The Romans had finally broken through. They had completed a sudden and relentless
march through the mountains on the west flank of Britain. Finally reaching the uncharted west coast,
they now stood on the very shores of the Irish Sea. Within their sight lay the island of Mona
– a sacred druidic centre and powerful base for Celtic opposition to Rome. This force was commanded by the Governor Suetonius
Paulinus, the same man who had crossed the High Atlas Mountains in North Africa two decades
earlier. Now he found himself in the mountainous landscape
of Wales receiving the final details of the coming attack against the Celtic resistance. He had summoned his senior military staff
to the campaign tent to explain their orders - and among them was a young twenty-year old
Tribune named Gnaeus Julius Agricola. The druids and the leaders of the Celtic resistance
had considered themselves invulnerable within their island stronghold of Mona. But Paulinus had a plan. Under the orders of Paulinus the Classis Britannica
had constructed special flat-bottom landing craft. The fleet would convey the assembled legions
across the narrow Menai Strait to assault the sacred island. But as the Romans prepared to disembark on
the shores of Mona, a hideous sight was revealed. For the druids had prepared an army of Celtic
tribes. A fanatical enemy was invoking terrible curses
on the incoming legionaries. Black-clad priestess carrying flaming torches
ran between the ranks of frenzied warriors shrieking like crows. Fearful paralysis gripped the Romans. Perhaps there were indeed mystic powers and
evil entities on the fringes of the known world? For a long time, the Greeks and Romans had
feared and respected the ancient Celts. People from classical civilisations recognised
common images and motifs amongst the cattle raising cultures of northwest Europe. Indeed, early Greek myths of Hercules may
have been influenced by the Celtic gods as they appeared on early artifacts or religious
items. Lugh of the Longarm was a radiant Celtic warrior
god who encouraged cattle raids - master of the spear and slingshot, adept at oratory
and unsurpassed in all the artisan skills of craftsmanship - he was represented with
three heads symbolising the three great aspects of his supernatural character. The Corleck Head from ancient Ireland depicts
the deity with three separate faces on a single stone cranium. In early Greek myths, the tenth great labour
of Hercules was to enter the distant Atlantic and steal the red cattle of the monstrous
giant Geryon. Geryon was a triple headed entity with a fearsome
hound that guarded his island home in the far west. Perhaps the Romans were right to fear Celtic
rituals - Julius Caesar had heard reports that the continental Celts burnt sacrificial
victims in giant wicker structures whilst leading two expeditions into southern Britain
in 55 and 54 BC, suppressing tribes who had supported the Gauls against Rome. The Celtic islands had other strange sights
and wonders such as extraordinary war-horns, known as caryxns. These tall instruments were shaped like gaping
mouths of hideous creatures and some had hinged tongues that clacked as the warriors advanced. In a Celtic army the trumpet-like horns projected
far above the heads of the tallest warriors, so that the monstrous howling creatures seemed
to join and jostle for place in the frenzied battle line. And so in preparation for combat with these
distant horrors the Emperor Claudius brought his own monsters to Britain when he invaded
the island in AD 43. War-elephants. The Celts venerated bristle-backed wild boars
as powerful warrior totems. So massive elephants, with their long tusks
and trumpeting roar, were truly horrifying. Claudius´ victory in Britain was seen as
a triumph over the great northern ocean itself. Suetonius describes the ceremonies in Rome
where: Among the spoils of victory, Claudius fixed
a naval crown next to the civic crown on the pediment of the Palatine Palace. This was a sign that he had crossed over and
conquered the Ocean. Suetonius Paulinus, the Roman general who
crossed the High Atlas Mountains, became the governor of Britannia in AD 58. The small offshore province of Britain was
well-established, but most of the island remained beyond Roman control. Paulinus was given the position by Nero, but
he still maintained his own personal motives and interests. In particular, he was keen to outdo the exploits
of a contemporary named Corbulo who was conducting a dangerous war against the Parthians in mountainous
Armenia. Compelled by this rivalry, Paulinus led his
own military expedition into unknown hostile British territories. Perhaps it was Nero who encouraged renewed
action on the frontiers, or maybe Paulinus was inspired by current events - indeed in
the east Corbulo was campaigning in Armenia, in the south Praetorians were exploring the
Nile and an equites had embarked north to find the distant source of amber. Could Paulinus not do likewise? He could lead his legions to the western edge
of Britain and look across the Irish Sea at the furthest unconquered lands. How could Nero with his fascination with exploration
and distant lands possibly object? And so, Paulinus had marched his legions westward. Tacitus reports:
