I've just watched Peter Snow and his son Dan on BBC2 taking us through
Boudicca's rebellion. They made no bones about taking the British side.
I suppose you can't quarrel with that point of view, when you think of
the Iraqi reaction to an invasion in which the invaders thought
they were being friendly.
About a quarter of the way through, I went to look for pencil and paper
to note down statements I was prepared to argue about. I don't
know what you think about them. Here they are:
1. The attack on the Druids in Mona was shown as armed Romans cutting
down unarmed Druids wearing white robes. No mention was made of human
sacrifice - the Druids were talked up as the only purveyors of
spirituality to the Britons.
2. The temple of Claudius in Colchester is said to have been built by British slaves. Is there and evidence of this?
3. The lack of walls for Camelodunum was put down to overconfidence,
rather than good relations built up with the local Britons. Tacitus
simply says "That was a matter which Roman commanders, thinking of
amenities rather than needs, had neglected."
4. The tombstone of a Roman cavalryman of Camelodunum was interpreted
as him beating his British slave, rather than riding down a (generic)
barbarian enemy.
5. The defeat of the Ninth Legion was dramatically portrayed, but
viewers will remember that the legion was ambushed from both sides of
the road. How could anyone know?
6. The Roman legionaries wore 'flimsy sandals'. Those of us who heard Lindsey speak at Sedbergh know better.
7. The Britons believed in reincarnation. I had not heard that; what is the evidence?
8. After the rebellion, the Iceni were 'forcibly resettled in a Romanised town'. Is that how things happened?
9. The Romans pushed the ancient Britons back to the extremities
of the island, where their language, like Welsh, survives. Surely
that was what happened when the Saxons invaded?
These quibbles apart, it was a well-made programme, and certainly held
my interest. The Radio 4 programme earlier today with Peter and Dan
going on a walk showed a fascinating and extremely able and energetic
pair. The third person, Muriel Gray, raised my hackles by saying
she would have protested against the adventurous things the Snow family
did when the children were tiny; P.C. gone mad.
Dan writes for the BBC site
here.
|
||||||||
|
Login
This Month
Month Archive
|
Peter and Dan Snow's view of Boudicca - how accurate is it?
No comments found.
|
About ARLTBlogNew entries are now here.To make a comment on an older post, please register using the Login box on the left. If you wish, you may use the user-name classicbloguser and the password classicbloguser. Unsuitable comments, including advertising, will be removed. Search
Interesting Web Logs
Classics websitesARLT (Association foR Latin Teaching)David Parsons' Classics Resources site JACT (Joint Association of Classics Teachers)
Calendar of Classical EventsRecent Articles
Recent Photos
|
||||||