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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
Quote:So the veterans of the XXth legion, because Tacitus does not mention them as being cohorts, means they are the oldest troops of the XXth legion and not veterans or evocati cohorts attached to the XXth legion.

Therefore, it is the oldest troops that are left to garrison the camp.
I don't think we could expect Tacitus to be that specific. Nevertheless, this seems to tie in with his account of the concessions extracted from Germanicus by the mutinous legions of Germany on the death of Augustus (Ann. 1. 36):

' . . . that all men who had served twenty years should be finally discharged; that any who had served sixteen should be released from duty and kept with the colours (sub vexillo) under no obligation beyond that of assisting to repel an enemy . . .' (Loeb translation)

So, those that we are calling 'veterans' (vexillarii) are likely to be those who had served sixteen years and who were exempted from fatigues and other duties except defending the camp and, presumably, as in this case, helping to resist an enemy attack. If, as seems to be the case, they were not evocati but still serving soldiers, I wonder if calling them 'veterans' (although convenient) is entirely correct or whether we should consider using another term - 'senior soldiers', perhaps. Incidentally, they appear, in defending the camp, to have similar duties to the old triarii and triarii were organised in vexilla (Livy, 8. 8. 8). It is interesting to see similar terminology persisting.


Quote:And Michael could be right with his theory they were under the command of the junior centurions of the legion.
Did I say that? If I did, I did not mean to. Perhaps there has been a misunderstanding. Could you point me to the relevant post?
Michael King Macdona

And do as adversaries do in law, -
Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.
(The Taming of the Shrew: Act 1, Scene 2)
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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 Renatus - 11-11-2014, 05:08 PM
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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