Boudicca: Warrior Queen of the Iceni Boudicca: Warrior Queen of the Iceni By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | May 31, 2013 05:43pm ET MORE Credit: Claudio Divizia Shutterstock Boudicca (also spelled Boudica or Boudicea) was the queen of the Iceni, a tribe based in modern day Norfolk, in eastern England. In A.D. 60, she led a revolt against the Romans that resulted in the destruction of two (possibly three) Roman settlements and almost drove the empire off the island. Much of what we know about her comes from two Roman writers, Publius Cornelius Tacitus (A.D. 56-117) and Cassius Dio (A.D. 150-235). The revolt began after the death of her husband, Prasutagus, around A.D. 60. Tacitus writes that the Romans seized Iceni property, flogged Boudicca and raped her two daughters. She then raised an army and led a rebellion against the Romans which, after initial success, was crushed at the Battle of Watling Street.

For a society as patriarchal as imperial Rome, the fact that a woman had succeeded in killing so many Romans was disconcerting to say the least. “Two cities were sacked, eighty thousand of the Romans and of their allies perished, and the island was lost to Rome. Moreover, all this ruin was brought upon the Romans by a woman, a fact which in itself caused them the greatest shame,” wrote Dio (translation by Earnest Cary, through penelope.uchicago.edu ). The only physical description of Boudicca that survives comes from Dio. Although it may not be accurate, it leaves readers with the impression that Boudicca was a determined war leader. “In stature she was very tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was harsh; a great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips; around her neck was a large golden necklace; and she wore a tunic of divers colours over which a thick mantle was fastened with a brooch. This was her invariable attire ...” wrote Dio, who added that she clutched a spear when she spoke to her people.

Dio (unlike Tacitus) doesn’t mention the flogging of Boudicca, or the rape of her daughters, and claims the uprising was over a Roman loan. The Romans and the Iceni The Roman Empire, under Emperor Claudius, launched a successful invasion of Britain in A.D. 43 with an army estimated to be around 40,000 men. Military campaigns had been launched by earlier Roman leaders against the Brits (one notably led by Julius Caesar) but this time the Romans were here to stay. [ Related: Hadrian's Wall: Northern Frontier of the Roman Empire ] Claudius’ force didn’t try and defeat every British tribe. Several leaders offered to make their kingdoms “client-states” of Rome. This basically meant that as long as their leaders lived, and did Rome’s bidding when asked, they could maintain some level of sovereignty within the Roman Empire. The Iceni were one of the tribes who agreed to this arrangement and they remained a client state of Rome up until the death of Prasutagus around A.D. 60.

The Iceni, at the time of the Roman invasion, were a wealthy people (as evidenced by hoards of precious metals that have been found) whose leaders had been minting coins for nearly a century. Some of the earliest Iceni coins show an image of what Miranda Aldhouse-Green, a Cardiff University professor, calls a “snapping wolf,” a choice that may offer an insight into the psyche of these people. The “wolf is both a wild creature, a potential enemy to humans, and also lives and hunts in packs; it therefore may have acted as a symbol of independent solidarity,” she writes in her book, "Boudica Britannia: Rebel, War-Leader and Queen" (Pearson Education, 2006). She also notes that the Iceni people also kept making ceramics by hand, even though they had access to the potter’s wheel. Even before Boudicca, the Iceni’s client-state relationship with Rome was problematic. In A.D. 47, a short-lived unsuccessful revolt was launched by the Iceni against Rome.

This rebellion may have led to the elevation of Prasutagus to the leadership of the tribe, perhaps being seen by the Romans as a leader who could keep the Iceni in line. Aldhouse-Green notes that the design of the coins minted by Prasutagus appear to strike a balance between showing the tribe’s allegiance to Rome and displaying a degree of independence, as if Prasutagus was trying to walk a fine line between the two sides. The coins “are imitations of early Neronian issues and their obverse depicts a high-relief portrait that closely resembles Nero himself,” she writes, “the reverse redresses the cultural balance and bear a very un-Roman design of a fantastic horse, a motif common to a range of tribal rulers’ coinage.” Even in his will, Prasutagus tried to strike a balance between the Iceni and the Romans. In it he left his kingdom to his two daughters and the Roman emperor Nero. The exclusion of Boudicca in his will has led historians to speculate that, even when her husband was still alive, the Iceni queen held strong anti-Roman views.

This client-state arrangement came crashing down upon the death of Prasutagus, however, with the Romans treating the Iceni, Boudicca and her daughters terribly. His “kingdom was plundered by centurions, his house by slaves, as if they were the spoils of war. First, his wife Boudicea was scourged (flogged), and his daughters outraged. All the chief men of the Iceni, as if Rome had received the whole country as a gift, were stripped of their ancestral possessions, and the king's relatives were made slaves...” wrote Tacitus (Translation by Alfred John Church, through Perseus Digital Library ) Initial success With her kingdom’s independence lost, her daughters raped, and herself having been personally flogged, Boudicca had had enough. She raised an army, gaining supporting from another aggrieved tribe known as the Trinovantes. 'Boadicea Haranguing the Britons (called Boudicca, or Boadicea),' by William Sharp, after John Opie line engraving, published 1793.

Credit: National Portrait Gallery, London She focused her wrath on the Roman settlements of Camulodunum (modern-day Colchester) and Londinium (London), burning both of them to the ground. Archaeologists have found evidence of the fires her forces lit. “At Camulodunum and Londinium the results of the Boudican revolt may be compared, on a smaller scale, with those of the volcanic eruptions that smothered Pompeii and Herculaneum,” write researchers Richard Hingley and Christina Unwin in their book, "Boudica: Iron Age Warrior Queen" (Cambridge University Press, 2005). The towns were destroyed. In addition, Tacitus claims that Boudicca also destroyed the town of Verulamium, although the archaeological evidence for this is less clear. Boudicca was helped by the fact that at the time her rebellion was launched much of the Roman army in Britain was on the Isle of Anglesey, in Wales, destroying a Druid site at Mona. This meant that, for awhile, the rebels would only encounter small numbers of Roman troops.

