by Joe Knight

Created on: May 15, 2007

Boudicca Queen of the Iceni

In 60 A.D., Britain (known as Britannia), like much of the known world, was under the control of the Romans. Caesar had invaded Britannia twice, once in 55 B.C., and again in 54 B.C., and it was during the second invasion that Caesar had established control over the region. The Iceni, who ruled in what is now Norfolk, were one of the six tribes that comprised the conquered land. After his conquest, Caesar left and never returned. For almost one-hundred years, the tribes lived in peaceful coexistence with each other.

In 43 A.D., the emperor Claudius, looking for ways to boost his reputation with his people and his military, sent 60,000 troops to Britannia to colonize the island. The Iceni king, Prasutagus, was allowed to keep his crown under the condition that he would be subservient to Rome. Prasutagus was married to Boudicca (also spelled Boudica and Boadicea), a tall, red-haired woman with a commanding presence, who bore two daughters. The Roman historian Cassius Dio wrote about her about 150 years after the battle:

"She was very tall and her aspect was terrifying, for her eyes flashed fiercely and her voice was harsh. A mass of red hair fell down to her hips, and around her neck was a twisted gold necklace."

Boudicca was witness to the heavy taxes and humiliation of her people by the now-emperor Nero; like most of Roman subjects, the Iceni chaffed under Roman rule.

About 60 A.D., Prasutagus died, leaving his two teenaged daughters and Queen Boudicca to rule the Iceni. In his will, Prasutagus left his holdings to his daughters and to the emperor Nero, assuming that he could trust the Empire to protect his family's holdings; however, the chief financial administrator of Rome, Decianus, dispatched his representatives to Britannia to seize Prasutagus' holdings. They plundered Boudicca's treasury and annexed her lands. Boudicca and her daughters suffered grave humiliation under the Roman soldiers.

Boudicca had enough...she was now determined to take on Nero and his legions and eliminate them from Britannia. Legend tells that all the Celtic tribes of southeast Britannia came to join her, ready to die for a queen that was fierce enough to take on the Roman Empire. Setting out in 61 A.D., Boudicca and 100,000 of her fellow Britons descended upon the Roman town of Camulodunum (today's Colchester), a city of retired Roman officers and their families. Boudicca burned it to the ground. The battle lasted several days, giving time for messengers

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