| History of Scotland | |
|---|---|
This article is part of a series |
|
| Eras | |
| Prehistoric (timeline) | |
| During the Roman Empire | |
| Early Middle Ages | |
| High Middle Ages | |
| Late Middle Ages | |
| Early Modern | |
| Modern | |
| History (timeline) | |
| Dynasties and Regimes | |
| House of Alpin (843–878; 889–1040) | |
| House of Moray (1040–1058) | |
| House of Dunkeld (1058–1286) | |
| House of Balliol (1292–1296) | |
| House of Bruce (1306–1371) | |
| House of Stuart (1371–1707) | |
| Acts of Union 1707 | |
| Topics | |
| Scandinavian Scotland | |
| Wars of independence | |
| Reformation | |
| Enlightenment | |
| Clans • The Scots language | |
| Colonization of the Americas | |
| Economic history | |
| Military history | |
| Maritime history | |
| History of education | |
| Historiographical perspectives | |
| Natural history | |
| Culture: Literature • Art • The Kilt | |
| Politics: Devolution • Local government • Scottish National Party • Scottish Socialist Party | |
| Sport: Football • Rugby union • National football team | |
| Religion: Christianity • Scottish Episcopal Church • Jews and Judaism | |
| By region: Edinburgh timeline • Glasgow timeline | |
|
Scotland Portal |
The term, Glenblocker fort, sometimes also called the Highland line fort[1] is used to describe members of a line of Roman forts along the Highland Line in Scotland. The forts all share the common characteristic that they are close to the mouth of a glen (a narrow valley) or a strath (a broad valley) and can thus supervise traffic.
All of the forts were originally built during the Flavian occupation in Scotland. The group consists of
It is debatable, whether Cardean, Stracathro and Doune should be listed among these, as they are sited further away from their respective traffic corridors, but fulfill the same function.
It has traditionally been thought that these forts were meant to prevent invasions out of the Scottish Highand into Roman held territory.[2] This is ultimately probably their aim, but they were never meant to operate in isolation but in cooperation with the other forts on the Gask Ridge and along Strathmore, as only the legionary fortress of Inchtuthil with 5000-6000 soldiers would have been strong enough to deal with a major incursions. The smaller forts are more likely to serve as a disincentive to small scale raiding parties etc.,[3]