The Scots Invasion

The army marched along, trampling the daisies underfoot.

Gaius Tedious was a settler in Brittanica, a land recently invaded by his fellow ROmans. They had taken over from the Celts, who were very uncivilised, unorganised and easily beaten.

But then came the Scots from the north. They were battling the Roman garrisons until Emperor Hadrian thought to build a wall to keep them out. Now the Scots didn't bother the Roman settlers.

Gaius sighed. His job was to oversee the slaves who treated the clothes with urine and water. He hated seeing people do that sort of work - slaves or not. But it was the only way he got money.

Gaius' home was a lavishly decorated place. Tapestries and soft silks hung from the walls. The floor was smothered under a layer of expensive carpets.

Gaius was uneasy. There had been rumours that the Scots had been banding together for an assault on Hadrian's walls. This seemed likely since the Scots hated the Romans and the Scots hadn't done anything for a long time.

Gaius was slowly going out of business because all the people were preparing for war and didn't care about the cleanliness of their clothes. Also increasing numbers of people were joining the Roman Army so they were sent off to the training grounds.

The next day, news came direct from the Roman army; the Scots had broken through Hadrian's wall! A large war party of Scots was headed towards the settlement where Gaius lived.

Gaius decided to help prepare for war by helping the blacksmith make tools of war. He helped make spears and swords as the Scots approached.

The Roman Army marched along, trampling the daisies underfoot.

The Romans faced the Scots a few kilometres from the settlement. It was a long and bloody battle, with charges by the angry Scots and turtle manoeuvres by the Romans.  One side eventually lost.

Gaius heard the cries of "they're coming back!" and stuck his head out the window. His heart sank as he saw the unorganised way that they came.

Gaius shouted, "The Scots are coming!" and ran.

Gaius didn't pause to gather up all his decorations, because he knew they would just slow him down. If the Scots got him, then he just had to hope that the rumours weren't true.

Gaius had just left the village when cries erupted from the other side of it. Spurred on by adrenalin, he ran towards the horizon.

When Gaius reached the sea, in the evening, it became apparent that he was in luck. A garrison was leaving on a galley to get reinforcements and they had just started loading the supplies. Gaius waited until night.

When Gaius heard the faint sounds of the Scots coming, he stowed himself away on the boat. When the Romans saw the Scots, they ran back to the ship and launched it.

The Scots swam after the ship, howling and screaming, until it was just a speck on the horizon.