Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.

[MonsGraupius]

cast some light on recovery from the revolt in 62AD   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhm-n09PGEI&t=132s

Thanks - that's actually a very nice little video (albeit a bit 'corporate'!). We've discussed the tablets themselves a couple of times, I think, mainly due to the date thing.

I still don't see why a trader coming to London in October AD62 means the place must have been destroyed over two years before, though - a wooden town can presumably get up and running within a few months...

Anyway, since the last time we discussed this I've become more or less convinced that the revolt probably did happen in late AD60, with most of the fighting happening in October or November, but it was only in early 61 that the full report reached Rome and the imperial authorities took action (which is why Tacitus describes it all under that consular year).

Every time I look at the account, I am struck by the fact that Suetonius decided to abandon London, because it was not suitable as a seat for a campaign and instead he marched off to safety with all those who could walk. No one in his position would ever march north through enemy territory with a column of civilians who can only just walk. it is one of the daftest things ever.

There is nothing at all about him heading north to St.Albans, that just did not happen. Instead, he clearly headed to safety and the only way to do that from London is to head over the Thames, because the Thames was a de facto defensive wall.

That is where he does set up his "seat" for a campaign. That might have been somewhere Calleva. From where he could secure all the crossing points of the Thames at least as far as goring on Thames, and then the hills and upper Thames valley create an effective defensive line across to Cirencester.

This means his Welsh troops headed down the west - keeping well away from the Iceni and toward Gloucester and thence Cirencester, from where they then secured the London-Thames-Calleva-Cirencester line.

Then, as is the habit of the Romans, Suetonius carefully prepares for the next campaign. He was in no hurry as tacitus clearly indicates: "he prepared to abandon delay" - which sounds like a mild rebuke, for delaying far too long (in the view of Tacitus).

So, eventually, probably months later, maybe even the next year, when Suetonius had prepared for his campaign: "Suetonius had already the fourteenth legion, with a detachment of the twentieth and auxiliaries from the nearest stations, altogether some ten thousand armed men, when he prepared to abandon delay and contest a pitched battle."

At this point there are two scenarios. The first is that Suetonius advances in order to draw Boudica into battle. If so, the most likely crossing point of the Thames, based on historical crossings and its closeness to Calleva, would be Wallingford. Heading from there toward the Iceni, and given the topology of the battle description, this indicates the armies came to blows somewhere in the Chilterns. The second scenario is that Tacitus is being a little economical with the truth, and rather than Suetonius taking the initiative, that the Iceni crossed the Thames to do battle. The most likely place for the Iceni to cross would be around Oxford, because here the Thames is easily crossable, and whereas higher upstream the Thames becomes a boggy morass and crossing further south would be too close to the Romans at Calleva. The Iceni would then have headed south on the west side of the Thames and Tacitus would have come out from Calleva to meet them. This time the topology of the battle site and line of attack suggests a battle on the Berkshire Downs.