Now, Britain was under the command of Suetonius Paulinus, a man who vied with Corbulo in attaining
military experience and popular favour. Paulinus therefore prepared to attack the
island of Mona which had a powerful population and was a refuge for fugitives. On the opposite shore stood the opposing army
with a dense array of well-armed warriors. Between their ranks dashed women with their
hair dishevelled, dressed in black attire like the Furies and waving firebrands. All around, were the Druids, lifting their
hands up to heaven, and pouring forth dreadful incantations. Our soldiers were terrified by the unfamiliar
sight and paused as if their limbs were paralysed. They stood motionless and exposed to wounds. Suetonius yelled the orders. ‘Equaliter Ambula – Percute!’ – ‘Advance in Order – Charge!’. The spell was broken and the ranks advanced. It was soon over. The well organised soldiers butchered the
enemy and burnt their sacred grooves. Another enemy of Rome had been destroyed. The young Agricola participated in the military
actions, learning the skills and attitudes that would one day inform and guide his own
decisions in high office. But as the Romans dismantled the Celtic shrines,
news suddenly reached Paulinus that the province of Britain was in revolt. On the east coast, the previously submissive
Iceni tribe had rebelled. Their queen Boudicia re-armed her people and
inflicted devastation on the poorly defended Roman communities. Suetonius led a rushed and desperate march
back across the mountains to rescue the province. Though the outnumbered Romans were victorious
in battle, the damage had been done. Entire populations were butchered or fled
as refugees as the new colonies and cities were burnt or abandoned. Nero considered withdrawing the legions permanently
from Britain, but for the sake of Honour, the province was retained. Nevertheless, lessons were learned, and further
expansion halted for more than a decade. Writing in AD 75 Pliny claims that Britain
has not been explored beyond the Caledonian Forest (ancient Scotland). And so, in the far north, at the crest of
the world - what lay beyond? And who would dare make this journey? During the political highpoint of the Roman
Empire, two distant travellers met by chance at the sacred site of Delphi in central Greece. They began discussing the extent and form
of the world as revealed by ancient texts and their own explorations in far away lands
on the edge of the empire. An account of their conversation was recorded
by the Greek writer Plutarch, who says his brother Lamprias joined the travellers in
their discussions. Delphi was considered to be the sacred cultural
centre of Greece and the midpoint of the entire Ancient World. It was known as the omphalos, or naval of
the earth. A myth described how Zeus had simultaneously
launched two eagles from the opposite edges of the globe, and the birds met one another
in the skies directly above Delphi. The two travellers were Cleombrotus of Sparta
and Demetrius of Tarsus, and like the eagles of Zeus, each had returned from opposite edges
of the known world. Cleombrotus was a wealthy traveller from the
ancient territory of Sparta in southern Greece. He had journeyed for knowledge and experience
across the eastern ocean to India. Plutarch writes:
The journeys by Cleombrotus were not for business, he was fond of seeing things and of acquiring
knowledge. He had sufficient wealth and felt that it
was not any great advantage to have more than enough. So he spent his leisure time involved in travelling
and enquiry. But Demetrius was different. He had been on a very different mission. He was a grammarian, a language expert, who
had been recruited as a military agent and had been on an imperial assignment to the
mysterious Celtic islands off the northwest coast of Britain. Plutarch writes:
Demetrius said that there were many isolated islands positioned near Britain. These islands had few or no inhabitants and
some bore the names of divinities or heroes. He himself, by the emperor's order, had made
a voyage for inquiry and observation to the nearest of these islands. Agricola, the Governor of Roman Britain, had
requested Greek intellectuals for some great venture in the north Atlantic. Demetrius had answered this call. In his role as imperial agent, he had been
sent to isolated islands off the coast of ancient Britain - probably travelling aboard
a Roman war-galley, one of many that had been sent to explore and map a series of islands
and coastlines located to the west of Britain and the north of Ireland. The sudden approach of an Atlantic storm drove
the ship and its crew to seek shelter ashore. The Roman explorers were forced to take refuge
on some strange island for several days. Intrigued by this edge of the world territory,
Demetrius managed to communicate with the inhabitants in their own dialect - and was
told that they were trespassing on a holy island. Somewhere nearby was resting place of a dormant
god that Demetrius identified as Kronos. The Greek god Kronos was the primordial being
overthrown by Zeus. Demetrius would have also heard stories about
the vast ceremonial mounds of prehistoric peoples who lived thousands of years before
