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Boudica

For other uses of this word (spelled this way and as Boadicea, Boudicca, Boudicea, etc.), seeBoudica (disambiguation).

BoudicaorBoudicca(/ˈbuːdɪkə,boʊˈdɪkə/,fromBrythonic*boudi'victory, win' + *-kā'having' suffix, i.e. 'Victorious Woman', known in LatinchroniclesasBoadiceaorBoudicea,and inWelshasBuddug,pronounced[ˈbɨðɨɡ]) was a queen of theancient British Icenitribe, who led afailed uprisingagainst theconquering forcesof theRoman Empirein AD 60 or 61. She is considered a British national heroine and a symbol of the struggle for justice and independence.

Boudica
Opie's painting of Boudica
Boadicea Haranguing the Britons(1793)
Queen of the Iceni
Reignc. AD 60–61
Consort of the king of theIceni
Tenure?– c. AD 60
BornBritish Isles
DiedAD 60/61
SpousePrasutagus
Issue2 daughters

Boudica's husbandPrasutagus,with whom she had two daughters, ruled as a nominally independent ally of Rome. He left his kingdom jointly to his daughters and to theRoman emperorin hiswill.When he died, his will was ignored, and the kingdom was annexed and his property taken. According to the Roman historianTacitus,Boudica wasfloggedand her daughtersraped.[1]The historianCassius Diowrote that previous imperial donations to influential Britons were confiscated and the Roman financier and philosopherSenecacalled in the loans he had forced on the reluctant Britons.

In 60/61, Boudica led the Iceni and other British tribes in revolt. They destroyedCamulodunum(modernColchester), earlier the capital of theTrinovantes,but at that time acoloniafor discharged Roman soldiers. Upon hearing of the revolt, theRoman governorGaius Suetonius Paulinushurried from the island ofMona(modern Anglesey) toLondinium,the 20-year-old commercial settlement that was the rebels' next target. Unable to defend the settlement, he abandoned it. Boudica's army defeated a detachment of theLegio IX Hispana,and burnt both Londinium andVerulamium.In all, an estimated 70,000–80,000 Romans and Britons were killed by Boudica's followers. Suetonius, meanwhile, regrouped his forces, possibly in theWest Midlands,and despite being heavily outnumbered, he decisively defeated the Britons. Boudica died, by suicide or illness, shortly afterwards. The crisis of 60/61 causedNeroto consider withdrawing all his imperial forces from Britain, but Suetonius's victory over Boudica confirmed Roman control of the province.

Interest in these events was revived in theEnglish Renaissanceand led to Boudica's fame in theVictorian eraand as a cultural symbol in Britain.

Historical sources

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Cassius Dio
Tacitus

TheBoudican revoltagainst theRoman Empireis referred to in four works fromclassical antiquitywritten by threeRomanhistorians: theAgricola(c. 98) andAnnals(c. 110s) byTacitus;[2]a mention of the uprising bySuetoniusin hisLives of the Caesars(121);[3]and the longest account, a detailed description of the revolt contained withinCassius Dio's history of the Empire (c. 202– c. 235).[4]

Tacitus wrote some years after the rebellion, but his father-in-lawGnaeus Julius Agricolawas an eyewitness to the events, having served in Britain as atribuneunderSuetonius Paulinusduring this period.[2]

Cassius Dio began his history of Rome and its empire about 140 years after Boudica's death. Much is lost and his account of Boudica survives only in theepitomeof an 11th-centuryByzantinemonk,John Xiphilinus.He provides greater and more lurid detail than Tacitus, but in general his details are often fictitious.[5][6]

Both Tacitus and Dio give an account of battle-speeches given by Boudica, though it is thought that her words were never recorded during her life.[2][4][7]Although imaginary, these speeches, designed to provide a comparison for readers of the antagonists' demands and approaches to war, and to portray the Romans as morally superior to their enemy, helped create an image ofpatriotismthat turned Boudica into a legendary figure.[8][9]

Whilst the vast majority of historians accept Boudica as a historial figure, a small minority have questioned whether she existed based on the lack of contemporary sources and archaeological evidence.[10]

Background

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A map ofIcenilands inNorfolk

Boudica was the consort ofPrasutagus,king of theIceni,[note 1]a tribe who inhabited what is now the English county ofNorfolkand parts of the neighbouring counties ofCambridgeshire,SuffolkandLincolnshire.[12]The Iceni produced some of the earliest known British coins.[13]They had revolted against the Romans in 47 when the Roman governorPublius Ostorius Scapulaplanned to disarm all the peoples of Britain under Roman control. The Romans allowed the kingdom to retain its independence once the uprising was suppressed.[14]

Events leading to the revolt

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On his death in AD 60/61, Prasutagus made his two daughters as well as the Roman EmperorNerohis heirs.[12]The Romans ignored the will, and the kingdom was absorbed into the province ofBritannia.[15]Catus Decianus,procurator of Britain, was sent to secure the Iceni kingdom for Rome.[14]

"Have we not been robbed entirely of most of our possessions, and those the greatest, while for those that remain we pay taxes? Besides pasturing and tilling for them all our other possessions, do we not pay a yearly tribute for our very bodies? How much better it would be to have been sold to masters once for all than, possessing empty titles of freedom, to have to ransom ourselves every year! How much better to have been slain and to have perished than to go about with a tax on our heads!... Among the rest of mankind death frees even those who are in slavery to others; only in the case of the Romans do the very dead remain alive for their profit. Why is it that, though none of us has any money (how, indeed, could we, or where would we get it?), we are stripped and despoiled like a murderer's victims? And why should the Romans be expected to display moderation as time goes on, when they have behaved toward us in this fashion at the very outset, when all men show consideration even for the beasts they have newly captured?"

