Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.

[Renatus]

To speed me along the way I have a few questions/observations that need evidence and so any help on direction and sources is appreciated

I'll give what help I can.

1.  As I read it, Suetonius had two successful years and, building upon that, decided to attack Mona, so my interpretation coincides with yours.

2.  As I interpret Tacitus, Suetonius' force comprised three elements: the 14th Legion, the veterans (i.e., those of more than 16 years' service) of the 20th, and the nearest available auxiliaries.  The total force numbered 'ferme' 10,000 men.  Ferme means 'nearly, almost, about', so I read his total force as being just under 10,000.

3.  As John says, this would be Margaret Hughes.  The word used by Tacitus is 'faucibus', which is the ablative of fauces.  Fauces (like castra when referring to a camp) is plural in form but singular in meaning, so there was only one defile.

4.  The problem here is that we do not know how much notice the colonists had of the impending attack.  However, it seems evident that they had some warning, so I do not think that the sending of a courier to Suetonius coincided with the attack on the colony.  The colonists had time to send a plea for help to Catus Decianus, he had time to cobble together his scratch force, and it seems that that force had time to get to the colony.  Tacitus seems to imply that, had they not been misled by those sympathetic to the rebellion, the colonists would have had time to evacuate the women and old men and even to throw up some form of defences.  I calculate that, if a message had been sent directly to Suetonius as soon as the danger became apparent, with sufficient remounts and relief riders, it could have reached him within 24 hours.  However, it is possibly more likely that Decianus sent messengers to Suetonius and Cerialis as soon as he received the plea from the colonists.  Nevertheless, they would both have received his messages quite quickly.  This raises the question as to why Cerialis did not get to the colony in time to help.  Given his character, his natural instinct would be to follow what seems to have been normal  Roman practice and try to nip the rebellion in the bud with whatever force he could muster at short notice, however scanty and ill-equipped it might be (exactly what Decianus did, as it happens).  I think the answer to this lies in the character of Suetonius who, Tacitus says, was naturally cautious and given to delay.  During the civil war in AD69, he allowed a Vitellian force to escape because he took the view that there was time enough for victory when steps had been taken to avoid defeat.  In the context of the Boudican revolt, I think that his intention was to take the 14th Legion, rendezvous with Cerialis and the 9th, and together go to the relief of the colony.  He therefore ordered Cerialis to wait for him.  It was only when Cerialis realised that Suetonius could not get to him in time that he set off himself but by then it was too late.

5.  There may well have been some time spent by the rebels in looting Camulodunum and raiding Roman settlements but I think that generally the rebels moved much more slowly than the Romans.  Accompanied by ox-drawn wagons, they could only cover 5-10 miles a day, whereas Suetonius with mules could cover some 20 miles a day, so at least twice as fast as the rebels.  Incidentally, I do not think that Suetonius went to London down Watling Street but that he took the Via Devana to link up with Cerialis and, when informed of Cerialis' defeat and the fall of the colony, marched down Ermine Street and reached London that way.  That would take him through hostile territory, as Tacitus tells us.

I hope that this helps and does not encroach too much upon your appreciation of the situation.