Although remains of Pictish art, language and society can be found throughout north and eastern Scotland in many ways the Picts remain a mystery. Piecing together the available information to get an accurate picture of these people has been the cause of discussion and debate for many years. Any written records used to gain information can only be found from those who had little sympathy for the Picts, such as that from Angle or Roman sources. So they have to be viewed with great scepticism. Even the name Pict seems to appear for the first time in a Roman poem from the 3rd century AD.
Although the Picts were never conquered and drawn into the Roman Empire, it could be said that they had certain positive influences on Pictish society. In that the Roman invaders in southern areas of the British Isles and the threat they posed, brought together the Picts, who were until that time fragmented tribes and often in conflict with each other. This uniting for defensive purposes formed the Pictish lands into a fledgling kingdom.
