03-28-2006, 01:02 PM
Ave!
I found this article yesterday and as it's pertinent to the topic have included it.
http://www.egeltje.org/archives/boudicca.php
"March 27, 2005
Boudicca
Boudicca (also called Boadicea) was most likely to have been born into the Royal house of a powerful Celtic Iron age tribe around 30 AD. Through marriage she became queen of the Iceni, an indigenous Celtic tribe that inhabited Great Britain at the time of the Roman invasion in 43 A.D.
According to the Greek historian Dio Cassius (who wrote one of only two accounts of these battles), "She was huge of frame, terrifying of aspect, and with a harsh voice. A great mass of bright red hair fell to her knees: she wore a twisted torc, and a tunic of many colours, over which was a thick mantle, fastened by a brooch. Now she grasped a spear, to strike fear into all who watched her."
Their territory covered a large part of East Anglia near what is today the modern town of Colchester, and the Iceni watched with concern as the emperor Claudius waged a campaign that threatened their independence. In an attempt to avoid any bloody conflict, Boudicca's husband, King Prasutagus, bargained with Roman officials and agreed to submit to terms that would insure that his tribe and their culture remain untouched. The Romans were happy enough with the arrangement so long as they could collect taxes from the Iceni, but that didn't change the fact that they had always held a dismal view of the Celts, viewing them as barbarians who treated their women as equals.
Life for Celtic women was one of comparative prestige and power. Women were allowed to own land, choose their own mates, and even divorce if they made the wrong choice. So when Prasutagus died he left his kingdom to Boudicca and their two daughters after bequeathing a full half of it to the new Roman Emperor, Nero. By including Nero in his will Prasutagus thought he was buying the future tranquility of his kingdom. But under Roman law royal inheritance could not be passed to daughters and co-ownership of a kingdom with a woman was downright ridiculous. Nero sent his men to take care of the situation, which meant the public flogging of Boudicca and the rape of her daughters.
While the Roman governor, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, was leading 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, which had been settled with Roman veterans and where a temple to the former emperor Claudius had been erected at local expense. The city was poorly defended and the rebels destroyed it, beseiging the last defenders in the temple for two days before it fell.
Boudicca's retaliation was merciless: she took no prisoners. Throats were cut, people hanged or crucified, and entire villages were burned to the ground. Her tactics included a particularly cruel assault upon Roman women: "their breasts were cut off and stuffed in their mouths, so that they seemed to be eating them, then their bodies were skewered lengthwise on sharp stakes."
When news of the rebellion reached him, Suetonius hurried to Londinium (London), an important mercantile settlement, but concluded he did not have the numbers to defend it. "Let us show them that they are hares and foxes trying to rule over dogs and wolves!" cried Boudicca, addressing her troops as they stormed the town. Londinium was abandoned to the rebels, who burnt it down (archaeology shows extensive destruction by fire at this time), slaughtering anyone who had not evacuated with Suetonius. Verulamium (St Albans) was next to be destroyed.
Suetonius regrouped his troops and 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 were prevented from fleeing by their own families, who 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.
Before the inevitable fall of her army, Boudicca outlined her cause (in this account by the Roman historian, Tacitus):
From the pride and arrogance of the Romans nothing is sacred; all are subject to violation; the old endure the scourge, and the virgins are deflowered. But the vindictive gods are now at hand. A Roman legion dared to face the warlike Britons: with their lives they paid for their rashness; those who survived the carnage of that day, lie poorly hid behind their entrenchments, meditating nothing but how to save themselves by an ignominious flight. From the din of preparation, and the shouts of the British army, the Romans, even now, shrink back with terror. What will be their case when the assault begins? Look round, and view your numbers. Behold the proud display of warlike spirits, and consider the motives for which we draw the avenging sword. On this spot we must either conquer, or die with glory. There is no alternative. Though a woman, my resolution is fixed: the men, if they please, may survive with infamy, and live in bondage.
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 as the most likely place of burial.
A large bronze statue depicting Boudicca and her daughers driving a (Persian-style) chariot was commissioned by Prince Albert in 1850 and still stands next to Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament."
