[110] This extraordinary expedition, according to Dio, set out from the western side of the island. They therefore must have coasted all that part of Scotland, must have passed the intricate navigation through the Hebrides, and the dangerous strait of Pentland Firth, and, after coming round to the eastern side, must have been driven to the mouth of the Baltic Sea, Here they lost their ships; and, in their attempt to proceed homeward by land, were seized as pirates, part by the Suevi, and the rest by the Frisii. [111] The year of Rome 837, A.D. 84. [112] The scene of this celebrated engagement is by Gordon (Itin. Septent.) supposed to be in Strathern, near a place now called the Kirk of Comerie, where are the remains of two Roman camps. Mr. Pennant, however, in his Tour in 1772, part ii. p. 96, gives reasons which appear well founded for dissenting from Gordon's opinion. [113] The more usual spelling of this name is Galgacus; but the other is preferred as of better authority. [114] "Peace given to the world" is a very frequent inscription on the Roman medals. [115] It was the Roman policy to send the recruits raised in the provinces to some distant country, for fear of their desertion or revolt. [116] How much this was the fate of the Romans themselves, when, in the decline of the empire, they were obliged to pay tribute to the surrounding barbarians, is shown in lively colors by Salvian:--"We call that a gift which is a purchase, and a purchase of a condition the most hard and miserable. For all captives, when they are once redeemed, enjoy their liberty: we are continually paying a ransom, yet are never free."--De Gubern. Dei, vi. [118] The expedition of Claudius into Britain was in the year of Rome 796, from which to the period of this engagement only forty-two years were elapsed. The number fifty therefore is given oratorically rather than accurately.