Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.

[Renatus]

I'm increasingly of the opinion that Tacitus's description of locum artis faucibus (the 'defile feature') is intended to be as much strategic as topographic. I believe it's likely that the latin word in this case is related to a throat, gullet, or pass - like the vestibule (faux) at the entrance to a house. I.e. a place where a road passes through or over high ground and is constricted on both sides. This position would allow a small force to oppose a larger one - the phrase angustias loci (the 'narrowness of the place') is otherwise used by Livy to describe the pass at Thermopylae and a narrow street in a city battle (we've discussed this before too!...)

So the location in question would not be a closed valley or ravine, but a strategic pass where Paulinus could block the Britons' route.

We have certainly discussed artis faucibus before. I commented on it in some detail here. The difficulty with its being a pass through which the Britons would have to go to get to their destination, wherever that was, is the presence of the wood. Paulinus evidently regarded this as a blocking feature, which is incompatible with the fauces being a route of travel.

As to the manoeuvres that the Britons would have to perform to get to Deryk’s preferred site, John’s suggestion of Braidnidge Wood as a possible alternative certainly merits consideration. I really should have a look at the area; it is not so far from where I live.