City of Fables Unearths Real Heroes from Roman Era

Reuters ^ | 2/11/05 | Jeremy Laurence

[wagglebee]

GGG Ping!

[Aetius]

Roman History buff, for later read....

[ScottFromSpokane]

...archeologist Philip Crummy...

Why would I want to read about some Crummy excavation?

[dog breath]

It was the site of a major rebellion against Roman rule by Queen Boudicca of the Iceni Britons. They destroyed Colchester, St Albans and London. The rebellion was crushed by Roman Legions rushed to the area in a spectacular battle. The Romans were severely outnumbered but won the day with superior tactics. Since the Romans virtually destroyed all the local tribesmen in the battle, the area became even more Roman in flavor afterward.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks waggs, I'll ping the list when I return home. :')

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[wagglebee]

Thanks for the additional info, I was unaware of this.

[SunkenCiv]

Scavenging the Empire
[how Medieval Christians viewed Roman ruins and used them to make monasteries]
The Rhine River blog [Landscape, Region and History.] | Feb 6, 2005 | Nathanael
Posted on 02/11/2005 6:42:45 AM PST by Mike Fieschko
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1341054/posts

[maine-iac7]

“ Twas in that place o’ Scotland isle, That bears the name o’ auld King Coil.” Robert Burns

Genealogy of Old King Coil (Cole):"Coel of Ayrshire (the third Coel aprox 400AD) should be separated from the second Coel/Cole (aprox 305 AD), who was the founder of Colchester and father of St. Helena, and from the first Cole (King Coilus, 95-154 AD), father of Lucius.[Old King Cole]

local tradition in Kyle, the district name derives from the ancient King, popularly known today as Old King Cole

"The Welsh leader was Gwendolew, who claimed descent from Coel Hen--Old King Cole. But there was still a Roman party among these northern Britons..."

[maine-iac7]

Queen Boudicca

Now there was a gal that would make even Hilliary and Pelozzi quake

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

I visited some Roman ruins approximately 20 km northeast of Paris France. Very nicely excavated - and dated back to approx. 100AD. The archaeologists had found a coliseum, a guard house, a bath house, and a temple.

[TFFKAMM]

I still remember visiting the Roman Wall in Northern England, and standing on it, while trying to picture hordes of naked, blue-painted, spear-waving savages on the next hill.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Wall is Vindolanda, a restored Roman fort with lots of displays and information about life on the edge of the Empire, and how the Roman, Nordic and Celtic cultures met there. As someone of Italian, Swedish and Welsh descent, the place stirred me in ways no other historic site has before or since.

[Terpfen]

Is this as opposed to Nat King Cole?

(Couldn't resist.)

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Just for you.........

http://www.hadrians-wall.org/

[Aetius]

There are reports of a Hollywood movie in the works about her, possibly to be produced by Mel Gibson's Icon Productions.

There is a great story there, and it could be a great film, though I can easily imagine Hollywood ruining it by PCing it up. By that I mean it would have Boudicca taking part in the combat herself, striking down one inept legionnarie after another in some absurd display (sort of like the petite Keira Knightley in "King Arthur"). They'd probably also have her eventual defeat be due completely to bad luck or some sort of treachery.

But if they did it right, and had her displayed as charismatic, woman-scorned avenging fury, who destroyed Londinium and defeated part of one Roman Legion, but who eventually lost to the superior opponent, then it'd be great.

That Seutonius Paulinus, with not even two full legions, was able to crush a numerically superior army by using terrain and Roman tactics should not be downplayed.

[maine-iac7]

possibly to be produced by Mel Gibson's Icon Productions.

Hmmm. If Mel did it in the style he did Braveheart - he might carry it off.

If he introduced spurious hallucinations from his mind, like he did in Passion - it would be better not done.

And I agree that the ending could easily be twisted - Her story, itself, tho ending in military defeat - was quite remarkable.

Hmm, do you know - is she, perhaps, the origin of the word "bodacious?"

[Aetius]

I like all 3 movies Gibson has directed (Man w/o a Face, Braveheart, and The Passion of the Christ), so I don't doubt that he could do a great job with this.

I just hope he doesn't pull a Battle of Falkirk type of plot device, where William Wallace's defeat was primarily due to the treachery of the Scottish nobles and their cavalry. Now, I had no trouble with that, as I believe some of the traditions do indeed say that Wallace was betrayed at Falkirk, so it was fine and it made for good drama.

I just hope that he, or whoever may do it, doesn't feel the need to prop up Boudicca by making her defeat due to something other than Roman superiority in warfare. There was no shame in losing like she did, as Roman armies often won while outnumbered, and never met an opponent they couldn't beat, and even if she had beaten Paulinus, the ultimate outcome would have been far from certain. If Nero decided that the Island wasn't worth keeping, then he would have abandoned it to the Britons, but if he decided to keep it then other Legions could have been sent to quell the rebellion.

She had a good run, but it was bound to end as it did so long as Rome was determined to win.

[concentric circles]

You may have wondered, at one time, how a pub got it's unusual name. In Colchester that's not a problem. This is what remains of the Balkerne Gate in the Roman west wall, the two passage ways on the right in the model.

[Cronos]

sort of like the petite Keira Knightley in "King Arthur").

Keira Knightley, mmmmm......

[Cronos]

Actually :
bodacious 1837 (implied in bodaciously), Southern U.S. slang, perhaps from bodyaciously "bodily, totally," or a blend of bold and audacious, which suits the earliest attested sense of the word. Popularized anew by 1982 Hollywood film "An Officer and a Gentleman."

from http://www.etymonline.com/