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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
Alecto wrote:


The timeline of the whole affair is fascinating. However - this is just an idea of my own - The Trinovantes were the ones who had had enough of the veterans, they weren't bothering the Iceni. Only when the loans from Claudius and Seneca were called in, (one could suspect that Claudius practically bought a number of tribes instead of defeating them) and probably around the time that Prasutagus died, did the Roman rule really start to bite.

The Iceni were a “Clent Kingdom” under Prasutagus but became part of the Roman Province on his death and the whole of their lands became Roman property. This was exactly the same situation that the Trinovantes found themselves in so there was a joint case for both tribes to take back their lands and rid their area of the Romans by destroying Colchester.  
 
Alecto wrote:


I find it interesting that Catus Decianus came with a small force to collect the money. Now it would have been very stupid on the part of Suetonius to go off on campaign if he had known that Decianus was off to get the money - tax gathering was an ideal way to take money for yourself without anyone being the wiser. Every Roman would know that. So is it the case that Decianus waited until PS had gone off and then hurried off to augment his income? 


As far as Rome was concerned the act of taking possession of a Client Kingdom totally was an accepted act of State and therefore SP would have supported this, so Catus probably was within his rights to do this although his method was both draconian and cruel. To flog a leader of a tribe and to have her daughters raped shows the level of contempt that the Roman state had for the Brythons; add to this insult the fact that the possessions of the aristocracy were also forfit to the Emperor and you can understand why the uprising occurred.
 
Alecto wrote:

Another idea - please drive it into the ground is it is too ridiculous - but why could there not have been some planning for the rebellion? The Trinovantes, the Coritani , Iceni and perhaps even the tribe that appears to have boxed in the IInd? For all we know Boudica came from Devon/Dorset and might have contacts there. Plenty of time after a confab with the three tribes above to send a messenger and start the rebellion. 



Even the uprising to take Colchester would have taken some planning between tribes and it is surely no coincidence that it took place when SP was campaigning in Anglesey (although at this time there was a campaign every year so it could be almost guaranteed that most of the available army not on garrison duty would be occupied).

Tacitus does not limit the Brythons that attacked Colchester to only the Iceni and the Trinovantes and it is possible that other tribes including the Coritani were involved but to what degree is unknown. There is an argument that the Druids were also involved in the organisation of the war and acted as go betweens.

Was it a “country wide” uprising that caused the 2nd not to join with SP or just unfortunate judgement or a sense of duty by the officer to his immediate superiors rather than SP to protect his Legion for them?

Difficult to say but the implication is that it would have been possible for the 2nd to have joined with SP otherwise there would have been no need for Poenius Postumius  to have taken his own life in regret.   
 
Alecto wrote:

Surely the rebels wanted to engage with Suetonius as soon as possible. It would work to his advantage not to do so. I've read in several accounts that St. Albans wasn't necessarily put to the sword by the rebels at least not to the extent that Colchester and London were. The long delay before they take London is a puzzle. Either they sat there waiting in St. Albans to intercept them on Watling Street, or they waited elsewhere. 


The access points towards the homelands of the Trinovantes and Iceni are diverse so for the tribes to wait for SP at St Albans would leave them exposed to an approach from (for example) Godmanchester and it is more likely that they would have waited in an area that they knew well closer to home.
 
Alecto wrote:

In any case, they didn't take London until Suetonius had left there and the cavalry dash is really not an option. Logistics are, the warehouses in Southwark were burnt, but not necessarily by the rebels in my opinion.

Probably burnt by SP

Alecto wrote:

In addition to that there must have been an opportunity for the Classis Britannica to sail from Anglesey to at least the area of Poole harbour? Even though it is rarely mentioned I recall one mention of it somewhere! in relation to the Anglesey expedition. 

It is mentioned but does not seem to fit with the other parts of the narrative at all.

Alecto wrote:

I still think - thanks to Steve Kaye - that withdrawing south/west was easily the best thing PS could do, he would engage on a site of his own choice, one that would be unfamiliar to the rebels


On the face of it this is a good option and my original favourite but it can equally be applied to the Akeman Street route with the same destination and a number of highly defensible positions for SP and a more compelling argument regarding distance and "comfort zone" for the Brythons.   
Deryk
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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 Theoderic - 09-15-2016, 09:04 AM

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