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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
Quote:We don't actually know that.

Ah, very true! Yes, I should have been more cautious - we know (if we can trust Tacitus) that some aspect of the rebellion reached St Albans. As we've said before, it could have been attacked by a separate group, or even the local population. But I tend to think that its proximity to London and Colchester implies that whatever happened there was at least inspired, if not actively directed, by the main Boudican revolt. The known area of rebellion (which Paulinus' counter-insurgency operation would have to address) therefore includes St Albans. Anywhere on the periphery of that area would seem to me more plausible than a site far removed from it, in any direction.

As for 'Watling Street' - yes, I'm still quite partial to western sites myself, with qualifications!


Quote:would it be stretching the evidence too far to suggest that he only mentioned the two cities because they were the only ones taken by the main rebel band?

The 'betrayed and abandoned' point is interesting - in what way was Colchester (assuming that's what Dio means here) 'betrayed'?

The probable reason for Dio's 'two cities' is that he did not consider the tribal centre of Verulamium to be a city - only the Roman citizen settlements of Colchester and London. Alternatively, it's just possible that he didn't consider London to be a city! As Tacitus says, it was not a colony but a busy mercentile and trading centre (cognomento quidem coloniae non insigne, sed copia negotiatorum et commeatuum maxime celebre). Perhaps the municipium of St Albans (Tacitus' municipio Verulamio) and the colonia of Colchester are the 'two cities'?

Or, as you say, the place was attacked by some other band and either Dio or Paulinus himself felt it unnecessary to mention it.

There's maybe another possibility as well. St Albans has no evidence of large-scale burning to match Colchester or London, just some minor destruction that could be dated to the approximate period. So why would Tacitus mention the place and Dio not? It could be that the town was important as it lay close to the site of the final battle - Dio perhaps did not know the location of the site, or thought it irrelevant, and so disregarded the otherwise unimportant sacking of the nearby town.
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 - 02-16-2013, 12:28 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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