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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
Quote:That does seem slow to me.

That's what they were trained to do (according to Vegetius) - so it was routine, and probably left time for building a fortified camp at the end of the day.

Doubtless Roman troops could move faster - Caesar (BGVII. 40-41) has four legions marching expeditio 50 miles in 24 hours. Claudius Nero (Livy, XXVII.43-49) covered 250 miles in 7 days.

But from what Tacitus tells us of Paulinus ("a natural delayer... who preferred a cautious and well reasoned plan of operations") I don't see him pegging it down Watling Street. Keeping his troops to their regular full pace seems much more his style.



Quote:I'm certain there would be fast, aggressive Britons that could easily out pace that

Quote:I would then postulate that cavalry / chariots would be able to “run down” or “escape from” infantry.

Over short distances, yes. Long distance, and especially on roads, the legions would have the upper hand, I think. Mounted Britons might be able to harass the Romans (although the Roman cavalry would have done a good job of harassing them right back!), but I doubt they would be able to bring sufficient numbers over long distance to cause a substantial problem.



Quote:an interesting article regarding horses

It was - thanks. But we should bear in mind that these were some of the hardiest and best trained cavalry troops of their day. Would the mounted warriors of the Britons be able to match such feats? Probably not.

My point about infantry outpacing cavalry over distance comes from another U.S. source, William B. Hazen, commander of the 6th US Infantry, commenting on operations during the Plains Wars of 1878: "After the fourth day's march of a mixed command, the horse does not march faster than the foot soldier, and after the seventh day, the footsoldier begins to outmarch the horse; and from that day on the footsoldier has to end his march earlier and earlier to enable the cavalry to reach the camp..."

Although this outmarching would only count over distances of 100+ miles, and as the Romans also had cavalry with them anyway the point is moot, perhaps!
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
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Nathan Ross - 03-30-2015, 11:31 PM

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