It has to be said that the Emperor's recent expedition was of a more recreational than military bent, but the terrain was certainly challenging and the Imperial forces camped under canvas like the armies of old.
The troops were well provisioned; lacked for nothing in fact and the camp was in high spirits.
The beautiful beaches and strange characters found on them, were a wonder to the Emperor who had led his armies to the farthest and uncharted shores of the North.
A long and arduous progression through the most mountainous of terrain, saw the Emperor safely marshal his forces back to civilisation.
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*One is reminded of of the Roman general Agricola , who in c.82AD made a concerted attempt to subdue the Northern lands of the Caledonian Tribes. Its fair to say the locals were not cooperative:
"We, the choicest flower of Britain's manhood, were hidden away in her most
secret places. Out of sight of subject shores, we kept even our eyes free from
the defilement of tyranny. We, the most distant dwellers upon earth, the last of
the free, have been shielded till today by our very remoteness and by the
obscurity in which it has shrouded our name. Now, the farthest bounds of Britain
lie open to our enemies; and what men know nothing about they always assume to
be a valuable prize. But there are no more nations beyond us; nothing is there but waves and rocks ... "
[Tacitus, Agricola, 30. Dramatic words of the Caledonian War Chief Calgacus, as imagined by the Historian Tacitus]
