h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: British Tribes At The Time Of The Claudian Invasion - A22747935
Author: Bob Stafford (Keeper of The Treacle Shadow) - U3151547

Any advise on content or layout please

Just had a quick read through and three things leap out at me.

The four legions -
I would list these together before then going on to describe each. The way you have it presented at the moment makes Legion XX seem the only one of note. The II Augusta was responsible for the South Cadbury massacre in AD44 and was commanded by the future Emperor Vespasian.

The Dumnonii -
You have them incorrectly named Drumnonii. Also, while they are associated with Cornwall, their territory extended right up to West Somerset and formed the Kingdom of Dumnonia.

You state that AD43 was the date the Romans arrived in Britain. In fact, the first time the Romans arrived was in 55BC under the command of Julias Caesar. He had to abandon the invasion due to trouble in Gaul. He made a second attempt in 54BC but again had to quell an uprising in Gaul. Events then prevented him from making any further attacks on Britain. The Claudian invasion was the third time the Romans had come to Britain.

That's all for this time of night...

Hi Radox

Have a look now I have to finish the leigon history section

Please comment...

Raddox

PS I am looking for ideas and comments on the presentation, thanks for your ideas so far.

Hi Raddox

Try this silll a bit rough comments please...

Hi Bob,

A few things I've noticed, and some suggestions for remedies:

Footnote 1 needs a rewrite as it doesn't scan properly when read.
Line 2 of 1st paragraph has the full stop missing after 'Solent'
Line 4 I would add the word 'the' before territory of the Atribates.
Line 7 I suggest a full stop after 'capable of', then a new sentence starting 'Led by Julius Caesar, with ten legions they had killed' etc...

The 2nd paragraph needs a rewrite. I would put a full stop after 'the stage was set for the invasion', then 'The task of invading and pacifying Britain was given to four legions. These four were experienced units with a long history of fighting' etc...
There needs to be a full stop after 'Gallic wars' in paragraph 2, and under the Legion IX section line 6 has a capital letter on the word 'and' which should be lower case.

A history book I have here shows Caratacus name as being spelled 'Caractacus', but as it was written in Victorian times I don't always trust its information. You might like to double check on the correct spelling of the name though. The book also says that his being taken to Rome allowed Boudicca (Boadicea in the book) to emerge as the main resistance to the Roman invaders but again, a lot of information has been discovered since it was written.

The biggest problem at the moment though is the entry seems out of balance. The title refers to the tribes but the bulk of the text as it stands is about the legions in Britain at the time. More info on each of the tribes would help to balance it but it could end up getting very long as a result. Perhaps it might help the balance if the tribe info could be put ahead of the legion stuff somehow?

"You state that AD43 was the date the Romans arrived in Britain. In fact, the first time the Romans arrived was in 55BC under the command of Julias Caesar. He had to abandon the invasion due to trouble in Gaul. He made a second attempt in 54BC but again had to quell an uprising in Gaul. Events then prevented him from making any further attacks on Britain. The Claudian invasion was the third time the Romans had come to Britain."

I studied this a couple of years ago and my take is that it was more of an expedition, not a full invasion. He couldn't possibly have successfully invaded with so few men, though I suppose he might not have known that, as they'd not been before.

Full comments to follow.

"They arrived led by emperor Claudius and general Aulus Plautius"

This is incorrect. Plautius led the invasion, Claudius arrived later.

You need to do a total read-through and spell-check before you submit this to PR as there are lots of errors.

There are also a number of links that need to be added, but I daresay you'll do that a bit later.

Also, you need to explain what legates are when you first mention them, not later.

I think this is a decent start, but I agree with Radox that the title doesn't fit with the arrangement - it's supposed to be about the tribes but you tell the story through the legions.

HI Radox Good to here from you ;
>A history book I have here shows Caratacus name as being spelled 'Caractacus'<
All sorted and altered

>The book also says that his being taken to Rome allowed Boudicca (Boadicea in the book) to emerge as the main resistance to the Roman invaders but again, a lot of information has been discovered since it was written.<
The Boudicca rebellion was an upriseing due to the treatment of Boudicca and the tribe post conquest. Had the Romans and Nero (the greedy prat) been more diplomatic when Prasutagus (who under Roman rule became the 'client' king and friend of Rome)died things would have been fine, when the time came to collect the inheratance (Prasutagus left a will leaving Emperor Nero half his property and lands, while the other half was left to his wife) Boudicca refused to give up her land and possessions to the Romans and as a result was publicly flogged while her daughters were raped by soldiers. She was not a replacement for Caractacus in the eyes of the people, just a very wronged lady wita an army.

>The biggest problem at the moment though is the entry seems out of balance. The title refers to the tribes but the bulk of the text as it stands is about the legions in Britain at the time. More info on each of the tribes would help to balance it but it could end up getting very long as a result. Perhaps it might help the balance if the tribe info could be put ahead of the legion stuff somehow? <

A re title may do the trick

Hi Elentari thanks for reading this and the comments

>"They arrived led by emperor Claudius and general Aulus Plautius"
This is incorrect. Plautius led the invasion, Claudius arrived later.<
Yep see the alteration

>You need to do a total read-through and spell-check before you submit this to PR as there are lots of errors.<
Yep see the alteration

There are also a number of links that need to be added, but I daresay you'll do that a bit later.
Yep I do this last as people suggest thair favoites

>Also, you need to explain what legates are when you first mention them, not later.<
Yep see the alteration

I think this is a decent start, but I agree with Radox that the title doesn't fit with the arrangement - it's supposed to be about the tribes but you tell the story through the legions.
Yep see the alteration of the title

Hi Elentari,
>> He couldn't possibly have successfully invaded with so few men, though I suppose he might not have known that, as they'd not been before.<<

The book I have basically says in 55BC the Romans had 80 ships with 12,000 men gathered where Calais now stands. They had hoped to arrive unseen but were spotted by the Britons before they were able to land. Many ships in the Roman fleet were unable to reach the shore as the water wasn't deep enough to take the ships draft in their chosen landing site. The following year they returned with a larger army and reached Wallingford where the local tribes made peace with the Romans and promised to pay tribute to Rome before Caesar returned to Gaul.

As I told Bob, it's a very old history book (written in 1897) and I don't entirely trust all the details to be accurate as much has been discovered since it was complied. It also suffers from Victorian sensibilities so some of the more unsavoury detaiils are glossed over. The rape of Boudiccas daughters is not mentioned at all for example, although it does say Boudicca was beaten with rods.

BTW Bob, you've missed a 'T' out of the new (much better) title.

Hmm, I've never heard that. Might be true though.

Hi all

I have done that Elentari

Anymore ideas please