Thread Rating:
  • 4 Vote(s) - 5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
Renatus wrote:

The date of Prasutagus' death is not really relevant; it is the flogging of Boudica and the raping of her daughters that sparked the revolt.  When that occurred we do not know precisely but the implication is that it was after Paulinus had  embarked upon his campaign against Anglesey. 

In an earlier statement I mis-typed the date of the uprising as AD60 (my apologies) when I should have typed that it was (in my opinion) AD 61 however your point that it was Boudica's flogging and the confiscation of all Iceni owned lands that caused the uprising still stands.

The Procurator may well have acted when the "Cat" (Paulinus) was away as it would appear that he was reporting directly to Caesar and not the Governor.

In theory if that was the case perhaps he would have done this somewhere between the start of the Campaign Season (March / April) and when Paulinus was on the way to Anglesey.

In your scenario if Catus had outraged Boudicca in April the Iceni would have had to have armed themselves fully, mobilised their whole tribe with all the associated logistical problems, formed alliances with other tribes, captured a number of forts and marched onto Colchester in about six weeks.

It might have been possible if it is accepted that the Iceni and the Trinovantes and others were a Brythonic Army of young warriors of various skills, charioteers, cavalry, and infantry but as a tribe to do this it seems to me improbable.

Renatus wrote:

The answer, I suggest, was to take them with them, to support them and to give whatever assistance they could during the campaign, until they were all able to return to their homes victorious.

The Brythons had been fighting the Roman army almost constantly for around 17 years and their method of fighting does not appear to be around a mass migration. 

It was military might against military might. Ambushes and battles and although it was possible that some royal households were attached to the army (Caratacus family were all captured at his last battle although he escaped) generally this seems to be the exception. 

It seems to me that the whole idea of the "horde" or familial gathering seems to be rooted in the following: 

They were in unprecedented numbers, and confidence ran so high that they brought even their wives to witness the victory and installed them in waggons, which they stationed just over the extreme fringe of the plain. (Tacitus, Annals, 14.34) 

I am of the opinion that this was the baggage train which may have contained women, cattle are also mentioned but no children therefore no families, a normal travelling army. 

Deryk
Deryk
Reply


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
RE: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand. - by Theoderic - 11-28-2015, 09:27 PM

Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Armchair Wall walking mcbishop 3 3,479 01-11-2012, 03:22 AM
Last Post: Vindex

Forum Jump: