Picts, the celestial warriors who opposed Rome

In 55 BC, the powerful Gaius Julius Caesar landed in the British Isles to begin a process of conquest and settlement that would last for years and end with the victory of Rome and the subjugation of the Celtic and British tribes that inhabited the archipelago. 

Caledonia, the Roman name for the territory that currently corresponds to Scotland, was inhabited by an indomitable people who would not only put the invader on the ropes but would also manage to resist until the fall of the latter. They were the Picts, people who are lost in the fog of time.

Origin

It was the historian Eumenius who, in the third century, used the word 'picti' to refer to the people who were causing them so much trouble. The term comes from Latin and can be translated as "painting" or "painted" and it is believed that they were given this name because of the custom they had of painting their bodies in blue tones for battle.

The truth is that the origin of the Picts is practically unknown since there are not many archaeological remains. Although it is true that they bore similarities to the Celtic people, the most widespread theory defends that the Picts would have predated the other Celtic peoples, being the descendants of prehistoric peoples who had settled there or travellers from Asia Minor. The Pictish language has been lost, and although it is often related to the Celtic language, historical documents suggest that it was a different language that would eventually be replaced by Gaelic.

Society, economy and religion

The Picts were organized in independent tribes, with a predominantly male hierarchy but in which women played a major role. Inheritance was passed on from mothers to daughters. They participated in the economy and political decisions and accompanied men to war to fight. In their society, there was also the figure of the druid as a spiritual leader. They lived in villages made up of stone houses dug into the ground called 'Weems' and circular towers or 'brochs'. Their economy was based mainly on cattle raising, fishing and, to a lesser extent, agriculture due to the harshness of the land.

Although they generally lived in peace and the various tribes often interacted with each other, traded and even joined together through marriages, wars and small skirmishes were also very common. When tribes were united and became very numerous it was usually because a warlord was chosen to command them and act as king. These great alliances were formed to face a common enemy, as was the case with the Romans and would later happen with the Vikings.

Like the Celts, the religion of the Picts was animistic and polytheistic, probably a variant of the Celtic. The main manifestation of their faith (at least the one that is still preserved) was performed through huge stones and menhirs in which symbols and sacred animals were engraved.

In times of war

In combat, the Picts were brave and brutal people. They threw themselves into battle armed with short swords, spears, bucklers (circular shaped shields) and slings to attack from a distance, although they considered this to be a symbol of cowardice. The representations that have come down to us from them lead us to think that they fought almost without protection, the little armour they wore being leather and doing so in many cases with their chests uncovered to demonstrate their courage.

They did not know the main combat formations, so they used to resort to surprise attacks and ambushes in which they killed as many enemies as possible and disappeared over the rugged terrain of Scotland. When they were in battle, a decision that usually brought them problems, they attacked in a disorganized way in big groups and giving a lot of weight to their light chariots thrown by horses that allowed them to drive and fight with their lance.

Although their economy was based on raising cattle, they made incursions to the south with the arrival of spring and these became a real problem for the Romans, who were suffocated by the constant attacks and inefficiency of their legions to fight the small Pictish guerrillas. This harassment led Rome to build Hadrian's Wall (122-132 AD), which crossed the island from east to west, and Antoninus' Wall further north.

Although there were certain periods of peace between the Picts and Rome, the warrior tribes kept up their pressure on the invaders with their raids and sackings and this caused some governors to launch great missions of conquest to subdue the Picts. Perhaps the best known are those carried out by Cneus Julius Agricola, who was the governor of Britain from the year 77 and devoted his efforts to stabilise the northern border. In 1982 he led a huge army against the Pictish leader Calgacus ("the man of the sword"), a warlord whose historical figure is mixed with legends. Agricola won a great victory at the battle of Mons Graupius, but his achievement was lost when Domitian sent him into forced exile and ordered his assassination. The momentum gained after the battle faded and the Picts prevailed again.

Another notable incursion was that of Septimius Severus, which began as an attempt to recover and reinforce the border (limes) of Rome in the north of the islands and ended in failure and retreat. Septimius' son, Caracalla, abandoned his father's project.

The arrival of the escotos

From the fifth century, Scottish tribes (Ireland was called Scotia by the Romans) began to settle on the southwestern shores of present-day Scotland and formed the kingdom of Dalriada. The new arrivals joined the Picts to face the Romans in their last moments on the islands and generally had good relations with each other. Little by little, both cultures mixed through marriages and military alliances and even established Gaelic as a common language.

By the 9th century, hordes of Vikings were devastating the coasts of the British Isles and the Picts, clearly outnumbered, once again allied themselves with the increasingly numerous and better-organised escorts. In 843, Kenneth MacAlpin became the first king of the unified Pictish and Scottish territory, which was to be called Alba and became what is now Scotland (the land of the Scots). The Picts, who fought so fiercely against the Romans to maintain their independence, eventually disappeared when they were absorbed by another culture but their name remained in the legends and whispering winds of the Highlands.