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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
Michael wrote:
There have been several suggestions over the years as to where the Twentieth Legion was based at this time. The favourite now (I think) is Usk, which is well away from Paulinus' route, if he travelled to London down Watling Street.

Thanks for that Michael.

Michael wrote:
We have discussed in this thread the contingent of the Twentieth that formed part of Paulinus' force during the final battle and the conclusion is that it consisted of the veterans.

I’ve gone back and read the thread from the start…wow….I can’t believe I did that.

Michael wrote:
My suggestion is that Paulinus' campaigning force in Wales consisted of the Second, Fourteenth and Twentieth Legions and that the veterans of each legion remained behind to guard their fortresses, under the command of their respective praefecti castrorum.

I have found it to be standard Roman policy to leave the veterans to garrison the fort, which can be found in the accounts of the many battles particularly the battle of Veii in 480 BC, and Pharsalus just to name two from the top of my head. It is an old tradition. These veterans I believe refer to the age of the troops, therefore, they are the oldest legionaries, which are the pilani or the third line men. Tacitus also mentions in one campaign of the Annals the dispersing of garrison troops while the rest operated in the field.

Michael wrote:
At the outbreak of the revolt, Paulinus set off eastwards with the Fourteenth, leaving the Second and the Twentieth to complete mopping-up operations in North Wales and expecting that the Fourteenth and the (at that point undefeated) Ninth would be sufficient to suppress the revolt. Later, he send orders to the praefecti castrorum of the Second, Fourteenth and Twentieth Legions to join him with their veterans but only the Fourteenth and Twentieth complied. The veterans of the Fourteenth Legion are not mentioned in Tacitus' account because they would have been subsumed in their parent legion.

I am of the opinion that the veterans of the 14th legion are not with Paulinus, but remained behind and garrisoned their fort. I think the 14th legion was Paulinus’ flying column and if the Romans are following their doctrine, the 14th should be accompanied by an ala. With the addition of the veterans of the XXth Paulinus had one complete legion. Dio’s comment of the army organised into three strong divisions I believe only refers to the infantry.

I’ve played with the figures and following what I have learnt of Roman doctrine, I get a figure of 9960 men, which includes 28 squadrons of cavalry. In the end it’s still conjecture. Boudicca’s rebellion is a favourite of mine and I have been toying with the idea of including the battle in my book. However, after reading this thread, and I am not being patronising here, as that would be insulting, but I believe Nathan would produce a far superior account of the campaign and battle, that I have now happily decided to omit it. I’m actually relieved as it is one less thing to do. However, I would like to see Nathan publish his account as it would be a valuable addition to our understanding of this fascinating campaign.
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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

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