After her successes, Dio records, Boudicca’s army had swelled to 230,000 people, a figure that was probably exaggerated. Battle of Watling Street University of Leicester professor David Mattingly writes that the Roman commander on the island, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, amassed what forces he could, numbering perhaps only 10,000 men. He gave battle to Boudicca somewhere near Watling Street, an ancient road on the island. While Paulinus was heavily outnumbered, he did have several other advantages. His legionnaires were well trained, equipped and probably battle hardened. Boudicca’s forces on the other hand were anything but. In “a fast-moving rebellion there was neither time to fabricate large numbers of arms, nor, evidently, was there the opportunity for rebel forces to pillage major stockpiles of Roman weaponry,” Mattingly writes in his book "An Imperial Possession: Britain in the Roman Empire" (Penguin Books, 2006).

He notes that while a “core” of Boudica’s army was properly armed “many of the rebels will have had no body armour and will have been provided with makeshift weapons, such as agricultural tools.” Additionally, while scholars don’t know precisely where Paulinus engaged Boudicca, we know from Tacitus that it was in a “narrow defile” with a forest at the rear. This meant that Boudicca could not bring her superior numbers to bear on the Roman forces. Also, Tacitus notes that Boudicca made a tactical mistake in placing her supply wagons close to the front lines, blocking her troops when they had to retreat. The Roman legions started the battle by launching spears at the British. These spears would have killed some Brits and hit the shields of others, possibly sticking to them and rendering them useless. Then the Roman troops “rushed out in a wedge-like column. Similar was the onset of the auxiliaries, while the cavalry with extended lances broke through all who offered a strong resistance.” The rebels tried to flee but “flight proved difficult, because the surrounding wagons had blocked retreat,” writes Tacitus.

The Romans massacred all who they could, even killing the animals which the rebels used to move their supplies. The battle over, Tacitus said that Boudicca took poison to avoid being captured, while Dio said that she died of illness (possibly from a wound). Mattingly writes that Paulinus then “set about re-subjugating the implicated areas by ‘fire and sword’ and this extended not only to the most hostile peoples, but also even to those who had simply wavered in their loyalty.” Britain would remain part of the Roman Empire until the fifth century A.D. when the western half of the empire collapsed. Boudicca today While Boudicca’s rebellion failed to drive the Romans out of Britain, the Iceni queen has become something of a modern-day heroine. [ Related: Camelot, King Arthur & the Knights of the Round Table ] “Boudicca has become an icon of British national history and is now a symbol not only of British freedom but also of women’s power,” writes University of Newcastle researcher Marguerite Johnson in her book "Boudicca" (Bristol Classic Press, 2012).

“She has been painted and sculpted; she has ‘starred’ in films and has been the protagonist of numerous books, both of an academic and fictional nature.” In 1902, not long after the death of Queen Victoria, who was the longest reigning monarch in British history, a statue of Boudicca was unveiled next to Westminster Bridge in London. Standing in her war chariot, and clutching a spear, it shows the Iceni queen ready to take on the might of Rome. Boudicca - Ancient History Encyclopedia Boudicca by Joshua J. Mark published on 08 November 2013 Boudicca was the Celtic Queen of the Iceni tribe of modern-day East Anglia, Britain , who led a revolt against Rome in 60/61 CE. The Iceni King, Prasutagus, an independent ally of Rome, divided his estate between his daughters and King Nero of Rome. When Prasutagus died, however, his lands were taken by Rome and the Iceni lost their status as allies. When his wife, Boudicca, objected to this action she was flogged and her two daughters raped.

She mounted a revolt against Rome which left the ancient Roman cities of Camulodunum, Londinium and Verulamium in ruins and over 80,000 Roman citizens of Britain dead. She was defeated at the Battle of Watling Street by the Roman Governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus chiefly by his judicious choice of battlefield and allowing her army to cut off its own escape route by encircling their rear with their wagons, animals and families. Boudicca is said to have committed suicide by poisoning herself after her defeat. The primary sources of the story of Boudicca's revolt are the Roman historians, Publius Cornelius Tacitus (56-117 CE) and Cassius Dio (150-235 CE). These two offer different versions of the story in that Tacitus claims the revolt sprang from the ill treatment of the Iceni following Prasutagus' death while Dio writes that the cause of the uprising was a dispute over a loan.

Remove Ads Advertisement The other significant difference in the versions is that Dio makes no mention of the flogging of Boudicca or the rape of her daughters and claims she died of wounds incurred in battle, not by poisoning. Tacitus' account is generally accepted as being more factual because his father-in-law, Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40-93 CE) was the governor in Britain chiefly responsible for the successful conquest of the region and served as Tacitus' primary source of information. There is no doubt of Agricola's participation in the suppression of Boudicca's revolt, serving under Suetonius as a young soldier in 61 CE. Causes of Boudicca's Rebellion Boudicca was flogged and her daughters raped. Tacitus writes, "Prasutagus, king of the Iceni, after a life of long and renownded prosperity, had made the emperor co-heir with his own two daughters. Prasutagus hoped by this submissiveness to preserve his kingdom and household from attack. But it turned out otherwise. [After his death] kingdom and household alike were plundered like prizes of war , the one by Roman officers, the other by Roman slaves.

As a beginning, his widow Boudicca was flogged and their daughters raped. The Icenian chiefs were deprived of their hereditary estates as if the Romans had been given the whole country. The king's own relatives were treated like slaves. And the humiliated Iceni feared still worse, now that they had been reduced to provincial status. So they rebelled." (Eyewitness to Ancient Rome, 197). The historian Miranda Aldhouse-Green cites an earlier Iceni rebellion, in 47 CE, as the cause of Prasutagus' elevation to chief of the tribe. This rebellion was unsuccessful and it is unclear what role Prasutagus played in it but it seems clear that the Romans saw Prasutagus as a leader who could keep the peace between the Iceni and Rome. Aldhouse-Green also notes the significance of Prasutagus' will, which divided his estate between his daughters and Rome and omitted Boudicca, as evidence of the queen's hostility toward Rome. It is argued that, by leaving her out of the will, Prasutagus hoped his daughters would continue his policy of cooperation.

After his death, however, all hope of the Iceni existing peacefully with Rome was lost. Advertisement Boudicca's War Boudicca first struck the city of Camulodunum (modern Colchester) where she massacred the inhabitants and destroyed the settlement. Governor Suetonius was engaged in putting down an uprising on the Island of Mona and so the Roman citizens appealed to imperial agent Catus Decianus. He sent a lightly armed force of 200 men who proved ineffective in defense of the city. The Ninth Roman Division, led by Rufus, marched to relieve the settlement but were routed and the infantry decimated by the Briton forces. Tacticus cites the greed and rapacity of men like Catus Decianus for the viciousness of the Britons in revolt. Suetonius, returning from Mona, marched to Londinium (modern London) but, upon receiving intelligence that Boudicca's forces far outnumbered his own, left the city to its fate and sought a field more advantageous for battle. Boudicca's army sacked Londinium and, as before, massacred the inhabitants.

