02-16-2011, 09:08 PM
Church Stowe is an attractive possibility, and your scenario sounds plausible. I'm still not convinced by the 'flying column / cavalry bodyguard' idea though - as far as I know, there's no other situation attested in which a Roman commander leaves the main body of his troops and goes racing off into enemy territory unsupported.
There's also the problem of coordinating a large tribal band. The uprising could have split into various parts, operating in different places, as you suggest, but with no maps and few means of communication it would be difficult to bring a large enough force to bear once the initial assembly had dispersed. More likely, I think, that the Britons kept together in a single large group, around a focal point (Boudica herself, presumably). If we assume that the battle site was much closer to London and St Albans, there would no need for this tribal assembly to go 'parading' across the countryside for great distances. I've suggested that the vicinity of Dunstable, only a day's cart journey beyond St Albans, could be a viable option for the battle site.
Entertaining though, isn't it! :-)
- Nathan
There's also the problem of coordinating a large tribal band. The uprising could have split into various parts, operating in different places, as you suggest, but with no maps and few means of communication it would be difficult to bring a large enough force to bear once the initial assembly had dispersed. More likely, I think, that the Britons kept together in a single large group, around a focal point (Boudica herself, presumably). If we assume that the battle site was much closer to London and St Albans, there would no need for this tribal assembly to go 'parading' across the countryside for great distances. I've suggested that the vicinity of Dunstable, only a day's cart journey beyond St Albans, could be a viable option for the battle site.
Quote:Sorry to have gone on so much on the basis of such little fact.
Entertaining though, isn't it! :-)
- Nathan
Nathan Ross