the Celts and mysterious stone circles constructed by Neolithic populations. Roman galleys charting the north coast of
Ireland would have already seen the giant paved causeway extending from the rugged coast
into the depths of the sea. This undersea causeway rose again on a dark
island where a vast multi-columned cave emitted strange acoustic thrumings. This unique natural feature on the Isle of
Staffa is known in modern times as Fingal’s Cave. The close-fitting hexagonal stones of the
Giant’s Causeway and Fingal’s Cave must have been viewed as the work of deities or
great heroes. It was clear the Roman fleet was trespassing
on the outer world of the gods. Other questions had to be solved if the Romans
hoped to master this new northern environment. Was Britain an island of unparalleled size
or simply the outer reaches of some great northern counter-land that extended deep into
the hostile Arctic Zone? Did this landmass have a terminus? Even half away across the world, Britain was
famous for its mysterious size. In AD 66 the Jewish king Herod Agrippa had
made a speech to his people on the eve of a failed revolt. Josephus reports:
Do not depend on the walls of Jerusalem . . . The Romans have sought another habitable earth
beyond the ocean. They have landed armies on British islands
which were never known before. Consider what a barrier the Britons had. They were encircled by the Ocean and yet the
Romans sailed across and subdued them. And the Britons inhabit a landmass that may
not be smaller than this entire inhabited earth. And so in AD 77, On the orders of the Emperor
Vespasian, the newly appointed governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola was instructed to find and
secure these frontiers wherever they might turn out to be. Agricola led Roman forces to the edge of the
Highlands and began establishing the Firth-Clyde Frontier. This was a forty-mile-wide defensive network
of forts and embankments that would form a permanent northern limit to the British province. Now a new conquest could begin so that ‘freedom
would be removed from sight’ and the Caledonians would be entirely isolated. And in AD 80 the Romans prepared their fleet
for the conquest and annexation of Ireland - the final great refuge of the Celtic peoples. This was to be the Empire’s final conquest
and would complete their exploration of the distant west. Tacitus reports:
‘In soil and climate, in the disposition and lifestyle of its population, Ireland differs
little from Britain. The routes of approach and harbours are better
known to us through commerce and merchants . . . it would unite the most powerful parts
of the Empire with great mutual benefit. But unforeseen events coincided to halt the
Roman invasion of Ireland. In AD 81 the Emperor Titus, the eldest son
of Vespasian, suddenly died after only a year in office. He was succeeded by his younger brother Domitian
who had different plans for Empire. And at almost the same time, a remarkable
account was circulating. It was the story of a voyage. A newly recruited cohort of Germanic auxiliaries
had mutinied while stationed on the west coast of Britain. They had murdered their commanding officers
and seized three war-galleys to embark on their escape. Their aim was to search for some sea route
first north, then eastward. back to their homelands beyond the Rhine. The emaciated survivors had reached northern
Germany on a single remaining ship, but they had been swiftly recaptured and returned to
Roman authorities on the Rhine Frontier. The survivors had told a remarkable story
of great daring and hardships, ferocious storms, sea raids and cannibalism. They were the living proof that some sort
of sea route existed around the northern coasts of Britain. Britain was confirmed to be an island - with
its furthest limits just beyond the contested highland zone. By coincidence rumours now reached Agricola
of a major uprising in the Highlands. In response Agricola called off the Irish
campaign and turned his full military force northward against this encroaching force of
Highland Celts. The Roman fleet joined with the land forces
to pursue the enemy into hostile territory, entering lochs and deep ocean inlets on the
western coast of Scotland. Tacitus reports:
Nowhere does the sea hold wider influence over land. The tidal currents flow this way and that. For the sea does not merely ebb and flow along
the coast, but it penetrates and winds its way deep inland, placing itself amidst the
ridges and mountains and forming its own domain […]
For the first time the fleet was employed as an integral part of the land army and ships
accompanied the campaign. The imposing façade of war was pushed forward
both by sea and land. Often Roman infantry, cavalry, and marines,
shared the same encampment, cheerfully taking the same meals. They would evaluate battles on land with victories
on the Ocean. Two years of difficult campaigning followed
before the Romans were able to inflict a serious defeat on their elusive enemy. Late in the summer of AD 83 Agricola led his
legions deep into the Highland wilderness to attack a major gathering of Caledonian
warriors at a site called Mons Graupius. With this victory, Agricola could claim that
Caledonia was finally subdued. And so he marched north with the legions to