Suetonius had offered the people of the city safe passage with his army and it seems many accepted this offer. However, Tacitus writes, "but those who stayed because they were women, or old, or attached to the place, were slaughtered by the enemy. Verulamium suffered the same fate." BBC - Primary History - Romans - Rebellion Primary History What happened after the rebellion? Why did the British rebel? By AD 61, the Romans were in control of southern Britain. Then they faced their most serious problem to date - rebellion! It began while the Roman governor Paulinus (the soldier in charge of Roman Britain) was away in North Wales. He had led the Roman army and got rid of the Druids, the priests of the old Celtic religion. The trouble started in East Anglia. The Iceni tribe lived there and Prasutagus, the king, was a friend of the Romans. When he died, he left half his kingdom to the Roman emperor, and half to his wife, Queen Boudicca. The Romans wanted it all. They also wanted extra taxes and they wanted Boudicca to give up her throne. Back to top How did the Romans get it wrong?

The Romans treated Boudicca and her daughters very badly. They took land and farm animals away from the Iceni. The Iceni became very angry, and decided to fight back! The Romans ran away. Warriors from other tribes came to join Boudicca and her Iceni army. Back to top Which Roman towns were burned? The Britons marched to Camulodunum (Colchester), the capital of Roman Britain. Boudicca's warriors attacked the town. They burned the new Roman temple, where Roman soldiers and their families had taken shelter. Next Boudicca led her army towards Londinium (London). The Romans had made London an important town and port. By now, news of the rebellion had spread. The Roman governor, Paulinus, dashed from Wales to London, but he did not have enough soldiers to fight Boudicca. He left London, taking his soldiers with him. Many people fled the city. The Iceni burned London and killed hundreds of people, both Britons and Romans. Back to top What did the Roman Army do? Boudicca turned north to attack another Roman town, Verulamium (St Albans).

Paulinus was in the Midlands, preparing for battle. He called for more soldiers. Part of the Roman army was at Exeter, but its commander refused to come. Paulinus had to make do with what he could muster - perhaps 10,000 men. Boudicca may have had ten times more soldiers than the Romans, but the Romans were well trained. There was a great battle. The only reports of it come from Roman writers, such as Tacitus. Tacitus says most of the Britons were killed. Rather than be captured, Boudicca drank poison to kill herself. The Romans had won. Back to top What happened after the rebellion? After Boudicca's rebellion, people in southern Britain settled down to live under Roman rule. Many Britons enjoyed living in Roman-style towns with baths and shops. Some spoke and wrote in Latin (the Roman language), and wore Roman fashions. Tacitus thought these luxuries were making the people of Britain weak. Fun Facts In a London river, archaeologists found the skulls of people possibly killed by Boudicca's army. A red-ash layer in the soil shows how hot the fire was when Roman London burned.

Boudicca rode in a horse-drawn chariot. Romans said she sliced the heads off her enemies, as she charged into battle. A modern myth says that Boudicca's body is buried under platform 9 at King's Cross Station in London. BBC © 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. A to D Acropolis [a-CROP-olis] The Acropolis is a large hill in the centre of Athens. On top of it were many temples and other buildings, the remains of which can be seen today. amphitheatre A place like a stadium, where Romans went to watch animals and people fighting. aqueduct A system of pipes and channels used to bring water into towns. archaeological site A place such as a ruined fort studied by archaeologists.

archaeologists People who study the past by looking at old things, often found underground. archaeology Studying the past by looking at old things, often found underground. Aristophanes [aris-TOF-a-neez] Lived in Athens in the 5th century BC. He wrote comedies for the theatre in Athens. Aspasia [as-PAY-zia] Was a woman to taught public speaking in Athens. She was the partner of the famous general Perikles. Aspasia had much more independence than most women in Athens. barbarian A person who lived outside the Roman Empire, seen by Romans as violent and uncivilized. basilica A large building where town business was carried out (like a modern Town Hall). assembly The Assembly was the public meeting of the giovernment of the city. All citizens could take part and vote there. Athena The patron goddess of Athens. A huge statue of Athena stood outside the Parthenon. Attica [A-tik-a] A wind instrument with a reed similar to a modern oboe. capital city Main city of a country, the centre of government. catapult A machine that threw rocks or burning tar at the enemies.

In Latin it was called an onager. cavalry Soldiers who fight on horseback. chariot Cart with two wheels pulled by horses. Romans raced chariots, and Celtic warriors rode into battle on them. celts People who lived in Europe, including Britain, and who fought the Romans. centurion An officer commanding about 80 legionaries. citizen Person with special rights such as the right to vote and own property in the Roman Empire. Only men could be full Roman citizens. cohort There were ten cohorts in a legion. crossbow Weapon like a bow and arrow, only the string is pulled back by turning a handle and the bow is fired by releasing a trigger. In Latin it was called a ballista druids The priests of the old Celtic religion. E to G Process where people vote to choose the people they want to be in charge. empire A large area with many people ruled by one strong leader, called an emperor. forum An open space in the middle of a town for markets and meeting people (like a market square). It was the centre of Roman town life. fort A building with walls to keep out enemies, used by soldiers. foundations Firm base for a road or building.

general leader of an army, the soldier giving the orders to everyone else. gladiator A person trained to fight other gladiators or animals in amphitheatres. governor The ruler of Roman Britain, who worked for the Roman Emperor. H to L hypocaust Roman central heating. Hot air from a furnace (fire) flowed through gaps between walls and flooring latin The language spoken and written by the Romans. legate The officer commanding a whole legion. legion The main battle unit of the Roman army, its soldiers were called legionaries. There were between 4,000 and 6,000 legionaries in a legion. legend A story made up about people in the past M to O A pattern made from coloured pieces of stones and pottery. myth A made-up story, often about gods and spirits, told to explain things such as why the sun rises and sets every day. P to Z Money paid to a retired worker or soldier. picts people who lived in Scotland republic A country without a king, queen or emperor. The Roman republic was ruled by the elected Senate. Most countries today are republics. sacred Something that is believed to be holy and to have a special connection with a god or gods.

scroll Roman book, written on a long strip of paper rolled around a stick. senate The Roman government, made up of senators. senator A person elected to the Roman Senate who helped run the government. Some countries today, like the U.S.A., have senators. sewage Dirty water and toilet waste which flows into sewers from drains and toilets. sewers Pipes or tunnels that carry away sewage. slave Someone who can be sold to another person to work for nothing. A slave is not free and has no rights. slingshot Weapon for throwing stones, made from a long strip of leather and whirled around by the thrower. standard Roman army emblem, a pole with special decorations (such as a metal eagle) carried by a soldier. Each legion had its own standards. stirrups the metal holder for a rider's foot. Attached to a horse's saddle by a leather strap. strigil A metal object used in Roman baths to scrape sweat, dirt and excess oil off. stylus A metal pen for scratching words into soft wax on wooden tablets. taxes Money or items taken by the government from people, to pay for things like the army, wars, emperor's palaces and building roads.

