Those of you who know me, or who have pored over every word of the “About Us” page on my website to find out more about my pretty boring and uneventful but on the whole quite pleasant utterly fascinating and glamorous life, will know that I live at the northernmost reaches of the Ancient Roman Empire. In Bearsden (pronouced like the animals and the place where they live), to be precise, through which the Antonine Wall runs.
This photo shows the snow-covered ruins of the the Roman Bathhouse at 1pm yesterday (the sun is low in the sky here in Scotland in wintertime, hence the long shadows).
I wonder what conditions were like for the soldiers? What was the Scottish weather like then — does anybody know?
By Marian Dougan
Published by Marian Dougan
Marian is a translator and editor (specialising in web content) currently based in Glasgow, Scotland. Marian previously lived in Italy for over 20 years, working as a language teacher, translator and policy analyst with the British Embassy in Rome. A qualified member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) and its Italian-language and ITI Scotnet networks, she is currently Scotnet's Convenor and Deputy Webmaster.
From 2003 to 2006 Marian taught translation skills at the Italian Department of Glasgow University and now gives Master Classes as part of the new Masters in Translation Studies course. She also conducts web-writing and usability workshops to help people improve their websites and communicate more effectively with their readers, users and customers. In September 2014 Marian obtained User Experience Certification, with specialisation in Web Design, from the Nielsen Norman Group.
She loves language, especially English, and is convinced that learning languages opens up people’s minds and horizons (and increases their brainpower!). To share her enthusiasm, she advises schools and educational authorities on language skills and enterprise. She gives talks to pupils on how to combine language studies with other subjects and so enhance their potential and increase their career options.
Marian is an active member of organisations such as: Scottish Council Development and Industry (SCDI); Association of Scottish Businesswomen; Dunbartonshire Chamber of Commerce and the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Scotland.
She also loves architecture, design, fashion (British Vogue!), cities and chocolate. She’s a great fan of Twitter and you can also find her on Linkedin.
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Yipes. And those Roman soldiers wore skirts too! No wonder they never got that far north.
Here was me expecting illumination from some historical climatologist (climatological historian). And what do I get? Men in skirts.
They clearly weren’t made of stern enough stuff.
I don’t think you can see the ruins at all today, by the way, after Monday’s snowfall.