Boudicca

Boudicca (bū-dĭk'ə) (also written Boudica, Boadicea, Buduica, Bonduca) (A.D 26?- 61?) was a female Chieftain in the British Isles who led the Iceni and a number of other British tribes, including the neighbouring Trinovantes, in a major uprising against the occupying Roman forces in Britain in 60 or 61 AD during the reign of the emperor Nero. These events are told by two historians, Tacitus (in his Annals and Agricola) and Dio Cassius (in his Roman History).

History

It was normal Roman practice to allow allied kingdoms their independence only for the lifetime of their client king, who would agree to leave his kingdom to Rome in his will: the provinces of Bithynia and Galatia, for example, were incorporated into the Empire in just this way. Roman law also allowed Inheritance only through the male line. So when Prasutagus died his attempts to preserve his line were ignored and his kingdom was annexed, arrogantly and high-handedly, as if it had been conquered. Lands and property were confiscated and nobles treated like slaves. According to Tacitus, Boudicca was flogged and her daughters raped. Dio Cassius says that Roman financiers, including Seneca the Younger, chose this point to call in their loans. Tacitus does not mention this, but does single out the procurator, Catus Decianus, for criticism for his "avarice". Prasutagus, it seems, had lived well on borrowed Roman money, and on his death his subjects had become liable for the debt.

In 60 or 61, while the current governor, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, led a campaign against the druids on the island of Anglesey in north Wales, the Iceni rebelled, along with their neighbours the Trinovantes, under Boudicca's leadership. Their first target was Camulodunum (Colchester), the former Trinovantian capital and now a Roman Colonia. The Roman veterans who had been settled there mistreated the locals, and a temple to the former emperor Claudius had been erected there at local expense, making the city a focus for resentment. The city was poorly defended and the rebels destroyed it, besieging the last defenders in the temple for two days before it fell. The future governor Quintus Petillius Cerialis, then commanding the Legio IX Hispana, attempted to relieve the city, but his forces were routed.

When news of the rebellion reached him, Suetonius hurried along Watling Street through hostile territory to Londinium (London). Londinium was a relatively new town, founded after the conquest of 43, but had grown to be a thriving commercial centre with a population of travellers, traders, and probably Roman officials. The procurator, Catus Decianus, likely had his office there. Suetonius considered giving battle there, but considering his lack of numbers and chastened by Petilius's defeat, decided to sacrifice the city to save the province. Londinium was abandoned to the rebels, who burnt it down (Archaeology shows a thick layer of burnt debris covering coins and pottery dating before 60), slaughtering anyone who had not evacuated with Suetonius. Verulamium (St Albans) was next to be destroyed. In the three cities destroyed, between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed.

Suetonius regrouped with the XIV Gemina, some vexillationes (detachments) of the XX Valeria Victrix, and any available auxiliaries. The Prefect of Legio II Augusta, Poenius Postumus, ignored the call, but nonetheless the governor was able to call on almost ten thousand men. He took a stand at an unidentified location, probably in the West Midlands somewhere along Watling Street, in a defile with a wood behind him. They were greatly outnumbered by the British rebels (who were 230,000 strong by now according to Dio Cassius) but superior Roman tactics and training won the day at the Battle of Watling Street. The Britons attempted to flee, but were impeded by the presence of their own families, whom they had stationed in a ring of wagons at the edge of the battlefield, and were slaughtered. (The German king Ariovistus is reported to have made the same mistake in Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars). Tacitus reports that "according to one report almost eighty thousand Britons fell" compared with only four hundred Romans. Boudicca, according to Tacitus, poisoned herself; Dio Cassius says she fell sick and died, and was given a lavish burial.

The site of Boudicca's defeat is unknown. According to London legend it was at Kings Cross in London (a nearby street is named Battle Bridge Road), and that Boudicca herself is buried under one of the platforms at Kings Cross Station (different sources list platforms eight, nine or ten as her supposed resting place) but this is unlikely. Manduessedum near the modern day town of Atherstone in Warwickshire has been suggested.

