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Summary
- Events Leading to Boudican Revolt
- The Revolt
- Final Battle
- Aftermath
Key Facts And Information
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The Boudican revolt was a military insurrection by indigenous Celtic Britons against the Roman Empire during the Roman invasion of Britain. The event occurred about 60–61 CE in the Roman province of Britain, under the leadership of Boudica, the Queen of the Iceni tribe.
Depiction of Boudica, a Celtic Queen who led the Boudican Revolt
EVENTS LEADING TO BOUDICAN REVOLT
- Boudica was the wife of Prasutagus, the king of the Iceni, an ancient tribe residing in present-day Norfolk and portions of the adjacent counties of Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and Lincolnshire. The Iceni minted some of the first known coins in Britain. In 47 CE, they rose against the Romans when the Roman governor Publius Ostorius Scapula intended to disarm all the peoples of Britain under Roman dominion. The Romans let the kingdom maintain its autonomy when the insurrection was quelled.
- Upon the death of Prasutagus, he bequeathed half of his realm to Emperor Nero, with the hope of safeguarding the remaining half for his descendants. Nevertheless, the imperial procurator, Decianus Catus possibly cognisant that Nero perceived a partial ownership of an estate as a personal affront—sought to sequester the property. Upon the royal family’s opposition to these actions, Boudica was scourged and her daughters were violated.
- Accounts regarding the cause of Boudica’s insurrection vary, making a clear narrative unattainable. The precise timing and duration of the insurrection remain ambiguous. Some think that the insurrection was confined to a single year, with Boudica assembling troops and initiating the revolt in the summer of 60 CE.
- Some propose that Boudica devoted 60 CE to assembling her soldiers and launched her invasion in 61 CE. By year’s end, the dispersed remains of the rebel army were pursued and either apprehended or eliminated. Writing tablets discovered in Bloomsbury, London, have been utilised to advocate for an earlier chronology: tablets from as early as 62 CE indicate that a trade network was already established between Verulamium (St Albans) and Londinium (London), suggesting that the towns experienced minimal damage or were rapidly reconstructed following Boudica’s revolt.
- A multitude of circumstances exacerbated the escalating tensions between the Iceni and their supporters against the Romans. For historian Cassius Dio, the principal concern was financial: Catus seized the funds that Claudius had allocated to the British elite, while Seneca, tutor and advisor to Nero, insisted on the restitution of the money he had lent to local leaders at exorbitant interest, expressing scepticism regarding his investment.
- Tacitus, a historian omits references to the loans, instead highlighting legal, ethical, religious, and political shortcomings, with his narrative focussing on the demise of Prasutagus. Prasutagus entrusted half of his realm to Nero and the remaining half to his two daughters in his will; nevertheless, Catus neglected to enforce the deed’s provisions. The Romans assaulted Boudica, violated his daughters, enslaved his kin, and seized control of his hereditary lands.
- At this juncture, the governor of the Province of Britannia, Suetonius Paulinus, was situated 250 miles away on the island of Mona (present-day Anglesey), engaging in hostilities against the Druids, the religious leaders of Britain who had convened in the sacred groves on Mona alongside their supporters of Caratacus and had declined to acquiesce to Roman authority. The Romans, typically accommodating of diverse religious rituals, eradicated them. Gillespie highlights a potent amalgamation of factors that likely incensed the Britons, constituting a perfect storm of actions including the recall of loans, land appropriation, the conduct of Scapula, Catus, and Suetonius Paulinus, the confiscation of Icenian property, violence against Prasutagus’s family, the maltreatment of the Druids, and the desecration of sacred sites, engendering a pervasive sentiment that nothing was secure from Roman avarice and desire.
Head of Nero from an oversized statue
- The indigenous population, apprehensive of an imminent plunge into servitude, was primed for insurrection. Both Tacitus and Cassius Dio document omens that predicted the impending warfare. The Victory statue at Camulodunum (Colchester) faced away as if in capitulation; frantic women lamented impending destruction, envisioning the theatre echoing with cries and the senate filled with foreign clamours; they perceived a devastated city mirrored in the Thames; the ocean seemed sanguine, leaving remnants of human corpses in the tide.
- All of these indicators instilled hope in the Britons and trepidation in the veterans. On the other hand, the ultimate indignity occurred around 60 CE when Boudica was scourged and her daughters were assaulted. Boudica’s response to these events was to assemble an army from the Iceni and Trinovantes and advance against the Romans.