Thatched roofs Roofs of buildings made from bundles of straw or reeds. treadmill Machine like a big wheel inside which slaves walked round, to turn the machine. tribe A group of people who live in one part of a country and are ruled by a chief. tutor A teacher who gives lessons to a student at home. underworld A gloomy place where Romans believed your soul went after you died. villa A large house in the country. Some Roman villas were farmhouses and some were like palaces. warrior A trained soldier, someone used to fighting in wars. wreath The Romans and Queen Boudica - History Learning Site Home » Ancient Rome » The Romans and Queen Boudica The Romans and Queen Boudica Citation: C N Trueman "The Romans and Queen Boudica" historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 16 Mar 2015. 16 Aug 2016. Queen Boudica and her army gave the Romans a major challenge. In AD 60, Boudica led an uprising against the Romans. Boudica was the queen of the Iceni tribe who lived in what is now East Anglia.

What caused this major rebellion? When Boudica’s husband,Prasutagus, died, he left his territory to the Romans and to his two daughters. By doing this, he had hoped to keep all parties happy that they had got part of his kingdom. When the Romans moved into the kingdom, they looted buildings and took people away to be slaves. Boudica claimed that the Romans flogged her and raped her daughters. This is what caused her to lead a rebellion. Other tribes in East Anglia joined with the Iceni to fight the Romans. An army of about 30,000 men attacked the Romans but though they had numbers on their side, they were a ramshackle force with no organisation. However, they had one major thing on their side: the Romans were concentrating their efforts on defeating the Druids in Anglesey. There was no sizeable Roman army force in East Anglia. As a result, the Iceni had a clear run to the major Roman city of Colchester (Camulodunum) in Essex. Here they massacred the population of the city. It is said that everybody was killed – men, women and children.

Just outside of Colchester, the Iceni and others killed soldiers from the 9th Legion who had tried to stop the rebels. It is thought that 2000 Roman soldiers were killed. From Colchester, the rebels moved on to London (Londinium). Here a similar pattern of destruction took place. It is thought that 70,000 died here. Suetonius only had a small garrison defending London at this time. He ordered it to leave for its own safety. To him, trained soldiers were more important than civilians. St. Albans (Verulamium) was also attacked. Suetonius returned with his force via Chester and Wroxeter. The tribe’s people by this time may have been too confident after their victories. Up against a disciplined and well-lead Roman army, they were heavily beaten. The only written account we have on the rebellion comes from Tacitus, a Roman writer. He claimed that 80,000 Britons were killed in this battle, but this is likely to be an exaggeration. He also wrote that only 400 Roman soldiers were killed which is also highly unlikely.

However, historians do accept that it was a major victory for the Romans that once again asserted their authority over the Britons. What of Boudica? Tacitus claims that Boudica took poison and killed herself rather than face capture. Athena Review 1,1: Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni, led a revolt against the Roman military in AD 60-61 The Iceni were a Celtic tribe living in Norfolk and Suffolk in eastern Britain. Due to flourishing trade across the English Channel with the Roman empire, their merchants and rulers prospered, issuing their own coinage between about 65 BC and AD 61. Near the end of this period, following the Roman invasion of Britain under Claudius in AD 43, king Prasutagus (AD 50-60) became a rich and powerful client of the Romans. After his death, however, the Roman administrators in Britain made the Iceni a subject population. Fig.1: Iceni silver coin from hoard, AD 61 (photo: Athena Review).

Boudicca, widow of Prasutagus, now became queen of the Iceni. After she and her two daughters were subjected to grave humiliations by the Romans, she led a revolt of the Iceni and several other tribes which lasted for several months in 60-61. The Boudiccan forces burned and destoyed the three major towns of Londinium (London), Verulamium (St. Albans), and Camulodunum (Colchester), killing many thousands of citizens. The revolt was eventually suppressed in AD 61 by the Roman military governor, Suetonius Paullinus. The story is told in the Annals of Tacitus, written about AD 110-120. Tacitus had a special interest in Britain because his father-in-law, Agricola, became governor of the Province in AD 77-85 after a successful military campaign in Wales and the north. This campaign, together with some details on the native Celtic tribes, is described in the book Agricola by Tacitus, written in AD 98.

The silver Iceni coin shown above was buried in a hoard along with hundreds of similar coins during the Boudiccan revolt. These were minted in great quantities in order to finance the rebellion. After their defeat in AD 61, the Iceni were resettled in a civitas capital at Caistor-by-Norwich (also called Caistor St.Edmunds), located along the River Tas. The site may be visited today, along with related exhibits at the Norwich Museum. BBC - History - Boudicca z Imagined portrait of Boudicca © Boudicca was queen of the Iceni people of Eastern England and led a major uprising against occupying Roman forces. Boudicca was married to Prasutagus, ruler of the Iceni people of East Anglia. When the Romans conquered southern England in AD 43, they allowed Prasutagus to continue to rule. However, when Prasutagus died the Romans decided to rule the Iceni directly and confiscated the property of the leading tribesmen. They are also said to have stripped and flogged Boudicca and raped her daughters. These actions exacerbated widespread resentment at Roman rule.

In 60 or 61 AD, while the Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paullinus was leading a campaign in North Wales, the Iceni rebelled. Members of other tribes joined them. Boudicca's warriors successfully defeated the Roman Ninth Legion and destroyed the capital of Roman Britain, then at Colchester. They went on to destroy London and Verulamium (St Albans). Thousands were killed. Finally, Boudicca was defeated by a Roman army led by Paulinus. Many Britons were killed and Boudicca is thought to have poisoned herself to avoid capture. The site of the battle, and of Boudicca's death, are unknown. Iceni | people | Britannica.com people Yi Iceni, in ancient Britain , a tribe that occupied the territory of present-day Norfolk and Suffolk and, under its queen Boudicca (Boadicea), revolted against Roman rule. The Iceni made a treaty with the Romans at the time of Claudius ’s invasion of Britain (ad 43), but they rebelled in 47 when the Romans attempted to disarm them.

