Roman invasion of Caledonia 208 – 210 The Roman invasion of Caledonia launched in 208 by the Roman emperor Septimius Severus . The invasion lasted until 210 when the emperor became ill in late 210 and died at Eboracum ( modern day York ) in 4 February 211 . The war started well for the Romans with Severus managing to quickly reach the Antonine Wall , but when Severus pushed north into the highlands he became bogged down in a Guerrilla war and he was never able to fully subjugate Caledonia . He reoccupied many forts built by Agricola over 100 years previously , following the Battle of Mons Graupius , and crippled the ability of the Caledonians to raid Roman Britain . The invasion was abandoned by Severus ' son Caracalla and Roman forces once again withdrew to Hadrian ' s Wall . Background . Earlier attempts to invade Caledonia included the most successful of which was Agricola ' s invasions in the 1st century AD , but ended after the Romans withdrew - a large part of the army was transferred to the Danube to fight the Dacian War s . The cause of Severus ' invasion of Caledonia ( modern day Scotland ) was a massive increase in raids and attacks on Roman Britain . This was possible because in 195 Clodius Albinus , the Roman Governor of Britain , had led most of the British legions into Gaul during his revolt against Severus . Severus had sent them back to their posts after defeating Albinus , but they had suffered large casualties at the Battle of Lugdunum . This left Hadrian ' s Wall undermanned and made it easy for the Caledonians to raid into Roman Britain . The Caledonians were also able to gather more men for these raids than before as there is evidence of increased cooperation among the different northern tribes . Invasion of Caledonia . In 208 Severus arrived in Britain with around 40 , 000 men and marched north to Hadrian ' s Wall . Once at Hadrian ' s Wall Severus initiated a massive rebuilding project which finally made the whole wall into stone ( before the western portion had been mostly turf and timber ) ; this led to later Romans calling Hadrian ' s Wall the Severan Wall . After starting the project Severus marched north and occupied all the land between Hadrian ' s Wall and the Antonine Wall . After completing the occupation Severus began another reconstruction project but this time on the Antonine Wall . In 209 Severus led his army north into the highlands and roughly marched the same way Agricola had invaded over 100 years before . Severus suffered heavy casualties due to the guerrilla tactics used by the Caledonians . Because of this Severus began a plan of holding down all the territory he could by the reoccupation of many of Agricola ' s old forts and devastating all the territory he couldn ' t . This led to many of the tribes attempting to reach a peace agreement with Severus because of fear of extinction through Roman genocide . Peace talks failed and it looked as if the war would continue until all the tribes had submitted to Rome or been exterminated . In early 210 Severus ' son Caracalla led a punitive expedition north of the Antonine wall with the intention of killing everyone he came across and looting and burning everything of value . The plan was for Severus to follow his son ' s army and permanently occupy all of Caledonia . In 210 Severus became ill and went to York to rest and recover . He kept getting worse until 4 February 211 when he died . Caracalla then called off the war against the Caledonians and headed back to Rome to consolidate his power . The Romans never campaigned deep into Caledonia again : they soon withdrew south permanently to Hadrian ' s Wall . Cassius Dio ' s account of the invasion . " Severus , accordingly , desiring to subjugate the whole of it , invaded Caledonia . But as he advanced through the country he experienced countless hardships in cutting down the forests , levelling the heights , filling up the swamps , and bridging the rivers ; but he fought no battle and beheld no enemy in battle array . The enemy purposely put sheep and cattle in front of the soldiers for them to seize , in order that they might be lured on still further until they were worn out ; for in fact the water caused great suffering to the Romans , and when they became scattered , they would be attacked . Then , unable to walk , they would be slain by their own men , in order to avoid capture , so that a full fifty thousand died . But Severus did not desist until he approached the extremity of the island . Here he observed most accurately the variation of the sun ' s motion and the length of the days and the nights in summer and winter respectively . Having thus been conveyed through practically the whole of the hostile country ( for he actually was conveyed in a covered litter most of the way , on account of his infirmity ) , he returned to the friendly portion , after he had forced the Britons to come to terms , on the condition that they should abandon a large part of their territory . " [ 38 ] Legacy . Although Caracalla withdrew from all the territory taken during the war the war did have some practical benefits for the Romans . These include the rebuilding of Hadrian ' s Wall which once again became the border of Roman Britain . The war also lead to the reinforcing of the British frontier which had been in dire need of reinforcements . The war also lead to the weakening of the various Caledonian tribes and it would take many years for them to recover their strength and begin raiding in strength .