- The Roman accounts and certain early modern versions emphasise Boudica’s emotional reaction, using prevailing gender preconceptions towards women. Boudica undoubtedly possessed leadership characteristics and organisational skills to assemble, command, and sustain a substantial army against the Romans. Dio asserts that this force comprised 120,000 individuals. Considering the population sizes of the period, this is certainly an exaggeration; still, it probably amounted to several tens of thousands.
- Dio recounts that Boudica, wielding a spear, delivered an impassioned speech to the gathered troops, highlighting the injustices endured by the Britons and emphasising their inherent resilience in contrast to the purported softness of the Romans. He asserts that she conducted a divination rite to obtain divine favour prior to the army’s departure.
THE REVOLT
- Tacitus summarises the actions of Boudica and her allies in his work Agricola, which chronicles the life of his father-in-law, delineating Boudica’s revolt into three principal phases: the annihilation of Camulodunum (Colchester), the incineration of Londinium (London) and Verulamium (St Albans), and the concluding battle. Both Cassius Dio and Tacitus identify Boudica as the general, with her gender not influencing her capacity to command an army; nevertheless, only Dio designates her as a queen, implying that she was not acknowledged as a regent by Rome. Nonetheless, her followers obeyed her directive.
Camulodunum (Colchester)
- Dio asserts that she commanded approximately 120,000 troops, yet this should not be regarded as definitive reality. Initially, the British army advanced, perhaps from Thetford, to assault Camulodunum, a town established by Roman army veterans, hence designated as a colonia. Camulodunum was the focal point of Emperor Claudius’s invasion effort. This oppidum (fortified town) was situated on the territory of the Trinovantes, a tribe that had maintained amicable relations with the Romans since the era of Caesar.
- Camulodunum, as an oppidum, represented a concentrated habitation area, yet it did not constitute a town. This region emerged as the epicentre of authority for Cunobelinus of the Catuvellauni tribe. Following the Roman invasion, Claudius mandated the establishment of a fortification for the XX Legion, rather than restoring Camulodunum to the Trinovantes.
- The castle subsequently evolved into a veteran colony, with the adjacent territory designated for veteran soldiers. Tacitus recounts that the colony was founded to safeguard against insurrection and to acclimatise the allied Britons to Roman jurisprudence. Evidence from the first century indicates a synthesis of local and Roman customs in areas such as housing, cuisine, sanitation, religious ceremonies, burial traditions, and various cultural matters. Imported commodities from the Mediterranean region signify the heightened affluence of the area, encompassing vessels for wine, olive oil, and garum (fish sauce).
- Roman construction projects emerged within the veteran colony. Dio references a theatre, a senate house, and a statue dedicated to Victory. A temple dedicated to the heavenly Claudius was constructed and sustained through local financing, with priests selected from the indigenous populace levying charges for its maintenance.
- They were habituated to opulence, indolence, and the subjugation of the indigenous population, epitomising the most detrimental consequence of the Roman presence in Britain: the assimilation to unethical, avaricious conquerors. For the indigenous populace, the shrine symbolised the cessation of liberty.
- During Boudica’s revolt, while Governor Suetonius was occupied with suppressing the insurrection on the island of Mona and addressing the Druids, the Roman inhabitants sought the protection of the imperial agent and procurator Decianus for Camulodunum. He dispatched a little-equipped contingent of 200 men who were ineffectual in safeguarding the city.
- The Ninth Roman Division, commanded by Rufus, advanced to assist the settlement but was defeated, resulting in the decimation of the troops by the British forces. Tacitus attributes the brutality of the Britons in revolt to the avarice and rapacity of individuals such as Catus Decianus. Legate Quintus Petillius Cerialis dispatched his IX Legion from present-day Lincoln or the castle at Longthorpe, but they did not arrive punctually.
- Following a two-day siege, the colonia was consumed by fire, and all who took refuge in the temple complex perished alongside the citadel. Burn evidence from the Boudican destruction layer indicates a pervasive conflagration; yet, the scarcity of skeletons implies that the dead were extricated and appropriately incinerated by the survivors.
Londinium (London)
- Boudica leveraged the momentum from the devastation of Camulodunum to attack Cerialis’ IX Legion on the route from the colonia, nearly obliterating them. The scant surviving withdrew. The insurgents marched towards the commercial settlement at Londinium (near the present location of London Bridge), potentially annihilating smaller settlements along the way. Upon learning of the destruction at Camulodunum, Suetonius Paulinus stationed a garrison at the vanquished Mona and proceeded with his XIV Legion, accompanied by contingents from the XX Legion, as well as auxiliary soldiers and cavalry.
Map of the Roman empire in 125 CE
- Tacitus asserts that, without this prompt intervention, Britannia would have succumbed to the Romans. Catus Decianus absconded to Gaul. However, triumph for the Romans remained distant.