After quelling the revolt, the Romans controlled the Iceni through a complaisant client king, Prasutagus , until his death (ad 60–61). When the Romans then attempted to annex his realm, his queen, Boudicca, led a revolt of all East Anglia . The Britons were initially successful, but ultimately the Romans suppressed the rebellion harshly and reduced the Iceni to a small tribal community , or civitas, with its capital at Venta Icenorum (present-day Caistor St. Edmunds, near Norwich). The tribe’s economy was largely agricultural, with a thriving local pottery industry and evidence of trade in wool. The area was not poor, however, and excavators have discovered, for example, a series of silver and gold hoards at Mildenhall and Thetford (dating from the 2nd to the 4th century). German invaders found settlements in the early 5th century and began the era of Anglo-Saxon England. Learn More in these related articles: 6/12/2006 • Military History , Personalities She slaughtered a Roman army.

She torched Londinium, leaving a charred layer almost half a meter thick that can still be traced under modern London. According to the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus, her army killed as many as 70,000 civilians in Londinium, Verulamium and Camulodunum, rushing ‘to cut throats, hang, burn, and crucify. Who was she? Why was she so angry? Most of Boudica’s life is shrouded in mystery. She was born around AD 25 to a royal family in Celtic Britain, and as a young woman she married Prasutagus, who later became king (a term adopted by the Celts, but as practiced by them, more of an elected chief) of the Iceni tribe. They had two daughters, probably born during the few years immediately after the Roman conquest in ad 43. She may have been Iceni herself, a cousin of Prasutagus, and she may have had druidic training. Even the color of her hair is mysterious.

Another Roman historian, Cassius Dio — who wrote long after she died — described it with a word translators have rendered as fair, tawny, and even flaming red, though Dio probably intended his audience to picture it as golden-blonde with perhaps a reddish tinge. Her name meant victory. Boudica’s people once welcomed the Romans. Nearly 100 years earlier, when Gaius Julius Caesar made the first Roman foray into Britannia in 55 and 54 BC, the Iceni were among six tribes that offered him their allegiance. But this greatest of all Roman generals was unable to cope with either the power of the coastal tides or the guerrilla tactics of the other Britons who fought him. After negotiating a pro forma surrender and payment of tribute, Caesar departed. For the next 97 years, no Roman military force set foot on British soil. The Iceni watched as their southern neighbors, the Catuvellauni, grew rich from exporting grain, cattle and hides, iron and precious metals, slaves and hunting dogs to Rome.

From Rome, they imported luxury goods such as wine and olive oil, fine Italian pottery, and silver and bronze drinking cups, and they minted huge numbers of gold coins at their capital, Camulodunum. A century of Roman emperors came and went. Then, in 41 Claudius (Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus) rose to the imperial purple. There were many practical reasons why he might have thought it useful to add Britannia to the empire, one being that the island was an important source of grain and other supplies needed in quantity by the Roman army. Stories abounded about the mineral wealth there. Outbreaks of unrest in Gaul were stirred up — so the Romans believed — by druid agitators from Britannia. The most compelling reason for Claudius, however, was political. Born with a limp and a stutter, he had once been regarded as a fool and kept out of public view — although those handicaps were largely responsible for his survival amid the intrigue and murder that befell many members of his noble family. Now the emperor desperately needed a prestige boost of the sort that, in Rome, could be provided only by an important military victory.

So when the chief of a minor British tribe turned up in Rome, complaining that he had been deposed and asking the emperor to restore his rule, Claudius must have thought it the perfect excuse to launch an invasion. Boudica would have been about 18 years old in 43, the year Claudius invaded, old enough to be aware of the events that would transform her life. She may already have been married to Prasutagus, but the king of the Iceni was still Antedios, probably an older relative of Prasutagus. Antedios seems to have taken a neutral position toward Rome. Other tribes openly supported the conquest, but most, including the Icenis’ neighbor to the south, did not. Caradoc, king of the Catuvellauni (called Caractacus by the Romans), and his brother Togodumnus led an alliance of tribes to repel the invaders. When the Roman troops landed at the far southeastern tip of Britannia, Caractacus and his allies harried them as they marched inland. Then the Britons retreated to gather into a single force on the other side of the River Medway.

There, the Romans won a major battle in which Caractacus’ brother was either killed or mortally wounded. At that point, Emperor Claudius himself came to Britannia to seal the conquest with a victory at Camulodunum — now known as Colchester — where he accepted the formal submission of 11 British rulers, including Antedios of the Iceni. Boudica and the Iceni may well have expected the Romans to sail away as they had in the past. They soon learned otherwise. Claudius built a Legionary fortress at Camulodunum, stationed troops there and established other fortresses throughout eastern Britannia. He appointed the invasion forces’ commander, Aulus Plautius, as Britannia’s first Roman governor. Caractacus retreated westward, recruited fresh troops and continued to fight a guerrilla war against the Romans. The ham-fisted Ostorius Scapula replaced Plautius in 47. Caractacus timed a series of raids to coincide with the change of governors, so Ostorius arrived to news of fighting. Was it this unpleasant reception that made Ostorius so mistrustful of all the Britons, even those who had surrendered?

Or was he short-tempered because he already suffered from the illness from which he would die five years later? For whatever reason Ostorius decided to disarm those subject tribes that he felt he could not fully trust, including the Iceni. Established Roman law forbade subject populations to keep weapons other than those used for hunting game, but that was contrary to Celtic law and custom. The Iceni rebelled, and Ostorius defeated them. Antedios may have been killed in the rebellion. If not, it seems likely that Ostorius removed him immediately afterward and installed Prasutagus as client-king in his place. Boudica was now queen of the Iceni. Two years later, in 49, Ostorius confiscated land in and around Camulodunum to set up a colonia. This was a town for retired Legionaries, in which each veteran was granted a homestead. The town gave the veterans a secure retirement and concentrated an experienced reserve force in the new province, on which Rome could call in case of emergency. In theory, it was supposed to provide a model of Roman civilization to which the natives might aspire.

