Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.

[MonsGraupius]

I visited what I think is a better candidate... (which is not to say it is a good candidate, only that the rest are rubbish).

Dear Mons Graupius,

I particularly admired your analysis in your search for the MG site, which lead me to read 'Romans In Moray' (by Ian McKeiller, Moray New Horizons 2005 ISBN 0-9551137-0-9).


My point is that, for MG, you had a preferred site, or at least narrowed the preferences down, without having the benefit of a high degree of 'evidence', so why can you not do the same for this battle?

From your previous work, I am sure you are not one of those who fails to disclose their assessment, then, when it is found, if we are not all dead, declares ''That's what I always thought''. So I agree with John, come on, please out it (or them!).

''Hugh amount of time'' might refer to the number of posts on this forum and other pieces of research, rather than groundwork.

Unfortunately, the subject of Mons Graupius has been plagued by generations of academics twisting and turning the texts to suit whatever site they wanted the texts to support with the result that each and every one of them has in some way implied that "Tacitus cannot be trusted" and that's created the entirely unsupportable belief that he made up whole sections of his account. As a result, I've had to spend an inordinate amount of time finding a way to verify (or not) his account. And that in its turn has led to an extremely interesting aspect of Iron-age British life.

Also, (and more boring) there's been largely bogus assertions about Roman logistics and in other areas the basic tools and techniques that I require to understand the campaign are missing and I've had to do very basic groundwork.

Another huge issue is that in Scotland most of ancient ethnicity and linguistics is a load of bullshit. But unfortunately, whilst I now understand the general situation in England and have the evidence to back it up - all I know for sure in Scotland is that the real truth lies hidden under several hundred years of total fabrication. Indeed, the whole subject of ethnicity in Scotland it's all such a cauldron of hate-filled nationalism that ... you either bypass the subject entirely or take the bull by the horns and kick it in the groin.

The key reasons why I seem to be thinking differently are because I have developed a (slightly) better understanding of how the Roman army moved about the landscape, the ethnic differences & something of their character in England.

Thus, whilst it would be pretty easy to say "I think it's such and such a site" ... that would inevitably require me to explain my reasoning which would then require me to go into a detailed explanation of those other subjects which I'm not yet in a position to do.