Vale
M. Spedius Corbulo
I found this article yesterday and as it's pertinent to the topic have included it.
http://www.egeltje.org/archives/boudicca.php
"March 27, 2005
Boudicca
Boudicca (also called Boadicea) was most likely to have been born into the Royal house of a powerful Celtic Iron age tribe around 30 AD. Through marriage she became queen of the Iceni, an indigenous Celtic tribe that inhabited Great Britain at the time of the Roman invasion in 43 A.D.
According to the Greek historian Dio Cassius (who wrote one of only two accounts of these battles), "She was huge of frame, terrifying of aspect, and with a harsh voice. A great mass of bright red hair fell to her knees: she wore a twisted torc, and a tunic of many colours, over which was a thick mantle, fastened by a brooch. Now she grasped a spear, to strike fear into all who watched her."
Their territory covered a large part of East Anglia near what is today the modern town of Colchester, and the Iceni watched with concern as the emperor Claudius waged a campaign that threatened their independence. In an attempt to avoid any bloody conflict, Boudicca's husband, King Prasutagus, bargained with Roman officials and agreed to submit to terms that would insure that his tribe and their culture remain untouched. The Romans were happy enough with the arrangement so long as they could collect taxes from the Iceni, but that didn't change the fact that they had always held a dismal view of the Celts, viewing them as barbarians who treated their women as equals.
Life for Celtic women was one of comparative prestige and power. Women were allowed to own land, choose their own mates, and even divorce if they made the wrong choice. So when Prasutagus died he left his kingdom to Boudicca and their two daughters after bequeathing a full half of it to the new Roman Emperor, Nero. By including Nero in his will Prasutagus thought he was buying the future tranquility of his kingdom. But under Roman law royal inheritance could not be passed to daughters and co-ownership of a kingdom with a woman was downright ridiculous. Nero sent his men to take care of the situation, which meant the public flogging of Boudicca and the rape of her daughters.
While the Roman governor, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, was leading 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, which had been settled with Roman veterans and where a temple to the former emperor Claudius had been erected at local expense. The city was poorly defended and the rebels destroyed it, beseiging the last defenders in the temple for two days before it fell.
Boudicca's retaliation was merciless: she took no prisoners. Throats were cut, people hanged or crucified, and entire villages were burned to the ground. Her tactics included a particularly cruel assault upon Roman women: "their breasts were cut off and stuffed in their mouths, so that they seemed to be eating them, then their bodies were skewered lengthwise on sharp stakes."
When news of the rebellion reached him, Suetonius hurried to Londinium (London), an important mercantile settlement, but concluded he did not have the numbers to defend it. "Let us show them that they are hares and foxes trying to rule over dogs and wolves!" cried Boudicca, addressing her troops as they stormed the town. Londinium was abandoned to the rebels, who burnt it down (archaeology shows extensive destruction by fire at this time), slaughtering anyone who had not evacuated with Suetonius. Verulamium (St Albans) was next to be destroyed.
Suetonius regrouped his troops and 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 were prevented from fleeing by their own families, who 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.
Before the inevitable fall of her army, Boudicca outlined her cause (in this account by the Roman historian, Tacitus):
From the pride and arrogance of the Romans nothing is sacred; all are subject to violation; the old endure the scourge, and the virgins are deflowered. But the vindictive gods are now at hand. A Roman legion dared to face the warlike Britons: with their lives they paid for their rashness; those who survived the carnage of that day, lie poorly hid behind their entrenchments, meditating nothing but how to save themselves by an ignominious flight. From the din of preparation, and the shouts of the British army, the Romans, even now, shrink back with terror. What will be their case when the assault begins? Look round, and view your numbers. Behold the proud display of warlike spirits, and consider the motives for which we draw the avenging sword. On this spot we must either conquer, or die with glory. There is no alternative. Though a woman, my resolution is fixed: the men, if they please, may survive with infamy, and live in bondage.
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 as the most likely place of burial.
A large bronze statue depicting Boudicca and her daughers driving a (Persian-style) chariot was commissioned by Prince Albert in 1850 and still stands next to Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament."
Vale
M. Spedius Corbulo
![[Image: spedius-mcmxliii.gif]](http://www.nhmgs.org/images/spedius-mcmxliii.gif)