Unfortunately, the colonia at Camulodunum caused more problems than it solved. As it grew over the next decade, more and more Britons were driven off their land, some enslaved by the veterans, others executed and their heads exhibited on stakes. The Iceni had once avoided trade with Rome, while the Catuvellauni grew rich from it. Now, the Iceni submitted, while the former king of the Catuvellauni fought Rome, and his people suffered the consequences. Ostorius finally defeated Caractacus in 51 and captured him in 52. That same year, Ostorius died. Rome replaced him with Didius Gallus, who provoked no internal rebellions, though the unconquered western tribes continued to fight. Emperor Claudius was poisoned in 54, and Nero (Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus) succeeded him. Perhaps to deflect the suspicion that he had been involved in his uncle’s murder, Nero elevated Claudius to the status of a god and ordered a temple to him built at Camulodunum.

Now the British chieftains would be obliged not only to worship once a year at the altar of the man who had invaded and occupied their lands, but also to finance the building of the extravagant and costly temple. Rome further pressed British patience by calling for the repayment of money given or loaned to the tribes. It is possible that Antedios had received some of the money Claudius had handed out, and his successor, Prasutagus, was now expected to repay it. Prasutagus had probably also received an unwanted loan from Lucius Seneca, Roman philosopher and Nero’s tutor, who had pressed on the tribal leaders a total of 40 million sesterces, evidently an investment he hoped would bring a healthy return in interest. Now, the procurator — Rome’s financial officer, responsible for taxation and other monetary matters in Britannia — insisted the money from Claudius must be repaid. And Seneca, according to Dio, resorted to severe measures in exacting repayment of his loans. His agents, backed by force, may have showed up at the royal residence and demanded the money. Boudica would not have forgotten such an insult.

Caius Suetonius Paullinus, a man in the aggressive mold of Ostorius, became governor of Britain in 58. He began his term with a military campaign in Wales. By the spring of 61, he had reached its northwestern limit, the druid stronghold on the Isle of Mona. Tacitus described the forces Suetonius faced: The enemy lined the shore in a dense armed mass. Among them were black-robed women with disheveled hair like Furies, brandishing torches. Close by stood Druids, raising their hands to heaven and screaming dreadful curses. For a moment, the Romans stood paralyzed by fright. Then, urged by Suetonius and each other not to fear a horde of fanatical women, they attacked and enveloped the opposing forces in the flames of their own torches. When the battle ended in a Roman victory, Suetonius garrisoned the island and cut down its sacred groves — the fearsome site of human sacrifices, according to Tacitus, who claimed it was a Celtic religious practice to drench their altars in the blood of prisoners and consult their gods by means of human entrails.

In view of the routine, organized murder of the Roman gladiatorial games, one might wonder whether a Roman was in a position to criticize. Though the Celts did practice human sacrifice, most of their sacrifices consisted of symbolic deposits of such valuable objects as jewelry and weapons into sacred wells and lakes. For Boudica and her people, news of the destruction of the druidic center on Mona, the razing of the sacred groves and the slaughter of druids must have been deeply painful. But Boudica suffered a more personal loss during this time. Prasutagus of the Iceni died sometime during the attack on Mona or its aftermath. He left behind a will whose provisions had no legal precedent under either Celtic or Roman law. It named the Roman emperor as co-heir with the two daughters of Prasutagus and Boudica, now in their teens. According to Celtic tradition, chiefs served by the consent of their people, and so could not designate their successors through their wills. And under Roman law, a client-king’s death ended the client relationship, effectively making his property and estates the property of the emperor until and unless the emperor put a new client-king into office.

Prasutagus’ will may have been a desperate attempt to retain a degree of independence for his people and respect for his family. If it was, it did not succeed. After Prasutagus died, the Roman procurator, Decianus Catus, arrived at the Iceni court with his staff and a military guard. He proceeded to take inventory of the estate. He regarded this as Roman property and probably planned to allocate a generous share for himself, following the habit of most Roman procurators. When Boudica objected, he had her flogged. Her daughters were raped. At that point, Boudica decided the Romans had ruled in Britannia long enough. The building fury of other tribes, such as the Trinovantes to the south, made them eager recruits to her cause. Despite the Roman ban, they had secretly stockpiled weapons, and they now armed themselves and planned their assault. Dio wrote that before she attacked, Boudica engaged in a type of divination by releasing a hare from the fold of her tunic. When it ran on the side the Britons believed auspicious, they cheered.

Boudica raised her hand to heaven and said, `I thank you Andraste.’ This religious demonstration is the reason some historians think she may have had druidic training. Boudica mounted a tribunal made in the Roman fashion out of earth, according to Dio, who described her as very tall and grim in appearance, with a piercing gaze and a harsh voice. She had a mass of very fair hair which she grew down to her hips, and wore a great gold torque and a multi-colored tunic folded round her, over which was a thick cloak fastened with a brooch. Boudica’s tunic, cloak and brooch were typical Celtic dress for the time. The torque, the characteristic ornament of the Celtic warrior chieftain, was a metal band, usually of twisted strands of gold that fit closely about the neck, finished in decorative knobs worn at the front of the throat. Such torques may have symbolized a warrior’s readiness to sacrifice his life for the good of his tribe. If so, it is significant that Boudica wore one — they were not normally worn by women. Tacitus, whose father-in-law served as a military tribune in Britain during that time, recounted the rebellion in detail.

Boudica moved first against Camulodunum. Before she attacked, rebels inside the colonia conspired to unnerve the superstitious Romans. [F]or no visible reason, Tacitus wrote, the statue of Victory at Camulodunum fell down — with its back turned as though it were fleeing the enemy. Delirious women chanted of destruction at hand. They cried that in the local senate-house outlandish yells had been heard; the theater had echoed with shrieks; at the mouth of the Thames a phantom settlement had been seen in ruins. A blood-red color in the sea, too, and shapes like human corpses left by the ebb tide, were interpreted hopefully by the Britons — and with terror by the settlers. Camulodunum pleaded for military assistance from Catus Decianus in Londinium, but he sent only 200 inadequately armed men to reinforce the town’s small garrison. In their overconfidence, the Romans had built no wall around Camulodunum. In fact, they had leveled the turf banks around the Legionary fortress and built on the leveled areas.

