In the latter part of the third century we found the Highlanders
spoken of under a new name, _Picti_, which the Roman historians
at least, undoubtedly understood to be the Latin word meaning
‘painted,’[34] and which all the best modern writers believe to
have been imposed by the Romans themselves, from the fact that the
indomitable Caledonians had retained the custom of self-painting
after all the Romanized Britons had given it up. There is the
strongest probability that the Caledonians spoken of as Picts by
Eumenius were the same as the Caledonians of Tacitus, or that the
Caledonians and Picts were the same people under different names.
The immediate cause for this change of name we have no means of
ascertaining. It is in every way improbable that the Picts were a
new people, who had come in upon the Caledonians, and supplanted
them some time after Agricola’s invasion. The Romans were constantly
coming into contact with the Caledonians from the time of Agricola
till they abandoned Britain entirely, and had such a supplantation
taken place, it certainly could not have been done quietly, and
without the cognizance of the Romans. But we find no mention in any
contemporary historian of any such commotion, and we know that the
inhabitants of the Highlands never ceased to harass the British
provincials, showing that they were not much taken up with any
internal disturbance. Indeed, writers who adopt the most diverse
opinions on other points in connection with the Pictish question are
all agreed as to this, that the Caledonians and Picts were the same
people.[35]
We learn further from our authorities, that towards the end of the
fourth century the inhabitants of Caledonia were known to the Romans
under the names of Dicaledones and Vecturiones, it being conjectured
that these correspond to the Caledonians and Mæats of Dio, and the
Northern and Southern Picts of a later period. The connection of the
latter part of the word Di-caledones with _Caledonii_ is evident,
although the significance of the first syllable is doubtful,--some
authorities conjecturing that it is the Gaelic word _du_, meaning
“genuine.” It appears at all events to be established that during
the early history of the Highlands, whatever other divisions may
have existed among the inhabitants, those dwelling to the north
and those dwelling to the south of the Grampians were two separate
confederacies, and were known by distinct names.
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