What Sparked Boudica’s Revolt Against the Roman Empire?
Channel: Celtic History Decoded
Date: 2021-11-21

Why Did The Celtic Queen Boudica Revolt Against the Roman Empire?

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In 60 AD, the Celtic Queen of the British Iceni tribe rebelled against Roman rule, killing tens-of-thousands of occupying Roman troops in the process. But what sparked this revolt? 

Initially things were very different for Boudica. When the Romans invaded Britain decades earlier, Boudica’s husband, Prasutagus, who was King of the Iceni tribe at the time, allied his kingdom with the Romans. Whether Prasutagus allied with the Romans after an attempt to resists Roman conquest was defeated, or whether he surrendered without a fight are not quite clear. Regardless, the King of the Iceni tribe was an independent ally of the Romans going forward.

In Prasutagus’ will, he left half of his kingdom to his daughters, and the other half to the Roman emperor, Nero. When he died however, his will was ignored, and his kingdom was annexed by Rome and his property taken. His wife, Boudica, was flogged and abused in the streets, and his daughters raped. Naturally, Boudica, as a mother and a widow, snapped. 
Boudica, who was known as a very tall women with a fierce gaze, organized others who had been aggrieved by the Romans. She led her own Iceni tribe around the Norfolk area of eastern England along with other tribes, including the Trinovantes, which occupied a region corresponding to parts of modern-day Essex and Greater London, in rebellion against Roman rule.  

It started when the Roman governor of Britain, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, was on campaign which targeted a Druid stronghold in Mona, modern-day Anglesey in Wales. With Paulinus and his army out of the way, Boudica seized her opportunity. The Celtic queen and her army sacked Camulodunum, modern-day Colchester, overpowering and surprising the Romans guarding the city. Boudica quickly moved on to attack Londinium, modern-day London. 

Paulinus, who had received word of the Boudica’s success in Colchester, marched straight for Londinium to head off Boudica’s advance. Paulinus did not have sufficient numbers to defend Londinium however, and ended up having to evacuate the city leaving it for the Celts. Boudica and her army torched Londinium as a demonstration of power, and moved on to sack and burn other Roman-controlled towns. 

In her campaign, Boudica and her army killed an estimated 70-80,000 Roman troops, many by torture. Her uprising was so impactful that it apparently even made Nero, the Roman Emperor at the time, consider withdrawing his forces from Britain altogether. 

Paulinus eventually reorganised his forces however, and despite being outnumbered, the Romans defeated Boudica’s army in a decisive battle that suppressed the revolt. The fate of Boudica is debated however. Some sources argue that she killed herself to avoid being captured, whereas other say she died shortly after due to illness. Regardless of her mortal fate, her name and spirit has died.  

Sources:

Boudica https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudica 

Boudicca https://www.britannica.com/biography/Boudicca

Prasutagus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prasutagus 

Creative Commons Imagery:

Paul Walter https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boudica_statue,_Westminster_(8433726848).jpg Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Ad Meskens https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_baths_suetonius_paulinus_01.JPG Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en 

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