Misled by the rebel saboteurs, they did not bother to erect ramparts, dig trenches or even evacuate the women and elderly. Boudica’s army overran the town, and the Roman garrison retreated to the unfinished temple, which had been one of the prime causes of the rebellion. After two days of fighting, it fell. Recent archaeological work shows how thorough the Britons were in their destruction. The buildings in Camulodunum had been made from a framework of timber posts encased in clay and would not have caught fire easily. But they were burned and smashed from one end of town to the other. So hot were the flames, some of the clay walls were fired as though in a pottery kiln and are preserved in that form to the present day. The only Legionary force immediately available to put down the rebellion was a detachment of Legio IX Hispania, under the command of Quintus Petilius Cerialis Caesius Rufus, consisting of some 2,000 Legionaries and 500 auxiliary cavalry. Cerialis did not wait to gather a larger force, but set out immediately for Camulodunum. He never got there. Boudica ambushed and slaughtered his infantry.

Cerialis escaped with his cavalry and took shelter in his camp at Lindum. Suetonius, mopping up the operation on Mona, now learned of the revolt and set sail down the River Dee ahead of his army. He reached Londinium before Boudica, but what he found gave no cause for optimism. Like Camulodunum, Londinium was unwalled. About 15 years old, it had been built on undeveloped ground near the Thames River, by means of which supplies and personnel could be shipped to and from Rome. It was a sprawling town, with few large buildings that might be pressed into service as defensive positions — a smattering of government offices, warehouses and the homes of wealthy merchants. Catus Decianus had already fled to Gaul. Suetonius decided to sacrifice Londinium to save the province and ordered the town evacuated. Many of the women and elderly stayed, along with others who were attached to the place. Boudica killed everone she found when she reached Londinium.

Dio described the savagery of her army: They hung up naked the noblest and most distinguished women and then cut off their breasts and sewed them to their mouths, in order to make the victims appear to be eating them; afterwards they impaled the women on sharp skewers run lengthwise through the entire body. Verulamium, the old capital of the Catuvellauni tribe lying northwest of Londinium (outside of present-day St. Albans), met a similar fate. Rome had granted it the status of municipium, giving the townsfolk a degree of self-government and making its magistrates eligible for Roman citizenship. Boudica evidently punished the town for its close and willing association with Rome. By then Suetonius had an army with him amounting to nearly 10,000 men, comprising Legio XIV and parts of Legio XX, which he had used for the attack on Mona, as well as some auxiliaries gathered from the nearest stations. He also sent an urgent summons to Legio II Augusta at Isca Dumnoniorum, present-day Exeter, but its commander, Poenius Posthumus, never responded.

Evidently he was unwilling to march through the hostile territory of the Dumnonii, who had thrown their lot in with Boudica, and thereby risk sharing the fate of Cerialis’ men. At the head of his hastily summoned force, Suetonius marched to confront Boudica. Precisely where they met is not known, but the most plausible guesses — based on Tacitus’ description of the favorable terrain where Suetonius positioned his force — include Mancetter in Warwickshire or along Old Roman Watling Street (now A5) near Towcaster. According to Tacitus: [Suetonius] chose a position in a defile with a wood behind him. There could be no enemy, he knew, except at his front, where there was open country without cover for ambushes. Suetonius drew up his regular troops in close order, with the light-armed auxiliaries at their flanks, and the cavalry massed on the wings. Dio wrote that Boudica’s troops numbered about 230,000 men. If we can believe this, Boudica’s army would have been more than 20 times the size of Suetonius’.

Whatever the actual numbers were, it is clear that her forces greatly outnumbered his. But the Britons’ arms and training could not compare to the highly evolved arms and fighting techniques of the Roman Legions. The forces of the Britons, wrote Tacitus, pranced about far and wide in bands of infantry and cavalry, their numbers without precedent and so confident that they brought their wives with them and set them in carts drawn up around the far edge of the battlefield to witness their victory. Boudica rode in a chariot with her daughters before her, and as she approached each tribe, she declared that the Britons were accustomed to engage in warfare under the leadership of women. The picture of Boudica riding about the battlefield to encourage her warriors rings true, but it is unlikely that any Roman understood what she said. She would have spoken in the Celtic tongue and had no need to inform her troops of their own customs. Tacitus puts those words in her mouth as a device to educate his Roman readers about a practice that must have struck them as exotic and strange. The speech Tacitus reports Suetonius gave may be a closer reflection of what he said, appealing to his Legions to disregard the clamor and empty threats of the natives.

He told them: There were more women visible in their ranks than fighting men, and they, unwarlike and poorly armed, routed on so many occasions, would immediately give way when they recognized the steel and courage of those who had always conquered them. Even when many Legions were involved, it was a few men who actually decided battles. It would redound to their honor that their small numbers won the glory of a whole army. Legions and auxiliaries waited in the shelter of the narrow valley until Boudica’s troops came within range. Then they hurled their javelins at the Britons and ran forward in wedge formation, supported by the cavalry with their lances. The Roman infantrymen protected themselves with their capacious shields and used their short swords to strike at close range, driving the points into the Britons’ bellies, then stepping across the dead to reach the next rank. The Britons, who fought with long swords designed for slashing rather than stabbing, needed room to swing their blades and could not fight effectively at such close range.

Furthermore, the light chariots that gave them an advantage when fighting on a wide plain were similarly ineffective, with the Romans emerging from a narrow, protected valley that prevented the chariots from reaching their flanks. The result was an overwhelming Roman victory. Those Britons who survived ran, but the circle of the women’s wagons blocked their way, causing confusion and delay. The Romans did not refrain from slaughtering even the womenfolk, while the baggage animals too, transfixed with weapons, added to the piles of bodies, Tacitus reported, citing figures of 80,000 British casualties and 400 Roman dead and a slightly larger number wounded. According to Tacitus, there were at least two notable casualties in the immediate wake of the battle. Upon learning of the victory, Poenius Posthumus felt so dishonored by the failure of his Legio II to have fought its way out to join Suetonius in full force that he committed suicide by falling upon his own sword. Boudica, Tacitus noted, ended her life with poison. The rebellion was effectively over, but its initial success had shocked Rome.

The overall Roman casualties are suggested by the number of troops Nero sent from Germany as reinforcements, according to Tacitus a total of 7,000, consisting of two thousand regular troops, which brought the ninth division to full strength, also eight auxiliary infantry battalions and a thousand cavalry. The civilian dead in Camulodunum, Londinium and Verulamium — some 70,000 if Tacitus’ figure is accurate — would have multiplied the toll. British unrest seems to have continued even after the decisive battle. Dio wrote that the Britons were regrouping and preparing to fight again at the time Boudica died. When the Roman reinforcements arrived, Suetonius stationed them in new winter quarters. Tacitus wrote that, rather than turning to diplomacy, Suetonius ravaged with fire and sword those he believed to be still hostile or wavering. His punitive policy, calculated to crush the Britons rather than to reconcile them with Roman rule, was consistent with the policies that had caused the rebellion. On top of that, a famine broke out.

