Many books have been written about Scotland - its history, its people, its culture, its reputation in the old and the modern world. Most of the writers were, of course, Scotsmen or Scotswoman - or people who had a family or hereditary connection with Scotland.

Actually, the first known book to be written about Scotland was not written by a Scottish person at all. It was written by a Roman; his name was Tacitus. His book was entitled: "The Life of Julius Agricola", and it was written in Latin. Agricola was Tacitus' father-in-law and a great Roman General. Agricola was the first man who tried to conquer the country lying to the north of the Cheviot Hills and the Solway Firth that we now know as Scotland.

How did Agricola come to lead his soldiers to a land that was so far away from his own sunny Italian peninsula? This is how it happened......