10-20-2010, 05:32 PM
Salvete!
My college gave me the opportunity to do a project for an AS level, and I have chosen to do it on something (supposedly) local: the battle of Caer Caradoc.
Tacitus gives us a good description of the battle, as well as some background to Scapula's campaign, so we have quite a good idea of what happened. However, we don't know where exactly the battle took place. I myself have been up Caer Caradoc in Shropshire as it's only a few miles down the road from me, and I have to say, Tacitus' description fits it well:
The hill is indeed surrounded by other steep hills. It is surrounded by woodland, which would have been far more dense back in the day, and there is also a brook that was once a river at the front of the hill. I have climbed up the back of the hill myself, and I have to say I worn utterly worn out by the time I reached the top, so it would have been terribly difficult for armed infantry to move up there keeping in formation under enemy missile fire. Taken as a whole, this site is convincing.
Are there any other notable sites where supposedly the battle took place? Other comments concerning the battle itself, Scapula, Caractacus/Caratacus and Scapula's campaigns in western Britain are also very welcome.
Thank you,
Valete.
- Lorenzo/Virilis
My college gave me the opportunity to do a project for an AS level, and I have chosen to do it on something (supposedly) local: the battle of Caer Caradoc.
Tacitus gives us a good description of the battle, as well as some background to Scapula's campaign, so we have quite a good idea of what happened. However, we don't know where exactly the battle took place. I myself have been up Caer Caradoc in Shropshire as it's only a few miles down the road from me, and I have to say, Tacitus' description fits it well:
Quote: Inferior in military strength, but deriving an advantage from the deceptiveness of the country, he at once shifted the war by a stratagem into the territory of the Ordovices, where, joined by all who dreaded peace with us, he resolved on a final struggle. He selected a position for the engagement in which advance and retreat alike would be difficult for our men and comparatively easy for his own, and then on some lofty hills, wherever their sides could be approached by a gentle slope, he piled up stones to serve as a rampart. A river too of varying depth was in his front, and his armed bands were drawn up before his defences. (Tacitus, Annals, XII.XXXIII.)
The hill is indeed surrounded by other steep hills. It is surrounded by woodland, which would have been far more dense back in the day, and there is also a brook that was once a river at the front of the hill. I have climbed up the back of the hill myself, and I have to say I worn utterly worn out by the time I reached the top, so it would have been terribly difficult for armed infantry to move up there keeping in formation under enemy missile fire. Taken as a whole, this site is convincing.
Are there any other notable sites where supposedly the battle took place? Other comments concerning the battle itself, Scapula, Caractacus/Caratacus and Scapula's campaigns in western Britain are also very welcome.
Thank you,
Valete.
- Lorenzo/Virilis
Lorenzo Perring-Mattiassi/Florivs Virilis
COHORS I BATAVORUM M.C.R.P.F
COHORS I BATAVORUM M.C.R.P.F
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