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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
Quote:I have added a couple of paragraphs to the 'Aftermath' section

Very good - thanks!


Quote:The Twentieth and Fourteenth Legions were granted the cognomina of Valeria Victrix and Martia Victrix respectively... It is possible, however, that it could have been because their role in Paulinus’ Anglesey campaign.

Possibly, although there is the note in Histories that the Fourteenth had 'particularly distinguished itself by quelling the revolt in Britain' and 'Nero had added to their reputation by selecting them as his most effective troops' (rebellione Britanniae compressa. addiderat gloriam Nero eligendo ut potissimos - Histories II.11). Later, in Batavia, Cerialis calls the Fourteenth 'the Conquerors of Britain' (domitores Britanniae quartadecimanos appellans - V.16), which is rather ironic coming from him!

So it would seem that the crushing of the rebellion was celebrated, and the Fourteenth at least were famed for it. Whether this also involved granting them additional names is unknown but not unlikely I think.

On the other hand, the 'conquerors of Britain' bit might refer to the long preceding campaign in Wales and Anglesey, as you suggest - with the northern frontier held by the Brigantian client state, the conquest of Wales might indeed have seemed (from Rome!) like the last stage of the total domination of the island; if the Fourteenth were prominent in it (and Paulinus's reliance on them in AD61 might suggest they were his favoured legion) then the cognomina might have been earned there.

When's the earliest date for the name 'Valeria Victrix', incidentally? Might these titles have been won during Agricola's northern campaigns? That way, the Fourteenth alone could have been honoured for the rebellion, which frees the Second to join the main body of the Twentieth in Wales and solves the mystery of the missing legate!

Have you seen David Hall's article in Ancient Warfare I.3? He makes some interesting arguments about the background and aftermath of the revolt specifically. In Hall's view, the scale and importance of the uprising have been enormously exaggerated, both by Roman writers and modern historians. In fact, he believes, Boudica had no hope of success and her rebellion collapsed at the first real challenge. The note in Suetonius about Nero thinking of withdrawing the army from Britain 'lacks a context', and therefore might apply to any period of his reign and not necessarily to the revolt - 'its significance remains problematic'...

:-)
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 Nathan Ross - 11-20-2012, 04:17 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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