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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
(12-13-2017, 10:01 PM)MonsGraupius Wrote: it's all a question of timescale - mine are a lot longer.

I think any detailed study of the sources will reveal that the timescale for the campaign is fairly constricted.

The revolt began some time following the planting season - this will either be spring planting (some time March-April) or autumn (Sept-Oct).

By the time it broke out, Paulinus was already campaigning in Anglesey - the Roman campaign season began in early summer (probably May). Dio says he had already 'brought the island to terms' by the time he heard of the revolt.

As soon as he learned of the revolt, Paulinus marched to London 'with wonderful steadfastness', arriving before the rebels. This would have taken him 11-12 days, so this is still early summer, May-June. In the meantime, the Iceni sack Colchester and defeat Cerealis.

Once reinforcements arrived from the Rhine, Paulinus sent them into winter camp. This indicates that the main phase of the campaign was over by the autumn.

Also, if more than 10-20 days elapsed between Paulinus evacuating London and the last battle, reinforcements from North Wales would have had time to join him, and his force would have numbered far more then 10K.

Considering all this, the fighting phrase of the campaign, between Paulinus leaving Anglesey and the final battle, could only have lasted a few weeks to a month at most, allowing for several 'delays' after P left London. The 'mopping up' stage appears to have lasted for several months though - this would also allow time for Polyclitus and his retinue to travel from Rome to Britain, assess the situation, return to Rome to make a report before the end of the year.

A longer timescale would either involve ignoring certain details in the sources, or stretching the whole revolt out over two years.
Nathan Ross
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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 Nathan Ross - 12-13-2017, 11:55 PM

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