In the speech attributed to her by Dio Cassius,
Boudica rallies her forces and prepares them for
war. She sets out the causes for the revolt:[A]lthough some among you may previously,
through ignorance of which was better, have been
deceived by the alluring promises of the Romans,... you have learned how great a mistake you
made in preferring an imported despotism to
your ancestral mode of life, and you have come
to realize how much better is poverty with no
master than wealth with slavery.
She rails against Roman avarice and the heavy
taxes levied against the population. Boudica
then calls for unity among the people in this
fight against tyranny:but he had no idea how later generations
would embrace it. Writers, artists, and
poets found inspiration in Boudica as a
symbol of freedom, rebellion, courage, and
the strength of Britain.Boudica’s Britain
In Boudica’s lifetime Britannia was a young
Roman province. The Roman army had been
campaigning there since landing a substantial
military force in Kent in A.D. 43. Rome won a
major victory then that resulted in the surren-
der of 11 British kings at Colchester in Essex. So
important was this new territory that Emperor
Claudius himself traveled from Rome to witness
the victory, accompanied by important mem-
bers of the Roman Senate and an entourage that
included war elephants.
In the first century A.D. the population of an-
cient Britain was made up of a large number of
independent peoples, or tribes. Boudica’s hus-
band, Prasutagus, ruled the Iceni. Historians re-
port that the pair were parents to two daughters
and that Prasutagus was not hostile to Rome.
Some scholars believe that the Romans may
have appointed Prasutagus as a client ruler in
their Icenian territory after the invasion of 43. If
so, it is likely that both he and his family would
have regarded themselves as allies of Rome.
Boudica’s husband died, and Roman officials
were upset to learn that he had not bequeathed
his holdings to Rome. Instead, he left half of his
wealth and territory to his daughters and the
other half to Emperor Nero. Indignant Roman
imperial administrators ignored his final wish-
es. They seized all Prasutagus’s property. They
publicly beat the widow Boudica and raped her
daughters. These outrages against the Iceni and
their queen enraged the people. Tacitus describes
how a neighboring tribe, the Trinovantes, joined
the Iceni. Many others followed soon after.The temple at Camulodunum had been built
in classical Roman style and was sacred to
the cult of Claudius the Emperor. Boudica’s
followers left no stone standing.
BRITONS ATTACK
In this contemporary illustration by Peter
Dennis, Boudica’s rebels clash with Roman
occupants of Camulodunum (Colchester),
who are trying to defend the temple.
PETER DENNIS/OSPREY PUBLISHINGTROUBLE
AHEAD
The head of
Claudius (above)
was severed
from its statue by
Boudica’s rebels
at Camulodunum.
In 1907 it was
discovered in a
river nearly 40
miles away. British
Museum, London
BRITISH MUSEUM/SCALA, FLORENCE