Our annals record that a large variety of prodigies

Our annals record that a large variety of prodigies had occurred in Albion a little before Galdus’ battle with the Romans. Flaming brands were seen to fly through the air, a great part of Caledonia appeared to be ablaze at night, but to be untroubled by fire in the daytime. Phantom ships appeared in the sky, in Athol it rained stones, and in Horestia there was a torrential downpour of frogs. At Tulina, a town I have already mentioned, a hermaphrodite was born, a foul monster in every respect, and was put to death lest it offend men’s eyes. These prodigies troubled many men’s minds and divided their opinions: as happens in such situations, some put a good interpretation on them, and others a bad. When these happy Roman success in Albion were reported to Domitian Caesar in dispatches of senior officers with the army, although he feigned a happy expression, they deeply troubled his fretful heart. For the emperor exceedingly disliked having a private man’s reputation, fame, and glory extolled above his own. And so, after many honors had been heaped on Agricola by decree of the senate, he sent a letter recalling him to Rome, as if to replace the dead Attilius Ruffus, a man of consular rank, as legate of Syria. But once in Rome, he died not long thereafter, as rumor had it, thanks to Caesar’s machinations. But while still alive, he had handed over the province to Gnaeus Trebellius, Domitian’s new appointee, prior to his departure. Up to this point, Roman affairs had been prosperous, but a little after Agricola’s departure they went into a decline.

Hector Boece. Historia gentis scotorum, IV, 58.