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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
Quote:In a rapidly changing situation, with troops hundreds of miles apart, co-ordinating such a three-pronged attack would be immensely difficult.


Hmm, very good point. I've used a similar argument against the idea that Paulinus would have ordered the Second to join him somewhere in the Midlands... But all our scenarios, I think, rely to some degree on a level of long-distance strategic coordination. With the rebellion erupting in East Anglia, would it be so difficult for Paulinus to order Cerialis to move towards Colchester and the Second (or whatever was available of their strength) to march on London and wait there until he arrived?


Quote:Tacitus criticizes him, not for his haste, but for his temeritas which means ‘rashness’, ‘thoughtlessness’ or ‘foolhardiness’.

Thanks - another useful clarification. But yes, I think a foolhardy dash is our best interpretation here. Either Cerialis was intended to join Paulinus on his march south, or keep pace with him in a combined advance. By dashing on ahead (to try and grab the glory for himself?) he left himself, and Paulinus' eastern flank, fatally exposed.


Quote:It seems that this is again down to interpretation. (Also it might be useful if we were both using the same translation)

With so much hinging on a single word, I think Michael's strategy of going back to original latin is the best option here. Tacitus says 'the victorious Briton' - so the same people as conquered Colchester defeated Cerialis. Unless the singular refers to 'the victorious British people', perhaps? :-|


Quote:Which camp was this? Was it near Colchester? In my interpretation it would have been Wixoe or perhaps Great Chesterford.

We're assumed that Cerialis was too rash to build marching camps in his advance against an enemy in the field! If he did (and it was usual practice, after all), then the camp in question could have been his own fortification. Warned of an approaching enemy, he deployed his force in front of the camp, but the infantry was overwhelmed and only the cavalry managed to make it back inside the fortifications. If this is the case, the camp could have been anywhere along the road - close to Colchester is most likely.


Quote:you have consistently said that the “Horde” travelled at around 5 miles every two days.

To be fair, that was only my suggestion I think. And the 5 miles per two days was just a low figure, I didn't mean that was their usual marching pace. They weren't an army, is the point - so didn't have a 'usual' marching pace!

Incidentally - question for Michael, returning slightly to the original purpose of this thread: you've mentioned that you favour a site to the west of London, but east of Silchester. So did I, at one point, but lengthy scanning of OS and terrain maps all along the route of the Portway failed to turn up any locations that match the topography as described in Tacitus. There's Virginia Water, but the ground is wet and covered in streams, and a place east of Crowthorne, but it's very tenuous. Can you find an alternative? ;-)
Nathan Ross
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Messages In This Thread
Re: Calling all armchair generals! - by Ensifer - 03-11-2010, 03:13 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-18-2012, 06:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 12:02 AM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 02:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 05:40 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 11:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 05:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 09:42 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 10:10 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:25 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 08:36 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-26-2012, 02:57 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-27-2012, 01:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 08-05-2012, 02:24 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-07-2014, 02:18 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-08-2014, 01:50 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-11-2014, 02:03 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-18-2014, 07:54 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-20-2014, 02:37 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-25-2014, 08:29 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Nathan Ross - 11-02-2012, 06:39 AM

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