Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.

[Nathan Ross]

If he didn't undersatnd it, his better course would be to get clarification, surely (which takes time).

I would guess that's exactly what he was doing. Only in retrospect did it appear that he had ignored the order.

We can only imagine the pressure that he must have been under - an unfamiliar acting command position, his notoriously-cautious governor ordering a sudden cross-country march against unknown enemies, and perhaps quite soon afterwards rumours of a Roman force defeated by rebels. Then some contrary orders of march to an alternative destination, maybe... Not surprising if Postumus found discretion the better part of valour, and chose to sit tight (somewhere on the route of march perhaps) until the confusing orders could be confirmed.

Postumus would not move the Legion without the Legate's agreement, surely - particularly if the latter was on Anglesey (?)

I would guess that a direct order from the governor would have overruled the legate's agreement. But Postumus may have been unsure of the chain of command.

There's also the possibility that he was made to carry the can for what had happened. Cerialis was far more to blame for his recklessness, and for losing the eastern flank of Paulinus' advance in the process. But Cerialis was a senator, with powerful friends in Rome... There's a strong air of blame-slinging in the closing stages of Tacitus' account of the uprising.