In the 1st century AD, armies led by the Roman general Julius Agricola invaded Caledonia, annexing part of what is now Scotland, then inhabited by the warring Pictish tribes. Two thousand years after these events, archaeologists have brought to light the road built by the legionnaires, a Roman road, considered one of the most important communication routes in Scottish history.
The discovery occurred during some excavations in the garden of the Old Cottage Inn, a 17th-century country house located a few kilometers west of the city center of Stirling, the ancient capital of Scotland. Located in an area of great strategic importance, the artery was originally intended to connect with a causeway crossing the River Forth, thus facilitating the march of the legions into Caledonia.
Precisely because of its position, even in the centuries after Agricola's conquests, this road was used again by the emperors Antoninus Pius and Septimius Severus (2nd-3rd century AD) during their military campaigns on Scottish soil. Commenting on the discovery, researchers carrying out the work on behalf of the Stirling district argue that the find is of great importance to understanding the Roman occupation of Scotland. Until today, in fact, the route of the road was not confirmed by archaeological evidence.
According to the researchers, the role of the crossroads in question was of fundamental importance in Scottish history. In the south, the road ran towards the town of Falkirk, located halfway between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and then reached England, while in the north it traversed the rugged mountainous terrain of the Highlands arriving at a ford on the River Tay, in the which was once the northern border of the Roman Empire.
With the end of the occupation of the city, between the 2nd and 3rd centuries, the communication route created by the Romans did not stop being used. Indeed, during the Middle Ages and Renaissance it was traversed by key figures in British history: from William the Conqueror and MacBeth of Scotland (11th century) to Oliver Cromwell (17th century) and Henry VIII (16th century of), passing through heroes such as William Wallace and Robert The Bruce (13th-14th century), was an almost obligatory route for all generals and sovereigns who decided to enter the Highlands.
The road built by Agricola in the far north of the imperial dominions was only one of countless roads created by Rome in antiquity.
The city's road system was similar to a dense network that crossed the three continents in which its political and military influence extended; Europe, Asia and Africa.
The design of these marvels of ancient engineering was assigned to specialists who, to limit them, traced two furrows on the sides, perfectly laying the ground and then placed several layers of materials such as clay, stone, lime, crushed stone and stucco, covered with polished stone slabs. Routes included bridges, tunnels, sidewalks, sewers, and milestones to determine distances from start and finish points. All this, built so skillfully, that it resisted for many centuries even after the fall of the Roman Empire. (A2 Televizion)
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