Boudicca
If there was one lady who could truly be the face of East Anglia, it has to be Boudicca, the Celtic hero who led a rebellion in the face of an imperial Rome. (And not Boadicea, that version of her name comes from a spelling mistake from a medieval scribe!) The original name is thought by scholars to come from the proto-Celtic: Boudika, which means “Victory,” so even her name might have been just a title and her true name could be lost to history!). Although I mention them as a couple above, really all we know about them are the events that took place after Prasutagus had died. Boudicca is really the hero of the story. Despite her popularity and use of her image during the reign of the British Empire, we know very little about this remarkable woman. The earliest source found describing the events of her rebellion were written by Tacitus, generally thought of as one of the more impartial historical chroniclers of classical antiquity. Tacitus had not witnessed the events himself, however his father in law, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, had been stationed in Britain at the time and would have been a useful source. Most other accounts of Boudicca’s actions were written by scholars decades, and even centuries after they had taken place.
Leaders of the Iceni
Despite this, we have been able to piece together some facts through the tireless work of historians and archaeologists. Boudicca and her husband Prasutagus, were the leaders of the Iceni, one of the many Celtic tribes inhabiting the forested land of Britain before the Romans invaded in the 1st century. During the iron age, the period before the invasion of Rome, the Iceni inhabited Norfolk and parts of Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. They worshipped wolves, were the first tribe we know of to make coins in Britain and would have had a culture steeped in fine craft and nature worship. In the lead up to the invasion under Emperor Claudius in 43AD, the Iceni could well have been trading extensively with Rome. Some evidence of trade has been found and this could be one reason why Prasutagus decided to ally (or surrender) with Rome when the invasion occurred. This could be supported by the fact that the coins possibly depicting Prasutagus, made by the Iceni, are very Roman in style.
Although, under Rome, the Iceni were free to live on their lands and with their own culture, some of their rights were stripped away and they were forced to pay tribute to their new masters. The tribe was disarmed, something which would have been truly horrible to a Celt, as families passed swords down from one generation to the next and some scholars believe they held the belief that their ancestors’ spirits were held in their swords. Despite this, it appears that things went, initially, pretty smoothly for the first 15 years or so of the agreement. When Prasutagus passed away in 60/61AD, however, things took a turn.
According to Tacitus, Prasutagus named both his daughters, and the Emperor of Rome, as his heirs. This was ignored by the Romans, who decided they were going to seize all of the lands and riches of the Iceni. They ransacked the countryside, pillaging grain and foodstuffs necessary to the tribe’s survival, before ransacking the King’s household. When Boudicca and her daughters tried to stand against them, Boudicca was tied to a post and flogged and her daughters were violated. They were left with practically nothing and the lands of the Iceni now lay under the complete control of Rome. On top of this, loans from Rome that the Iceni thought had been repaid through gift giving, were called in and they were left with no money to rebuild. The rage Boudicca must have felt at the treatment of herself, her daughters and her people at the hands of their former allies must have been, understandably, monumental; and all after losing her husband as well.
Revenge
Vowing that their honour would be restored, she set her mind to getting her revenge and, in the process, ridding the lands of Britain from their cruel new masters. It wasn’t hard to stoke the resentment and rage of the tribes of Britain against Rome. Boudicca most likely would have used the fact that they had had to lose their previous freedoms. Despite the wealth being brought in by Rome, they were simply serfs to a larger master. Old pagan beliefs in honour would have meant that most people would be angered by this fact. Before long, the Iceni were allied with a neighbouring tribe, the Trinovantes, and the army was 120,000 strong. Their first target was Camulodunum (Colchester in the modern day), which at the time was a settlement occupied by retired Roman soldiers. The tribespeople there had been mostly forced from the land and had been treated cruelly by the veterans. They had also had to witness their own shrines and holy forest being torn down to make way for a large temple to Claudius that they had also been forced to pay for.
The Celts descended on the settlement, burning and murdering as they went. They forced the Roman occupiers back into their temple, which they sheltered in for two days before the Celts broke in and slaughtered them. A Roman relief force from London made its way to Camulodunum but were crushed by Boudicca’s forces and the Roman leader of Briton ran away to Gaul (modern day France) after hearing about it. The vengeful army then descended on Londinium (London) and after burning it, they carried on to Verulamium (today St Albans) and did the same there. Tacitus reports that 80,000 Romans were killed by the Celts during all three attacks and three settlements were lost.
Rebellion
During the rebellion, a large Roman army under Commander Suetonius was fighting a campaign against the Welsh island Mona. He left part of the army there upon hearing of the Iceni uprising and marched the remaining forces down to Londinium before the Iceni arrived. However he realised quite quickly that they were completely outnumbered and abandoned the city to the rebels. After the sacking of Verulamium, however, he managed to regroup his army and, now 10,000 strong, they marched to an unknown spot in the path of the rebel army and cleverly used a defile in the landscape to create a bottleneck. This meant that, despite the overwhelming numbers of the Celts which at this point, according to Tacitus, numbered 230,000, only a small number could attack the Roman army from the front at once. In what must have been a gruelling battle, wave upon wave of Britons fell on the Roman army. Using their superior tactics, weapons and Scutum shields, the Romans cut their way through the Celts, who often fought naked or lightly armoured. According to Tacitus, as the Celtic army began to falter, the Romans pushed forward, slaughtering all they encountered. Some sources say that the Celts were so sure of their victory that they had positioned the carts and supplies behind the army, cutting off their retreat. What followed was a massacre. Not even the women or animals were spared and Boudicca fled. Tacitus then states that, rather than suffering what would have been horrendous torture and execution under the Romans, she poisoned herself and died.
Despite the failure of her rebellion and her untimely death, Boudicca has long been seen as a symbol of British resilience and defiance in the face of oppression. It is therefore ironic that her image was used by the British Empire to oppress and occupy many different countries, the very thing Boudicca was fighting against! Although we know little about her as a person, her actions after the death of her husband ring through the 2000 years of history that stand between us and the Iceni people. After the failed rebellion, under new Roman masters, the Iceni declined. This makes Boudicca and Prasutagus the last King and Queen of the Iceni.
Sources
Tacitus – The Annals