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33
business of survival much as they had always done. What changes the Roman
years had brought showed mainly in the Kingdoms south of the crumbing
rampart and burnt-out forts of the Antonine Wall.
The Great Alliance
The Irish, the Picts and the Saxons from the continent would unite a great
alliance of tribes against the Romans. Never before had such a plan been dared.
Its success would depend on surprise and no warning must be allowed to reach
the Romans. The Arcani, which was a kind of Roman secret service, was bribed
to report nothing. And so the garrison never suspected that the warrior chieftains
of the northern tribes were mustering their men and moving quietly south.
In Ireland powerful fleets of hide-covered curraghs raised their red sails and
slipped out of their haven to bear eastwards for Britain. To the unguarded coast
line of Yorkshire came other craft, their high prows cutting white furrows
through the water. They were manned perhaps by Saxons, whose main fleet was
further South, or perhaps by the Picts themselves coasting down past the eastern
end of the wall.
No hint of the approaching danger reached the defenders. The timing was
exact. By land and by sea, the raiders struck with lightning speed. The Picts
swept down on the wall and carried it on the first rush. The ships of their allies
crunched on to the shingle and sand of unprotected beaches up and down both
coastlines and the seaborne warriors thrust inwards. Too late the warning
beacons were lit and the alarm rose.
The first word to reach Fullofaudes, commander-in-Chief of the Roman army
was of the disaster of the wall. Not realizing the tremendous weight and speed of
the Pictish advance, he rushed from his head quarters at York to restore order
almost the garrison. He was ambushed and captured before reaching his
destination. Nectaridus, Commander-in-Chief of the coastal region, was killed in
an early engagement
33 business of survival much as they had always done. What changes the Roman years had brought showed mainly in the Kingdoms south of the crumbing rampart and burnt-out forts of the Antonine Wall. The Great Alliance The Irish, the Picts and the Saxons from the continent would unite a great alliance of tribes against the Romans. Never before had such a plan been dared. Its success would depend on surprise and no warning must be allowed to reach the Romans. The Arcani, which was a kind of Roman secret service, was bribed to report nothing. And so the garrison never suspected that the warrior chieftains of the northern tribes were mustering their men and moving quietly south. In Ireland powerful fleets of hide-covered curraghs raised their red sails and slipped out of their haven to bear eastwards for Britain. To the unguarded coast line of Yorkshire came other craft, their high prows cutting white furrows through the water. They were manned perhaps by Saxons, whose main fleet was further South, or perhaps by the Picts themselves coasting down past the eastern end of the wall. No hint of the approaching danger reached the defenders. The timing was exact. By land and by sea, the raiders struck with lightning speed. The Picts swept down on the wall and carried it on the first rush. The ships of their allies crunched on to the shingle and sand of unprotected beaches up and down both coastlines and the seaborne warriors thrust inwards. Too late the warning beacons were lit and the alarm rose. The first word to reach Fullofaudes, commander-in-Chief of the Roman army was of the disaster of the wall. Not realizing the tremendous weight and speed of the Pictish advance, he rushed from his head quarters at York to restore order almost the garrison. He was ambushed and captured before reaching his destination. Nectaridus, Commander-in-Chief of the coastal region, was killed in an early engagement
