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Document Details :

Title: Excursions of the Roman Navy in Britain
Subtitle: The Mutiny of the Usipi
Author(s): SMITH, Ian Gordon
Journal: Latomus
Volume: 78    Issue: 3   Date: 2019   
Pages: 696-732
DOI: 10.2143/LAT.78.3.3287368

Abstract :
In the Flavian period the Romans sought to complete the conquest of Britain, culminating in a well-documented seven-year offensive in the north led by the governor, Gnaeus Iulius Agricola. However, his penultimate campaign of A.D. 83 was tarnished by a revolt of a cohort of Usipi (a Rhine-side tribe) which had recently been levied during Domitian’s concurrent German war and sent over to Britain. According to the accounts of Tacitus and Cassius Dio, the mutinous Usipi commandeered three ships and in a fraught voyage sailed round Britain, eventually reaching the German shore and captivity. This article closely examines the geographical aspects of their narratives to determine the potential route taken by the rebels.

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