The Great Celtic Warrior Woman of Britain - Part II By Leigh Michaels | October 27th, 2006
The first attack in Boudicca’s rebellion was on the new capitol of the province, Camulodunum. (modern Colchester) It was ruthlessly surrounded and totally destroyed in only a few days. From the historian Tacitus, we learn that the Iceni’s warrior woman led a well organized, pre-planned attack. From archaeology we learn that it was brutally efficient; the layer of ash and destruction is impressive and all-encompassing. The British historian Michael Wood tells of the archaeological findings. He mentions pottery smashed, then burnt black, of glass melted by the heat of the blaze that cooled into twisted shapes, and of human remains. It would appear that no one was spared. (In Search of the Dark Ages by Michael Wood, Facts-on-File Publishers, 1987) The IX Hispania, the legion closest to the disturbance, was moved out to intercept the Celts. Boudicca anticipated this, and the IX Hispania ran into a well organized ambush. The Legionaries were routed and destroyed – only their commander and some of the cavalry escaped.
Meanwhile, the Governor of Britannia, Suetonius, was busy elsewhere. He was determined to destroy what was believed to be the stronghold of the druids (Celtic wise men and women who probably decided legal matters and interceded with the gods) on the Isle of Anglesey, Wales. He had probably just attained this goal when he was notified of the rebellion in the east. Suetonius rushed back to the nearest city of any size in the path of the revolt; Londinium. He arrived with only a skeleton staff, and decided to sacrifice the city. Magnanimously, he offered to shelter anyone who cared to leave with him. He was, however, going to be moving rapidly, so Tacitus tells us that the old, some women, and those “attached to the place” were left behind. (The Annals XIV) It would be easy to believe that most of those who were attached to the place were Celtic, for the only reason to stay, if one was fit to travel, was the belief that there was nothing to fear. After the probably exaggerated accounts the people of Londinium had heard of the destruction of Roman town of Camulodunum and the defeat of the IX Hispania, no Roman could have believed that they had nothing to fear from the rebels. How anyone, even the Celts, could convince themselves they would not suffer the fate of Camulodunum is hard to imagine. Somehow, they must have done it. Unfortunately, they were very wrong.
Boudicca’s force spared neither the town nor it’s inhabitants. Tacitus talks of slaughter and torture, and there is little reason to doubt it. It was a common practice of ancient warfare in general, to make war on anyone believed to have been friendly with the enemy, civilian or not. And the blood-lust of not only the humiliating anger of subjugation, but of the recent victories would have been running very high. The completeness of the destruction is evidenced by a dense ash layer not only from the settlement of Londinium proper, but an area of huts on the opposite shore the Thames, recently uncovered. If those believed to have co-operated with the Romans were not going to be spared Boudicca’s ruthless tactics, it should be no surprise that a small unimportant town, Verulamuim (modern St. Albans), a totally Celtic settlement that was known for its co-operation with the Romans, was the next target. Tacitus tells us these destructions were harsh and brutal; there can be no argument that Boudicca was a war-leader any different than the male warriors of her time. This should not count against her, and the fact that she was brutal, ruthless, and organized should be just as high a praise for her as for any ancient commander. Boudicca was a truly great leader, and this assertion has definitive evidence to support it, as the most difficult task still lay before her.
Next week Part III - the Battle for Britannia