11-18-2004, 11:21 PM
I usually find that Tony Birley is the best source of answers to questions like this.<br>
In fact, in his <em>Officers of the Second Augustan Legion in Britain</em> (Third Annual Caerleon Lecture, Cardiff 1990), he writes (pp.10f.):<br>
Quote:</em></strong><hr>Only Tacitus supplies us with the story of the camp prefect at the time of Boudica's rebellion, Poenius Postumus, who took his own life from shame after failing to respond to Paullinus' call for help (Tacitus, <em>Annals</em> XIV, 37). As has been observed (R. Syme, <em>Tacitus</em>, 1958, 764f.), the fact that the camp prefect was evidently the senior officer at the legion's base allows the inference that not only the legate but also the <em>tribunus laticlavius</em>, his second in command, were absent, presumably already with Paullinus. Since we know that Julius Agricola was attached to the governor's staff, perhaps he was the senatorial tribune of <em>II Augusta</em> at the time of the great revolt. But no certainty is possible.<hr><br>
A long shot, but an interesting possibility. <p></p><i></i>
In fact, in his <em>Officers of the Second Augustan Legion in Britain</em> (Third Annual Caerleon Lecture, Cardiff 1990), he writes (pp.10f.):<br>
Quote:</em></strong><hr>Only Tacitus supplies us with the story of the camp prefect at the time of Boudica's rebellion, Poenius Postumus, who took his own life from shame after failing to respond to Paullinus' call for help (Tacitus, <em>Annals</em> XIV, 37). As has been observed (R. Syme, <em>Tacitus</em>, 1958, 764f.), the fact that the camp prefect was evidently the senior officer at the legion's base allows the inference that not only the legate but also the <em>tribunus laticlavius</em>, his second in command, were absent, presumably already with Paullinus. Since we know that Julius Agricola was attached to the governor's staff, perhaps he was the senatorial tribune of <em>II Augusta</em> at the time of the great revolt. But no certainty is possible.<hr><br>
A long shot, but an interesting possibility. <p></p><i></i>
