Boudica was the wife of Prasutagus, King of the Iceni, a Celtic tribe in what is now East Anglia. After Prasutagus’ death, the relationship between the Iceni and Romans deteriorated, probably due to the repressive occupation policies of Roman colonists and officials. The Romans refused to accept a woman as tribal leader; according to Tacitus they publicly whipped Boudica and raped her virgin daughters.*
In 60 AD, the Iceni conspired with their neighbours, the Trinovantes, and Boudica was chosen as their leader. Tacitus records that she addressed her army with these words, “It is not as a woman descended from noble ancestry, but as one of the people that I am avenging lost freedom, my scourged body, the outraged chastity of my daughters,” and concluded, “This is a woman’s resolve; as for men, they may live and be slaves.” Together they rose up against the Romans and moved south to attack and plunder the Roman settlements. Their first target was the veteran colony Camulodunum, today’s Colchester. They burned the city to its foundations and killed all its inhabitants. Londinium (London) and Verulamium (St Albans) followed. Presumably more than 50.000 fighters had gathered around Boudicca, and after the initial successes new supporters joined.
Although the Celtic inhabitants of Britain were highly developed and experienced in many aspects, they were not versed in warfare. Their equipment was simple, and the level of organisation of the British warriors was in no way comparable to that of the enemy. Though strong in numbers, they had no chance in the final battle against the disciplined, better armed and tightly organized troops of Rome. The Roman commander and governor of Britain, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, together with two legions, confronted the British, who had previously led guerrilla-like attacks, in open field in a battle northwest of Verulamium and destroyed them.
There are two versions of Boudica’s fate: Tacitus reports that Boudica took her life by poisoning herself, while Cassius Dio believes that Boudicca fell ill and eventually died.
The great tragedy of Boudica is that she was one battle away from achieving her ultimate objective, for had she succeeded, Rome would have withdrawn from Britain. Boudica’s legacy is that of bravery and of standing up to opression to secure ones freedom. It’s a story that inspired later generations of Britons, including Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth.
*Cassius Dio provides an alternative explanation for Boudica’s response, saying that previous imperial donations to influential Britons were confiscated and the Roman financier and philosopher Seneca called in the loans he had forced on the reluctant Britons.
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