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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
(12-01-2015, 07:53 PM)Nathan Ross Wrote: What are using to calculate your distances - mapping tool?

Nothing so sophisticated, I'm afraid.  Just a ruler applied to the OS Map of Roman Britain and then measured against the scale at the bottom.

(12-01-2015, 07:53 PM)Nathan Ross Wrote: So if we assume that Paulinus went that way, and met Cerialis - or survivors of his army - at or around Godmanchester as they retreated, how long would it take Paulinus to reach London on the direct road south that passes through Braughing?

Using my method, the distance is about 56 miles.  So, at 20 miles a day, a little under 3 days.

(12-01-2015, 07:53 PM)Nathan Ross Wrote: How does this fit with trying to meet up with reinforcements from the west? I know you're considering that the Second legion were only a garrison detachment, but we know they were at least intended to join Paulinus somewhere, and didn't. Perhaps others too, from the south Wales border or Alchester. How could they be expected to play a part if Paulinus was over in the east of the country?

My notion is that, at that stage, the extent of the revolt was not appreciated and Paulinus thought that, with the Fourteenth Legion and part of Cerialis' Ninth, he would be able to nip it in the bud. It was only after he learned of Cerialis' defeat and, perhaps, after reaching London and making a full appreciation of the situation that he decided to call up reinforcements and moved west to meet them. He may have augmented his basic force to some extent by picking up additional auxiliary troops on his way east.

(12-01-2015, 07:53 PM)Nathan Ross Wrote: We don't know enough about this to speculate, and Cerialis doesn't seem to play a decisive role in what follows. But I'd be surprised if a Roman commander with troops (I meant the cavalry, not the remainder of his legion) would march five or six days away from the enemy while his own chief was advancing in the opposite direction! Cerialis would have sent a tribune or a messenger to summon the rest of his men, I would think. But it doesn't matter too much.

The role of the Ninth after Cerialis' defeat is quite enigmatic. If he had met up with Paulinus and was ordered to bring his legion down, I agree that he would have sent a messenger with a summons to whoever was in charge to join the main force with all speed. That evidently did not happen or we would have known that it was involved in the final battle. Perhaps it still had a role as a blocking force to deter the northern tribes from travelling south to join the revolt, in which case Cerialis would, I think, have gone back to resume command of it.

An alternative scenario is that Paulinus learned of the fall of Colchester and Cerialis' defeat before reaching Mancetter, in which case he probably would have changed his plan and continued down Watling Street to London. In that event, I think that Cerialis would have gone back to the remainder of his legion. If then Paulinus ordered him to join him at the designated rallying point at Tring/Aldbury, he would have been one of the reinforcements that did not arrive in time.
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 - 12-01-2015, 11:34 PM

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