find the bleak limits of the land. Under his orders the fleet based in the Clyde
estuary conducted its voyage of exploration northward to confirm the outer limits of the
British landmass by sea. And there, as winter was approaching, they
observed another island in the far north, beyond Britain. Surely the land encountered beyond these shores
must be the semi-mythical Thule? Perhaps bad weather prevented the fleet commander
from ordering a landing and organising a shore party. Or maybe he was reserving this honour for
Agrippa himself. Tacitus reports:
There is a vast irregular tract of land stretching out from the furthermost shore of Caledonia
and tapering to a kind of wedge. This was the first time that a Roman fleet
had circumnavigated this coast and crossed the remotest sea. They confirmed that Britain was indeed an
island. They also discovered and conquered a series
of previously unknown islands called the Orcades. Although they sighted Thule, no landing was
made, since no orders for this purpose had been issued and winter was approaching. The fleet reported that the sea in this region
was sluggish and heavy to the oars. They concluded that this was because deep
waters are not easily set in motion by the winds as they are in other seas. The land and mountains, which are the cause
of storms, are distant from this sea. So, the deep mass of the open ocean has a
far slower momentum. In the next campaign season the Romans might
have followed this chain of outer islands northward towards Iceland and the edge of
the Arctic Circle. But Agricola never undertook this venture. He was recalled from Britain and the fleet
never re-entered these remote seas. Further expansion had become impractical when
the Emperor Domitian recalled essential troops from Britain - urgently needed to defend the
threatened Danube frontier and protect long-established imperial possessions. Rome was on the defensive and it was the embattled
legions who watched the frontiers with fear and apprehension. The captured territories in Caledonia were
abandoned and Ireland was never added to the empire. Standing on a wet promontory above the Roman
fleet, after the battle of Mons Graupius, Gnaeus Julius Agricola had indeed stood at
the maritime edge of the habitable world - and it would remain that way for centuries afterwards. It is the second century AD. Roman civilisation has reached its greatest
achievements. Alexandria, the capital of Egypt, stands in
the centre of a vast world system that connects the most distant regions through vibrant commercial
networks. Hundreds of ships deliver thousands of tons
of Egyptian grain to Rome to feed a massive consumer population. But Alexandria also looks eastward, and its
merchants could reach southern India in just seventy days. The Emperor Trajan has restored an ancient
canal linking the Nile to the Suez Gulf. This allows travellers to avoid the hardships
of the Eastern Desert on their journeys to the Red Sea ports. Italy and India are connected by trade through
the great metropolis of Alexandria. In the great Library of Alexandria, Claudius
Ptolemy is redrawing and expanding the world-map devised by his predecessor Marinos of Tyre. Roman political and economic power has greatly
expanded classical geography and its merchants repeatedly pass what used to be the boundaries
of the known world. Unfortunately he has miscalculated the size
of the earth - reducing it to about 72% of actual size - his landmass measurements are
too large on this reduced globe and northern Britain extends too far into the Arctic Zone. Ptolemy therefore ‘adjusts’ Caledonia,
by making the northern part of Britain bend west-east. This is a minor change to a territory that
was no longer part of the Empire, but one consequence was that Shetland is pushed eastward
towards Scandinavia. But what about Thule? Ptolemy carefully reviews the map data collected
by Agricola. By all accounts Thule should be north of Britain,
so he therefore plots the coordinates of Shetland on his world map and labels this landmass
‘Thule’. The Romans had found and mapped their Thule
- and the credit went to Agricola. Advances in geographical knowledge were also
occurring on the eastern edges of the known world. A merchant sailor named Alexandros wrote a
new Periplus that outlined Roman voyages across the eastern Indian Ocean. Roman merchant ships now reached distant kingdoms
such as Burma and by following Indian sailing routes around the Malay Peninsula, they arrived
at the previously remote islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. Roman sailing records suggest that beast-like
satyrs inhabited these islands. These could be orangutans. Ancient Buddhist scriptures describe the early
settlement of these jungle-covered territories in Indonesia and beyond. The Romans called this distant sea the ‘Bay
of Sinai’ because some unknown route led north to the outer territories of Han China. The furthest location on these distant voyages
was a mysterious trade outpost known as Kattigara. Ptolemy records :
Marinos does not provide a distance in stades for the sail from the Golden Peninsula to
Kattigara. However, he does record that Alexandros had
