Boadicea

The latest Greatest Britons feature, by Louise Scott, looks at the famous “”Warrior Queen” Boadicea.

There are several variations of the Warrior Queen’s name – until recent times she was known as “Boadicea” and as also been referred to as “Boudicea”, “Boudicca” and “Boudica”. In this article, she will be referred to as “Boadicea” as that is the name most familiar to the majority of people. The name is probably derived from the Celtic “bouda” or “victory”.

About Boadicea

Boadicea was of royal descent. She was said to be a striking woman, with long red hair down to her waist, a harsh voice and piercing stare. She was married to Prasutagus, who was the king of the Iceni tribe, who lived in the area now known as Norfolk, during Roman rule. The Iceni people were not directly under Roman control, as they had chosen to ally themselves to Rome after the conquest of AD43. The Iceni had revolted in AD47 after the governor, Publius Ostorius Scapula, had threatened to disarm them. Prasutagus was wealthy and hoped to preserve his line, so he made the Roman emperor a co-heir to his kingdom, alongside his wife and two daughters.

After the death of Prasutagus, his kingdom was annexed and land and property were confiscated and the people treated as slaves. Boadicea was flogged and both her daughters were raped.

Boadicea goes into action

In AD60 or 61, the Iceni and their neighbours the Trinovantes, conspired to revolt against the Romans. They were inspired by others who had driven the Romans from their lands – Arminius the prince of the Cherusci who drove them out of Germany in 9AD, and the ancient Britons who had driven Caesar from Britain. Boadicea was chosen to be the leader of the revolt.

Their first target was Camulodunum, which is now Colchester. The Romans were mistreating the locals, and they had erected a temple to the former Roman emperor Claudius at the locals’ expense. The Roman procurator, Catus Decianus, sent a small number of troops to defend the city, and Boadicea’s army destroyed the city, besieging its last troops for two days in the temple, before it too fell.

The Romans attempted to relieve the city, but they were annihilated – only the commander and a few of the cavalry managed to escape and Catus Decianus escaped to Gaul.

The thriving commercial centre of Londinium (which later became London) was also destroyed by the rebels, followed by Verulamium (later known as St Albans). It is believed that between 70-80,000 people were killed in the three cities. The Britons did not want to take prisoners, instead they preferred to slaughter.

Suetonius gathered almost 10,000 men and made a stand somewhere along the Roman road known as Watling Street. However, his side was heavily outnumbered, and sources estimate that Boadicea’s side consisted of 230,000 men.

Boadicea encouraged her troops from her chariot, alongside her daughters. She is said to have made a speech in which she presented herself as an ordinary person, as opposed to an aristocrat, who wanted to avenge lost freedom, brutality and the rape of her daughters. She claimed that the gods were on their side and the only legion that had battled them had been totally destroyed. She would win, or she would die.

The Britons were at an immediate disadvantage – they had little or no experience of open field tactics and the Romans were a better equipped and more disciplined force.

Thousands of Britons were killed by the Roman javelins (pila). As they fled, they were hemmed in by their own families who had been stationed in wagons around the edges of the battlefield. The Romans killed them on the edge of the field.

Boadicea was not killed in the battle. Instead she drank poison and killed herself rather than be taken prisoner or killed by the enemy. She was given a lavish burial.

Where did the battle take place?

The exact location is not known. It is widely accepted that it was somewhere along the Roman road known as Watling Street. It may have been near High Cross in Leicestershire, or close to Atherstone in Warwickshire or Kings Norton. Another idea is that it was somewhere in Northamptonshire.

Remembering Boadicea

Boadicea had been forgotten in the Middle Ages, but in Victorian times she was revived when Queen Victoria was regarded as “Boadicea’s namesake”. Several ships were named after her, and a large bronze statue, showing the warrior queen in her chariot, commissioned by Prince Albert and built by Thomas Thornycroft, was completed in 1905 and placed next to Westminster Bridge in London.

Boadicea is said to haunt places in Lincolnshire. A fabricated tale says she was buried under a platform at King’s Cross station in London and other burial sites to be suggested include Hampstead and Suffolk.

Boadicea represented all that is great about Britain – her refusal to back down in the face of the enemy and the courage to fight for what she believed in.