The Great Celtic Warrior Woman of Britain - part I By Leigh Michaels | October 20th, 2006
Boudicca – often incorrectly spelled Boadicea – who was she? What did she do to earn eternal fame? Boudicca was an ancient Briton – a Celt – who led a revolt against Roman domination in the year 60. Her name is derived from the Briton word for victory. What a rallying point for her followers in the revolt against Rome! It is tragic that the revolt was doomed to failure.
Revolt had been stirring in the new province – Roman Imperialism offended even some Romans. Tacitus, author of the major surviving history of this time, writes as one offended by official policy. (see The Annals of Imperial Rome) His details of Boudicca’s revolt are looked at with deep suspicion today, but with little justifiable reason. True, he was a child at the time of the revolt, but he certainly would have heard about it. Especially as one of the junior officers fighting the revolt was to become his admired and eulogized father-in-law, Agricola. (Tacitus wrote a memorial to him simply entitled The Agricola) That his own views color his presentation is not in doubt, but the idea that his views make him completely unreliable is absurd. It is also hard to take this view of Tacitus seriously when it is known that many of his details have been proven by archaeology.
It is quite certain that revolt had been brewing. The province had been under Roman control for less than twenty years, and taxes had just been increased to create a capitol staffed with Roman Army Veterans, and to build temples to foreign gods. Especially galling was temple dedicated to the recently deified conqueror of Britannia, the Emperor Claudius. This coupled with the known Roman attitude of contempt and condescension toward the “barbarians” – quite well documented and attested to by numerous Roman writers for centuries – was not the way to win friends and influence Celts. At least not favorably.
The story is that Boudicca’s husband, Prasutagus, had been a client of Rome. Because of his submission he was allowed to retain the leadership of his people, the Iceni. (one of the numerous tribes of Celts inhabiting Britain at the time of the Roman arrival.) On his death, he willed his rule of the Iceni to his two daughters and the Emperor Nero jointly. That Rome would not accept this was obvious – to the Roman mind client rulers hadn’t the right to determine their successors, and of course women could not rule. What is less often pointed out was that this would not have been acceptable to the Iceni either. Celts chose their own leaders, and Prasutagus should have had a designated successor during his lifetime. It would not be odd for the Celts to chose a female, for women were certainly eligible, as leaders were apparently chosen from a specific bloodline. It would be odd, however, very odd indeed, for both of his daughters to hold that position. The attempt of Prasutagus to satisfy all parties, as these attempts usually go, satisfied no one. In reaction, the Romans flogged Boudicca, raped her daughters, and stripped all the high ranking members of the Iceni of their lands. These actions gave the simmering rebellion what it had lacked – a leader. The leader was not one of the dishonored high ranking men. It was Boudicca herself.
Next week, part II - The Rebellion