Galgacus on roman imperialism essay

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Public domain image from Wikipedia. In the year 83 AD, the legions of the Roman Empire advanced into the mountains of Caledonia — what we would now call the Scottish Highlands. The warriors who came together to meet them in battle came from many different tribes, unified to some extent by their Celtic language but primarily by their mutual refusal to be conquered by Empire.

The Roman historian Tacitus, in his description of the battle, reports a stirring speech by the Caledonian chieftain Calgacus: But there are no tribes beyond us, nothing indeed but waves and rocks, and the yet more terrible Romans, from whose oppression escape is vainly sought by obedience and submission.

Robbers of the world, having by their universal plunder exhausted the land, they rifle the deep. If the enemy be rich, they are rapacious; if he be poor, they lust for dominion; neither the east nor the west has been able to satisfy them.

Alone among men they covet with equal eagerness poverty and riches. To robbery, slaughter, plunder, they give the lying name of empire; they make a solitude and call it peace. Crime on a large enough scale to declare itself the law. Most people, then as now, would rather just live their lives and not have to deal with people depraved enough to want to rule and exploit everyone else.

Few in number, dismayed by their ignorance, looking around upon a sky, a sea, and forests which are all unfamiliar to them; hemmed in, as it were, and enmeshed, the Gods have delivered them into our hands.

According to the Romans, the Caledonians suffered a crushing defeat at Mons Graupius despite their confidence, but it must have been a curious sort of defeat, because the Caledonians remained the last of the free.

Rather than advancing to conquer and administer Caledonia, the Romans withdrew to the south and later built fortified walls to keep the Caledonians out.

Over time, the unconquered tribes to the north of the Roman walls became known as the Picts. No one can say for sure who the Picts really were.

I feel that I have a better sense now of who the Picts must have been, but the answer was not provided by any Celtic scholar. An Anarchist History of Southeast Asia has changed my entire understanding of Celtic history, of history in general, and of what the State really is.

It has also changed my understanding of how we can liberate ourselves and our world. Highlanders The Zomia Highlands is a vast region of mountains in Southeast Asia, most of which was effectively outside the control of any state for the past two thousand or so years. Down in the valleys, among the rice farmers, states came and went as they always have.

Up in the mountains, among the hill tribes, there were not only no states but often no concept of hierarchical leadership at all. Some tribes did have chiefs and elite family groups, but others did not.

For instance, the Kumlao Kachin people refused to acknowledge the authority of any leaders, and had no chiefs even at the village level.

The Lisu had village headmen, but granted them no coercive authority and told many stories about headmen who were murdered for telling other people what to do too often. The peoples of the valley states usually interpreted the hill tribes as barbaric or primitive, holdovers from an earlier stage of human development.

Scott No pre-modern state could exist without concentrating huge numbers of people in the richest agricultural areas where they could be taxed, conscripted and controlled. They did so through slavery, through violence, and through the establishment of armies.

Once this fact is understood, we can see even the earliest states for what they really were — organized criminal enterprises. At the same time, no state could prevent people from running for the hills if they decided to do so.

Before the modern era, no state was powerful enough to assert its authority effectively in remote and mountainous areas. In the British Isles, the Scottish Highlanders were outside the control of central authority until In the Zomia Highlands, most of the tribes were outside the control of central authority until after World War II, and to some extent a few of them still are.

While the original Caledonians were probably just the people who already lived in the Scottish Highlands, there were probably huge numbers of refugees from the original conquest, from the failed uprising of Boudicca, from the civil war among the Brigantes.

I think the Picts came into existence as a maroon people, a mix of native Caledonians and Britons fleeing Roman oppression. Many indigenous cultures are and have been largely homogenous, but there are some interesting exceptions to this in border regions.Galgacus: On Roman Imperialism Essay - Publius (Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman historian and senator who wrote several historical documents, including some discussing ancient Britain.

In approximately 98 CE, Tacitus wrote a particular document called, “Galgacus: On Roman Imperialism,” which focused on a speech supposedly delivered by. “On Roman Imperialism” by Galgacus (84 C. E.) “Whenever I consider the origin of this war and the necessities of our position, I have a sure confidence that this day, and this union of yours, will be the beginning of freedom to the whole of Britain.

Galgacus: On Roman Imperialism Essay Words 6 Pages Publius (Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman historian and senator who wrote several historical documents, including some . Publius (Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman historian and senator who wrote several historical documents, including some discussing ancient Britain.

In approximately 98 CE, Tacitus wrote a particular document called, “Galgacus: On Roman Imperialism,” which focused on a speech supposedly. Primary Sources. Online Collections of Sources about Western Civilization.

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Last of the Free, First of the Free. gilbride September 15, 4 Comments. Calgacus speaking to the Caledonians. Public domain image from Wikipedia. In the year 83 AD, the legions of the Roman Empire advanced into the mountains of Caledonia – what we would now .