- Poenius Postumus, the acting commander of the II Legion in Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter), declined to dispatch any troops or to ally with Suetonius in Londinium. Upon learning that Boudica’s forces significantly outnumbered his own, Suetonius abandoned the city to its destiny.
- Devoid of fortifications and with fewer than ten thousand soldiers, Suetonius counselled all to evacuate the city, thereafter retreating with the evacuees from Londinium to Watling Street in search of a more strategic location for combat, while the insurgents executed those who stayed behind.
Verulanium (St Albans)
- Boudica’s army advanced from Londinium, wreaking havoc on their way to Verulamium (St Albans), a potential municipium of Rome and former stronghold of Catuvellaunian authority. The Catuvellauni were the tribe that captured Camulodunum from the Trinovantes and maintained a unique connection with Rome. As a municipium, Verulamium would have been granted a measure of self-governance, and individuals in official roles may have had the opportunity to attain Roman citizenship.
- This site experienced detriment because of its pro-Roman beliefs. The evidence of burning is less definitive than that found at Londinium and Camulodunum, with some asserting that only specific locations reflecting Roman influence, such as stores selling foreign goods, were targeted, rather than the entirety of the town. Tacitus asserts that over 70,000 Roman citizens and allies perished at these three locations, but Mattingly approximates the death toll to be nearer to half that figure. The embellishment of the Britons’ insurrection enhanced the succeeding Roman triumph’s grandeur. Suetonius granted the citizens safe escape with his troops, and although many took this offer, Tacitus reports that the inhabitants of Verulanium endured the same fate as those of Londinium.
FINAL BATTLE
- The passage’s sides shielded the Roman flanks from assault, while the trees obstructed rearward access. These measures would have inhibited Boudica from deploying her substantial forces against the Roman position save from the front, and the exposed terrain would have rendered a surprise assault unfeasible. Suetonius positioned his legionaries in tight formation, with auxiliary troops on the sides and cavalry on the wings.
- Despite the substantial assembly of Britons, the Iceni and other tribes had been disarmed several years prior to the insurrection and may have been inadequately equipped. They positioned their waggons at the rear of their army, allowing their families to observe what they anticipated to be a decisive triumph. Boiorix of the Cimbri and Ariovistus of the Suebi, two Germanic leaders, are documented to have employed similar strategies in their confrontations with Gaius Marius and Caesar, respectively.
- As their forces mobilised, the commanders would have aimed to inspire their troops. Tacitus claims that Boudica poisoned herself after the fight; however, in the Agricola, composed about two decades prior to the Annals, he omits any reference to suicide and attributes the conclusion of the insurrection to complacency.
- Contemporary conjectures on its location lack substantial evidence and have not achieved consensus among archaeologists or historians. A local tradition links it to Gop Hill Cairn near Trelawnyd, Flintshire, Wales. The visionary Morien posits that Bryn Sion in Flintshire may have been the site of Boudica’s demise. Another rumour posits that she is interred beneath Platform 10 of London King’s Cross railway station.
AFTERMATH
- The historian Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus states that the crisis nearly compelled Nero to relinquish Britain; nonetheless, with the insurrection conclusively quelled, the possession of Britain persisted. Nero, apprehensive that Suetonius’s severe measures against the British tribes would incite another insurrection, substituted him with the more conciliatory Publius Petronius Turpilianus.
- The defeat of Boudica solidified Roman authority in southern Britain, while northern Britain continued to be unstable. In 69 CE, Venutius, a noble of the Brigantes, was to spearhead another poorly documented insurrection, first motivated by tribal rivalries but rapidly evolving into an anti-Roman movement. Catus Decianus, having sought refuge in Gaul, was succeeded by Gaius Julius Alpinus Classicianus. Following the insurrection, Suetonius executed extensive punitive measures against the Britons; however, Classicianus’s complaint prompted an inquiry led by Nero’s freedman, Polyclitus. No historical accounts reveal the fate of Boudica’s two daughters.
Frequently Asked Questions About The Boudican Revolt
- Who was Boudica?
Boudicca was the queen of the Iceni tribe in ancient Britain. She led a major uprising against Roman rule around 60–61 CE.
- What caused the Boudican Revolt?
The revolt was triggered when the Romans confiscated Iceni land, flogged Boudicca, and assaulted her daughters after her husband, King Prasutagus, died. The Romans had ignored his will and annexed the kingdom.
- How is Boudica remembered today?
She is often seen as a British folk hero and symbol of freedom and resistance. A famous statue of her stands near the Houses of Parliament in London.