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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
Quote:Regarding Avebury...I don't think that you can take the Druidic influence out of the equation altogether
I can't help thinking that Avebury is a bit of a red herring in this scenario. We have to consider that the neolithic stones were erected around 2561 years before Boudica's revolt - she is actually closer in time to us (a mere 1951 years) than to the builders of Avebury! We don't know much about iron age Druidic religion in Britain, but it seems to have involved sacred groves and springs rather than standing stones, which may have been relics of a much older culture.

Quote:As it is only polite as you have been kind enough to comment on the Cunetio site that I should comment on the Dunstable site.
Thanks!

Quote:I have always had a problem with a site where a small Roman Army of around 10,000 men, bursts out of a position into a host of at least 100,000
But that is more or less what Tacitus describes - although interpretations will vary... Confusedmile:

Quote:Suetonius had... the Fourteenth made up of its infantry (4,500), perhaps its auxilliaries (3,000 Batavians), Veterans of the Twentieth (1500)local auxilliaries as mentioned (500), Cavalry (1,000) a total of 10,500 men.
That seems about right - ten thousand is the figure T gives, with probably around five or six thousand of them legionaries. I don't know if there's any specific mention of Batavians being present though, just 'auxiliaries'. The troops on the flanks are referred to as 'lightly armed', whatever that means...

Quote:If the Romans charged the Brythons there are no topographical feature that forces the Brythons to stay together or forces them back to the wagons that you state are 2 kilometres away so they can just expand sideways because the terrain is comparatively gentle at this point and they could absorb the Romans because if there are only 500 cavalry on each wing which would not be enough to contain the host.
Possibly - I envisaged that the Roman line in the valley would present a target for a condensed frontal attack. Once the attack is broken and the wedge moves forward, the British could indeed flee in all directions, but I would think that the threat of cavalry on the hills to either side would keep them to the lower ground (however many cavalry there actually were - to a fleeing Briton on foot the prospect of cavalry attacking from the hills would be terrifying, I would think).

Besides which, the families of the Britons were in the wagons: they would hardly run off and leave them. Reading slightly beyond what Tacitus actually says, I don't think it's entirely necessary for the wagons to completely close all escape routes: the Britons' desire to rescue or defend their families would make the wagon camp the first place they'd flee to. The constriction of the road at this point would make it impossible for them to turn the wagons or extricate themselves before the Romans caught up with them...

Quote:Tacitus mentions that the Wagons were drawn up at the edge of a plain. There doesn't appear to be a plain and certainly no edge.
Well, as I've said before it's somewhat in the eye of the beholder - I see what appears to be an expanse of open ground, edged by hills - a plain, in other words! The southern end of the plain, where the hills close in, would be the edge...

But this is where we return to strategic considerations. There may well be better-looking plains and defiles in Britain, but the shape of the campaign as I see it places Paulinus in this area or somewhere like it. Better, I think, to look at the terrain he would have had available to him and work out what might fit, than to go off looking for the best-looking terrain (using, of course, all sorts of modern technology that he wouldn't have had!). Differences of opinion here, I know :wink:

Quote:A few of kilometres behind the Roman Army is Icknield Way - the road to the heart of the Iceni... The Ninth had already been ambushed possibly at the junction of Icknield Way and the road from Godmanchester to Colchester...
We don't actually know where the ninth were ambushed - it could have been closer to Colchester. This is one of the big unknown variables. But one of my reasons for chosing this northern direction is the importance of holding the line of Watling Street, and the junction of Iknield is a critical point. Withdraw much beyond it and the Iceni have a clear route home...

Quote:Finally although there is a valley the position itself can be outflanked on the right hand side as the slope is reasonably gentle.
True, but as I've again said before there aren't that many positions that can't be outflanked by a truly determined enemy. I believe that Paulinus may have trusted to the Britons' overwhelming numbers, and the apparent small size of his own force, to imbue his enemy with a lack of tactical caution... Plus, again, the nature of the British force - a fractious tribal band travelling with families - may have made them less inclined to engage in lengthy uphill flanking moves away from their wagons, especially when there was a disciplined Roman force in the vicinity.

However, as we've said before, any prospective site is going to have its pros and cons. Most of my liking for Dunstable is due to its position, which seems to me to suit all the strategic considerations, besides presenting a topography that (with not too much lateral thinking!) may well fit Tacitus' description...
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
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Nathan Ross - 08-11-2012, 04:02 AM
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

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