Quashing the Revolt
Suetonius Paulinus, Britannia’s governor, was
a senior member of the Roman elite. Suetonius
Paulinus was born in Rome and had served in
other provinces before being appointed governor
of Britain circa A.D. 58. Provincial governors in the
Roman Empire were responsible for the man-
agement of the territory and military control.
Shortly before Boudica’s rebellion, Suetonius
Paulinus had been called away to Mona, a druid
stronghold on the large island of Anglesey off
the northwestern coast of Wales. Tacitus de-
scribed how the Romans were “welcomed” by
black-robed women on the opposite shore who
cursed the Roman soldiers as they attempted to
cross the water. This attack on the Druids’ sa-
cred island presumably escalated the anger felt
LONDON’S COMMERCIAL
CONCEPTION
LONDINIUM, modern-day London, had been founded soon after
Claudius’s troops began their conquest of Britain in A.D. 43. The
settlement was located on the north bank of the River Thames,
and a bridge linked it with the opposite bank. Tacitus described
Londinium as “a place not dignified with the name of a colony, but
the chief residence of merchants, and the great mart of trade and
commerce.” While Camulodunum (Colchester) just over 50 miles
away was an enclave of imperial prestige, Londinium was the focus
of the province’s economic activity. Like Camulodunum, Londinium
was initially unwalled and for that reason fell quickly when Boudica’s
forces attacked. Dio Cassius describes in his Roman History how the
inept and “rapacious” procurator Catus Decianus, whose outrageous
economic demands had so exasperated the Iceni, was forced to flee
from Londinium to the Continent.LONDINIUM RISES AGAIN
Surrounded by a protective wall, the port city
of Londinium bounced back and was rebuilt
following Boudica’s attack, a recovery that
historians now believe was remarkably rapid.
LOOK AND LEARN/BRIDGEMAN/ACINATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 55