In 210AD, faced with yet another revolt from the people north of the Antonine Wall (Think Scots), Emperor Septimus Severus had had enough. He used Homer for inspiration.
In York, as he addressed the biggest ever fighting force ever to arrive in Britain, Severus said: “No we are not going to leave a single one of them alive, down to the babies in their mother’s wombs, not even they must live.
“The whole people must be wiped out of existence with none to shed a tear for them, leaving no trace.”
With Severus, by now in his early 60s and too ill to fight, he gave military command to his “slightly psychotic” son Caracalla to deal with the Northern Britons, Dr Elliott said.
And so the Romans went north, and after a hard, brutal campaign, depopulated a significant area north of their walls. Cross border attacks from the north stopped for decades.
For the Romans, such genocide was not usual. The troops liked to take slaves to be sold, putting some money in their purses.
In 210AD, faced with yet another revolt from the people north of the Antonine Wall (Think Scots), Emperor Septimus Severus had had enough. He used Homer for inspiration.
In York, as he addressed the biggest ever fighting force ever to arrive in Britain, Severus said: “No we are not going to leave a single one of them alive, down to the babies in their mother’s wombs, not even they must live.
“The whole people must be wiped out of existence with none to shed a tear for them, leaving no trace.”
With Severus, by now in his early 60s and too ill to fight, he gave military command to his “slightly psychotic” son Caracalla to deal with the Northern Britons, Dr Elliott said.
https://www.scotsman.Com/heritage-and-retro/heritage/the-attempt-to-conquer-scotland-with-an-order-for-genocide-2923834
And so the Romans went north, and after a hard, brutal campaign, depopulated a significant area north of their walls. Cross border attacks from the north stopped for decades.
For the Romans, such genocide was not usual. The troops liked to take slaves to be sold, putting some money in their purses.