written that the land from there curves south. Those who sail along it reach the city of
Zabai in twenty days and after sailing from Zabai northeast for few days they reach Kattigara. Perhaps Kattigara was an oriental city somewhere
on the coast of Vietnam. It could have been visited by Chinese merchants
from the nearby Han Empire which the Romans knew as Sinae. But Roman merchants were also extending classical
knowledge as they travelled eastwards along the more direct land-based Silk Routes to
China. In about AD 100, merchants were sent east
by an influential Roman businessman named Maes Titianus. They were granted passage through the rival
Parthian Empire which occupied Iran. Trekking through Bactria – ancient Afghanistan
– on trade routes across the powerful Kushan Empire, their destination was a trade outpost
close to the distant Pamir Mountains, known to merchants as ‘The Stone Tower’. Here caravans coming from Indian and Iranian
territories met with Tarim merchants and steppe traders. Bullion and rare substances were exchanged
at the Stone Tower for precious Chinese silk. The Roman merchants who reached the Stone
Tower in AD 100 seized the opportunity to travel onwards into the homelands of the mysterious
‘Seres’ – the ancient ‘Silk People’. Ptolemy records:
The route from the Stone Tower to the Seres is subject to extreme weather, so there must
have been numerous pauses in the journey. The route only became known through the opportunities
for commerce. Marinos records that one Maes, also known
as Titianus, a Macedonian and a merchant by family profession, recorded the distance. Maes did not travel the route himself but
sent agents to the Seres [the Chinese]. And so Ptolemy used the distances provided
by Maes to estimate the vast size of eastern Asia, and having settled upon the dimensions
of the land of the Seres, he turned his gaze...southwards. By this era Roman merchants, agents, and explorers,
had ventured further into Africa too in pursuit of profit, or on special imperial assignments. To estimate the southern extent of the known
world, Ptolemy consulted accounts of Roman trading voyages to a distant East African
trading station called Rhapta. Rhapta was on the coast of Tanzania, near
to the distant and mysterious island of Madagascar. Voyages along these coasts included sailings
throughout the night, along shores where the coast rose steeply upward to form desolate
cliffs. Rhapta was in the Southern Hemisphere, more
than 4,000 miles sailing from Alexandria. Details were confirmed by a Greek captain
named Diogenes who encountered a strong northern wind near the Horn of Africa and sailed south
to Rhapta in 25 days. Diogenes suggested that the true source of
the Nile might lie in this region, as there were reports of vast inland lakes – perhaps
Lake Victoria? Ptolemy writes:
Marinus records that the sailing between the Aromatic Promontory and Rhapta was undertaken
by a certain Diogenes. He was returning from India a second time
when he was driven south from the Promontory by a strong northern wind. He sailed south with Africa on his right for
twenty-five days till he reached a position near the lakes from which the Nile flows. In the 80s AD, the Emperor Domitian sent an
explorer team across the central Sahara. They crossed through Garamatic territory to
enter the Bush Savannas in the lands beyond. The explorers entered inner Africa and captured
a rare savannah rhino for display in Rome. Ptolemy describes how Julius Meternus spent
four-months on the outward journey to this enigmatic land of Agisymba. He writes:
Julius Maternus, travelled from Leptis Magna to Garamantia and accompanied its king on
an expedition to the Ethiopians. After marching south for four months they
reached Agisymba, in the Ethiopian country, where the rhinoceros congregate. The captive African rhino was transported
a thousand miles across savannah and desert, before being placed on a ship bound for Rome. There, in the newly built colosseum, Domitian’s
rhino thundered across the arena to impale bulls and destroy Caledonian bears. To the amazed spectators it was clear that
the emperor Domitian commanded animals that were superior to anything Agricola might have
encountered on the northern edge of Europe. The Roman crowd realised that the African
continent was extensive and its limits seem endless. And so, looking at their world maps the Greeks
and Romans had realised that the known earth covered only a fraction of the globe. Seneca wondered what undiscovered lands might
exist beyond the current reach of Rome. He remembered the arrival of the Sinhalese
envoys which permitted distant Sri Lanka to become a launching point for Roman voyages
out into a further unknown. Would the day come when the Empire could complete
its Atlantic conquests and reach across the western ocean to other undiscovered lands? He wrote:
There will come an age in future times when the Ocean shall unloose the bonds of knowledge. When the whole vast earth shall be discovered,
Tethys shall reveal new worlds and Thule will not be the limit of the known lands. Roman civilisation, through the exploits of
conquest and commerce, had discovered, accessed, revealed and mapped the Ancient World as they
knew it - but there was much more to be uncovered.
