WI: British Hillforts hold against Romans 43-7 AD

WI: British Hillforts hold against Romans 43-7 AD


The Atrebates, Dumnonii, and Durotriges tribes of southwest Britain had a series of fortified hill forts which the Romans took during the period of 43-7 AD. Dorset County at the time of the Roman’s invasion had 31 of these forts, the largest of which was Maiden Castle. My question is would it be possible for these forts to hold out for a prolonged period of time and if they did what would be the result? Also is there any way they could have held out for the next twenty years all the way until Boudicca’srebellion? For an added bonus we could say the forts are more fortified and the Roman’s lack ballistae and other siege equipment during the mid to late 40’s AD.

Source
How Iron-Age Britons faced a Roman assault by Lindsey Powell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maiden_Castle,_Dorset
 
I don't see how. I mean the Romans were the masters of siege warfare in the western world. And the British didn't build those forts to face the type of tactics the Romans used.
 
though i would probably agree with you, the Hillforts were not as backwater as they seem. The largest Maiden Castle rose 131 ft, had a plasaide 18ft high and a 28ft deep ditch around it. If the Romans lacked balistae for whatever reason it would very difficult for them to take the forts. The British slingers can lob thousands of pebbles, which can be shot 1300 ft, and if the Romans don't have a long range responses these may hurt:eek:
 

Flubber

Banned
though i would probably agree with you, the Hillforts were not as backwater as they seem.


The fact that the Romans took over 31 of these "forts" in less than four years means the hill forts were backwards. They may have been impressive to opponents without siege equipment but to the Romans they were little more than speed bumps.

If the Romans lacked balistae for whatever reason...

The legions built their siege equipment on the spot. The Romans were very conscious of burdening their troops what they termed impedimenta. A ballista or onager would exist in a legion's baggage train as little more than some iron fittings with the wooden structure fashioned by legion when a siege began. In many cases, even the necessary iron fittings, or more iron fittings, were also made on the spot.

The only way the hill forts could hold out longer was if they were far more substantial or if the Romans were far more stupid. The changes required for both of those options would result in a Britain and Rome which in no way resembled our own and that would most likely obviate both the invasion and later rebellion you're interested in.
 
Regardless, if they can't be taken by assault, they will be starved into submission. The hill forts are going to fall, and as mentioned by a poster above me, the fact that the Romans took 31 of these forts in 4 years shows they weren't really much of a problem.
 
Regardless, if they can't be taken by assault, they will be starved into submission. The hill forts are going to fall, and as mentioned by a poster above me, the fact that the Romans took 31 of these forts in 4 years shows they weren't really much of a problem.

funny you should metioned starving them out listen to this from the article i read "the wealth of the Durotriges came from grain. Large volumes of spelt wheat were brought to the hill-fort for processing, threshing, cleaning and grinding into flour. Postholes for platforms, which are believed to be granaries have been found around the inner edge.";)

on another note what if the Romans decided to ignore the Hillforts and the Southwestern part of Britian and instead focus on the rich eastern areas only. Could this have allowed for the Hill-Forts to survive until the 60's?
 
funny you should metioned starving them out listen to this from the article i read "the wealth of the Durotriges came from grain. Large volumes of spelt wheat were brought to the hill-fort for processing, threshing, cleaning and grinding into flour. Postholes for platforms, which are believed to be granaries have been found around the inner edge.";)

on another note what if the Romans decided to ignore the Hillforts and the Southwestern part of Britian and instead focus on the rich eastern areas only. Could this have allowed for the Hill-Forts to survive until the 60's?

Now, why on Earth would the Romans ignore the hill forts? There really isn't a reason for the to ignore them. Again, the fact that they were able to take most of them in a relatively short timespan shows the forts were clearly not a real problem for the legions. maybe they were problems against other Brittanni tribes they were built to defend against, but other than that, they can't hold out against the legions.

If for whatever reason the Romans do decide to ignore them though, I can't imagine even getting to the 60's before they have massive problems with those hill forts still untouched. I.e. raids, revolts, supply problems....

Which is why they'd have to be complete fools to leave them alone.
 
funny you should metioned starving them out listen to this from the article i read "the wealth of the Durotriges came from grain. Large volumes of spelt wheat were brought to the hill-fort for processing, threshing, cleaning and grinding into flour. Postholes for platforms, which are believed to be granaries have been found around the inner edge.";)

And? Cut them off from supplies of grain and that does a fat lot of nothing.
 
my point was that each fort would probably has a lot of grain on hand at any given time since they are preparing it, so they couldn't ever be caught completly without food.
 
So, what are they going to drink? Hill forts, being generally on hills, tended not to have good water supplies.

They were designed for short term refuge.
 

Flubber

Banned
my point was...


And our collective point is that from, a Roman perspective, those hill forts weren't forts at all. They might as well been made out of pillows and sofa cushionos for the trouble they gave the legions.

Given Rome's stated reasons for invading Britain, it is not going to leave even lightly fortified structures in local hands for decades after the initial invasions.
 
fermented barley called curmi is readily available and in large supply

So, they're going to make beer without water?

Praise be to Epona!

Once again, hillforts were merely strongpoints meant for temporary defence against other tribes going on cattle raids and the like. They can't stand up to any organised and supplied force that, without even fighting, can basically surround the hill, sit down and wait a week until the water runs out.
 
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