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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
Quote:Something to ponder:

1. Why did Seutonius Paulinus take the refugees with him?
2. Why did he retrace his steps up Watling Street and not escape to the West?

Hmm, I think we have actually pondered these points before now! Wink

As for the first, I suggested back here that the refugees were Roman citizens, and Paulinus as governor felt a duty of care towards them (not to mention the potential damage to his reputation if he left them to die...) I wonder now whether the majority of the citizens in the province at this date might have been army veterans, and thus quite acquainted with military marching...


Quote:The valley on the Wendover Woods side of the “Tring Plateau” fits the classic steep sided valley description with the woods in the rear, with a 1,000 yard width defile that Tacitus describes.

I'm increasingly of the opinion that Tacitus's description of locum artis faucibus (the 'defile feature') is intended to be as much strategic as topographic. I believe it's likely that the latin word in this case is related to a throat, gullet, or pass - like the vestibule (faux) at the entrance to a house. I.e. a place where a road passes through or over high ground and is constricted on both sides. This position would allow a small force to oppose a larger one - the phrase angustias loci (the 'narrowness of the place') is otherwise used by Livy to describe the pass at Thermopylae and a narrow street in a city battle (we've discussed this before too!...)

So the location in question would not be a closed valley or ravine, but a strategic pass where Paulinus could block the Britons' route.

Of course, since only a few places (Dunstable, Bagshot, Virginia Water and Arbury Banks, perhaps) fit this model, I may just be inventing criteria to support my own theory! :whistle:
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 - 08-27-2013, 08:35 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

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