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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
(11-30-2015, 11:33 AM)John1 Wrote: So Paulinus, ........... chooses a point at random" - Renatus
Well that's a pretty blatant misrepresentation of the point. It wasn't random

OK, I'll withdraw the word 'random'.  Nevertheless, whatever advantages it may have had in other circumstances, it does not seem to me to be an appropriate place to dig in, with the enemy somewhere between Colchester and London and with Paulinus thinking that he might make a stand in or near London.


(11-30-2015, 11:33 AM)John1 Wrote: "the rebels choose to go to exactly the same spot and fall into his trap" - Renatus
I think you'll find you are closer to characterising Tring with this statement.

Not at all.  With the rebels having reached St Albans, Tring is so placed strategically as to allow Paulinus to respond to three, if not four, of the possible routes that they might subsequently take.  If it were indeed the final battle site, it would appear that the rebels took what amounts to the first stage of two of those routes.  The alternative is that its proximity was so threatening to the rebels that they felt compelled to try to eliminate the Roman force.

(11-30-2015, 11:33 AM)John1 Wrote: If he was so well informed and in control, what were the II still doing at home?

Ah well, as I've explained before, I don't think they were.

(11-30-2015, 01:30 PM)Nathan Ross Wrote: I don't quite follow your first point - once Paulinus knew that Colchester had fallen, why would he not head for London?

He would but my point was that, if he did not yet know that Colchester had fallen, he would have turned off on to the Via Devana before reaching Towcester.  If the news reached him when he was at Towcester, it meant that that he was already on the way to London and this would not have been appropriate, if he still believed that Colchester could be relieved.

(11-30-2015, 01:30 PM)Nathan Ross Wrote: The second point is fair enough. Although I was assuming that Cerialis would only have escaped the battle with his cavalry (auxiliaries, plus his own mounted Equites Singulares) rather than elements of the Ninth. Would his duty not have been to report to his senior commander as soon as possible?

Tacitus reports that Cerialis' infantry was slaughtered but that 2000 legionaries from the Continent brought the Ninth Legion up to strength.  This implies that he did not have a complete legion with him when he went to the relief of Colchester.  After he had escaped from the battle, I would assume that he would go to the base where the remainder of his legion was stationed.  He would, of course, inform Paulinus of what had occurred but he would have done so, I suggest, by means of a dispatch, not in person.
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 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 Renatus - 11-30-2015, 11:22 PM

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