The Irish, whom the Romans called "Scotti" (but who called themselves Gaels), had raided and settled along the West Coast of Roman Britain, and numbers were allowed to settle within the province, where the Roman Army recruited many Irish into auxiliary units that were dispatched to the German frontier. The Attacotti, who were similarly recruited into the Roman army, may also have been Irish settlers in Britain (the movement between Ireland and the classical Britain may have been two-way as similarities between the Medieval accounts of Túathal Teachtmar and archaeological evidence indicate that the Romans may have supported the invasion and conquest of Ireland by Irish exiles from Britain with the hopes of establishing a friendly ruler who could halt the raiding of Britain by the Irish. Some historians have also suggested that the Cruthin of the north of Ireland may have been Picts.). Following the withdrawal of the Roman army, the Irish began increasing their footholds in Britain, with part of the north-West of the island annexed within the Irish kingdom of Dál Riata. In time, the Irish colonies became independent, merged with the Pictish kingdom, and formed the basis of modern Scotland.