At the time they began to colonize Dál Riata, the only other people living in the far north of Britain were the Picts. They occupied the eastern part of Scotland north of what is now Edinburgh. About A.D. 297 they were mentioned by Roman writers regarding an attack along Hadrian's Wall. Even at this early period the Romans encountered Irish "Scotti" assisting the Picts even though they had not yet moved there permanently. So the two groups were seen by the Romans to be allies. How Dál Riata in Scotland was seen as a colony still controlled from Ireland is not clear to modern historians. 