According to Tacitus, the Britons had expected to raid the Roman grain stores, and so had mustered all available men into the army and neglected to plant a crop. It is hard to believe an agricultural society, which both depended on grain for its own sustenance and produced it as a major export, would neglect to sow an entire year’s crop. But if they had planted, much of the crop was likely destroyed in Suetonius’ campaign of revenge. To replace Catus Decianus, Rome sent a new procurator, Julius Classicianus. Tacitus heartily disapproved of Classicianus, sniping that he had a grudge against Suetonius and allowed his personal animosity to stand in the way of the national interest. Classicianus was a Celt from the Roman province of Gaul, and he seems to have done much to calm the angry Britons. He told them it would be well to await a new governor who would deal gently with those who surrendered. Then he reported to Rome that they should expect no end to hostilities unless a replacement were found for Suetonius. Nero dispatched one of his administrators, a freed slave named Polyclitus, to investigate the situation.

Evidently, Polyclitus supported Classicianus’ report. Soon afterward, when Suetonius lost some ships and their crews to a British raid, he was recalled. The new governor, Petronius Turpilianus, ended the punitive expeditions, following instead a policy of not provoking the enemy nor being provoked by them. Tacitus sneered at his slothful inactivity, but he brought peace to Britain. Of Boudica, Dio wrote, The Britons mourned her deeply and gave her a costly burial. The Roman conquest had brought to the Iceni misfortune that ripened into disaster after their rebellion failed. But as time passed, Britannia became an orderly and respected part of the Roman empire. It remained so for another three centuries. Boudica’s people finally won what it seems they had wanted all along: respect, peace and a government that treated them with justice and honor. This article was written by Margaret Donsbach and originally published in the April 2004 issue of Military History. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Military History magazine today!

Boudicca (Boadicea) - British Celtic Warrior Queen Boudicca (Boadicea) Boudicca (Boadicea) Celtic Warrior Queen Boudicca - also written as Boadicea, Boadaceia or Boudica - was a British Celtic warrior queen who led a revolt against Roman occupation. Getty Images / Archive Photos / Kean Collection Known for: British Celtic warrior queen who led a revolt against Roman occupation Dates: ? - 61 CE Also known as: Boudica, Boadicea, Boadacaea Sources: We know the history of Boudicca through two writers: Tacitus , in "Agricola" (98 CE) and "The Annals" (109 CE), and Dio, in "The Rebellion of Boudicca" (about 163 CE). Boudicca Biography Boudicca was the wife of Prasutagus, who was head of the Iceni tribe in East England, in what is now Norfolk and Suffolk. In 43 CE, the Romans invaded Britain, and most of the Celtic tribes were forced to submit.

However, the Romans allowed two Celtic kings to retain some of their traditional power; one was Prasutagus. The Roman occupation brought increased Roman settlement, military presence, and attempts to suppress Celtic religious culture. There were major economic changes, including heavy taxes and money lending. In 47 CE the Romans forced the Ireni to disarm, creating resentment. Prasutagus had been given a grant by the Romans, but the Romans then redefined this as a loan. continue reading below our video 10 Best Universities in the United States When Prasutagus died in 60 CE, he left half his kingdom to the Emperor Nero to settle this debt. The Romans arrived to collect, but instead of settling for half the kingdom, seized control of it. To humiliate the former rulers, the Romans beat Boudicca publicly, raped their two daughters, seized the wealth of many Iceni and sold much of the royal family into slavery. The Roman governor Suetonius turned his attention to attacking Wales, taking two-thirds of the Roman military in Britain.

Boudicca meanwhile met with the leaders of the Iceni, Trinovanti, Cornovii, Durotiges, and other tribes, who also had grievances against the Romans including grants that had been redefined as loans. They planned to revolt and drive out the Romans. Boudicca's Army Attacks Led by Boudicca, about 100,000 British attacked Camulodunum (now Colchester), where the Roans had their main center of rule. With Suetonius and most of the Roman forces away, Camulodunum was not well-defended, and the Romans were drive out. he Procurator Decianus was forced to flee. Boudicca's army burned Camulodunum to the ground; only the Roman temple was left. Immediately Boudicca's army turned to the largest city in the British Isles, Londinium (London). Suetonius strategically abandoned the city, and Boudicca's army burned Londinium and massacred the 25,000 inhabitants who had not fled. Archaeological evidence of a layer of burned ash shows the extent of the destruction.

Next, Boudicca and her army marched on Verulamium (St. Albans), a city largely populated by Britons who had cooperated with the Romans and who were killed as the city was destroyed. Changing Fortunes Boudicca's army had counted on seizing Roman food stores when the tribes abandoned their own fields to wage rebellion, but Suetonius had strategically seen to the burning of the Roman stores. Famine thus struck the victorious army, weakening them. Boudicca fought one more battle, though its precise location is not sure. Boudicca's army attacked uphill, and, exhausted, hungry, was easy for the Romans to rout. Roman troops of 1,200 defeated Boudicca's army of 100,000, killing 80,000 to their own loss of 400. What happened to Boudicca is uncertain. It is said she returned to her home territory and took poison to avoid Roman capture. A result of the rebellion was that the Romans strengthened their military presence in Britain and also lessened the oppressiveness of their rule.

Boudicca's story was nearly forgotten until Tacitus' work, Annals, was rediscovered in 1360. Her story became popular during the reign of another English queen who headed an army against foreign invasion, Queen Elizabeth I. Other Ancient British Queens Elen Luyddog Boudicca Quotes • If you weigh well the strengths of our armies you will see that in this battle we must conquer or die. This is a woman's resolve. As for the men, they may live or be slaves. • I am not fighting for my kingdom and wealth now. I am fighting as an ordinary person for my lost freedom, my bruised body, and my outraged daughters. Quote About Boudicca “What is deemed as “his-story” is often determined by those who survived to write it. In other words, history is written by the victors...Now, with the help of the Roman historian Tacitus, I shall tell you Queen Boudicca’s story, her-story……” Thomas Jerome Baker

Question: Who led the Iceni against the Romans
Answer: Boudicca