Postumus, on hearing of the Roman victory, fell on his sword. Catus Decianus fled to Gaul and was replaced as procurator by Gaius Julius Alpinus Classicianus. Suetonius conducted punitive operations, but criticism by Classicianus led to an investigation headed by Nero's Freedman Polyclitus, and Suetonius was removed as governor, to be replaced by Publius Petronius Turpilianus.

Historical sources

Dio Cassius's sources are less certain. He is generally agreed to have based his account on that of Tacitus, but he simplifies the sequence of events and adds details, such as the calling in of loans, that Tacitus does not mention. He says of Boudicca:

"Boudicca was tall, terrible to look on and gifted with a powerful voice. A flood of bright red hair ran down to her knees; she wore a golden necklet made up of ornate pieces, a multi-coloured robe and over it a thick cloak held together by a brooch. She took up a long spear to cause dread in all who set eyes on her."

He reports that she committed all sorts of atrocities in the name of a goddess called Andraste, who he claims is the British equivalent of Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory. Boudicca's own name means "victory".

It is generally thought that Gildas, in his 6th century polemic De Excidio Britanniae, alludes to Boudicca in his typically oblique fashion as a "treacherous lioness", although his general lack of knowledge about the real history of the Roman conquest of Britain makes this far from certain.

Boudicca or Boadicea?

Cultural impact

History and literature

Boudicca's story was included in Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles, and inspired Shakespeare's younger contemporaries Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher to write a play, Bonduca, in 1610. The poet William Cowper wrote a popular poem, Boadicea, an ode, in 1782.

But it was in the Victorian era that Boudicca's fame took on legendary proportions. Queen Victoria was seen as her "namesake". Victoria's Poet Laureate, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, wrote a poem, Boadicea. A great bronze statue of Boudicca in her war Chariot (furnished with scythes after Persian fashion), together with her daughters, was commissioned by Prince Albert and executed by Thomas Thornycroft. It was completed in 1905 and stands next to Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament. Ironically, the great anti-imperialist rebel was now identified with the head of the British Empire.

Rosemary Sutcliff wrote Song for a Dark Queen, a Historical novel for children, in 1979 based on Boudicca's life.

Joyce Doré wrote Hemlock, (ISBN 1898030197), a fictional account of the life of Boudicca published in 2002, in which she suggests that Boudicca and her two daughters were taken to Rome, before Nero, who made her drink Hemlock. She cursed him as she died. Popular myths suggests that Suetonius handed Boudicca over to the Druids, but that is unlikely.

An obscure and indirect reference to Boudicca is made by J. K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series of books. In the stories, the Hogwarts Express train - used by students to get to the school - is boarded at Platform "Nine-and-three quarters" at King's Cross Station in London. Rowling based this location on the legend that the body of Boudicca is buried under platform ten.

Manda Scott has written a series of novels based on Boudicca, beginning with Dreaming the Eagle and continuing with Dreaming the Bull, Dreaming the Hound and the forthcoming Dreaming the Serpent Spears.

In 1984, Judy Grahn, in her book Another Mother Tongue, claimed that Boudicca was the origin of the present day English word "bulldyke" (a vulgar term for a Lesbian); this is thought to be dubious.

In the 1990s, DC Comics' Green Lantern Corps was shown to include a member named "Boodikka", portrayed as a fierce female warrior.

Films and television

A new film is planned for release in 2006 entitled Warrior , written by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal, directed by Gavin O'Connor, and produced by Mel Gibson.

Music

Scottish singer/songwriter Steve McDonald composed a biographical song called "Boadicea" on his 1997 album Stone of Destiny, detailing her life and tragic death.

British rock band The Libertines refer to "Queen Boadicea" in their song "The Good Old Days", indicating a belief that her spirit still lives on in Britons today.

The British metal band Bal-Sagoth have written a song entitled "Blood Slakes the Sand at the Circus Maximus" (found on the band's album Battle Magic) which featured an Iceni Warrior of Boudicca's uprising being captured and brought back to Rome.

Other cultural references

In Kensington, California, (just north of Berkeley, California), an independent women's and Gay bookstore named Boadecia's Books, was operated by Suzanne Corson from 1992 to 2004.