—Part of a speech Cassius Dio gives Boudica[16]

The Romans' next actions were described by Tacitus, who detailed pillaging of the countryside, the ransacking of the king's household, and the brutal treatment of Boudica and her daughters. According to Tacitus, Boudica wasfloggedand her daughters wereraped.[15]These abuses are not mentioned in Dio's account, who instead cites three different causes for the rebellion: the recalling of loans that were given to the Britons bySeneca;Decianus Catus's confiscation of money formerly loaned to the Britons by the EmperorClaudius;and Boudica's own entreaties.[4][7]The loans were thought by the Iceni to have been repaid by gift exchange.[14]

Dio gives Boudica a speech to her people and their allies reminding them that life was much better before the Roman occupation, stressing that wealth cannot be enjoyed under slavery and placing the blame upon herself for not expelling the Romans as they had done whenJulius Caesarinvaded.[15]The willingness of those seen as barbarians to sacrifice a higher quality of living under the Romans in exchange for their freedom and personal liberty was an important part of what Dio considered to be motivation for the rebellions.[9]

Uprising

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Main article:Boudican revolt

Attacks on Camulodunum, Londinium and Verulamium

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A map of theBoudican Revolt

The first target of the rebels wasCamulodunum(modernColchester), a Romancoloniafor retired soldiers.[17]ARoman templehad been erected there to Claudius, at great expense to the local population. Combined with brutal treatment of the Britons by the veterans, this had caused resentment towards the Romans.[18]

The Iceni and the Trinovantes comprised an army of 120,000 men.[19]Dio claimed that Boudica called upon the British goddess of victoryAndrasteto aid her army.[20]Once the revolt had begun, the only Roman troops available to provide assistance, aside from the few within the colony, were 200auxiliarieslocated in London, who were not equipped to fight Boudica's army. Camulodunum was captured by the rebels;[21]those inhabitants who survived the initial attack took refuge in theTemple of Claudiusfor two days before they were killed.[22]Quintus Petillius Cerialis,then commanding theLegio IXHispana,attempted to relieve Camulodunum, but suffered an overwhelming defeat. Theinfantrywith him were all killed and only the commander and some of hiscavalryescaped. After this disaster, Catus Decianus, whose behaviour had provoked the rebellion, fled abroad toGaul.[23]

Suetonius was leading acampaign against the island of Mona,off the coast of North Wales. On hearing the news of the Iceni uprising, he left a garrison on Mona and returned to deal with Boudica.[19]He moved quickly with a force of men through hostile territory to Londinium, which he reached before the arrival of Boudica's army[22]but, outnumbered, he decided to abandon the town to the rebels, who burned it down after torturing and killing everyone who had remained. The rebels also sacked themunicipiumofVerulamium(modernSt Albans),[24][25]north-west of London, though the extent of its destruction is unclear.[26]

Dio and Tacitus both reported that around 80,000 people were said to have been killed by the rebels.[4]According to Tacitus, the Britons had no interest in taking the Roman population as prisoners, only in slaughter by "gibbet,fire, or cross ".[27]Dio adds that the noblest women were impaled on spikes and had their breasts cut off and sewn to their mouths, "to the accompaniment of sacrifices, banquets, and wanton behaviour" in sacred places, particularly the groves of Andraste.[28]

Defeat and death

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Suetonius regrouped his forces. He amassed an army of almost 10,000 men at an unidentified location, and took a stand in adefile(a narrow pass) with a wood behind. The Romans used the terrain to their advantage, launching javelins at the Britons before advancing in a wedge-shaped formation and deploying cavalry.[14]

The Roman army was heavily outnumbered — according to Dio the rebels numbered 230,000[12]— but Boudica's army was crushed, and according to Tacitus, neither the women nor the animals were spared. Tacitus states that Boudica poisoned herself; Dio says she fell sick and died, after which she was given a lavish burial. It has been argued that these accounts are not mutually exclusive.[29]

Name

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Boudicamay have been an honorific title,[30]in which case the name by which she was known during most of her life is unknown.[31]The Englishlinguistand translatorKenneth Jacksonconcluded that the nameBoudica—based on later developments in Welsh (Buddug) andIrish(Buaidheach)—derives from theProto-Celticfeminine adjective *boudīkā'victorious', which in turn is derived from theCelticword *boudā'victory', and that the correct spelling of the name inCommon Brittonic(the British Celtic language) isBoudica,pronounced[boʊˈdiːkaː].[32]Variations on the historically correctBoudicaincludeBoudicca,Bonduca,Boadicea,andBuduica.[33]TheGaulishversion of her name is attested in inscriptions asBoudigainBordeaux,BoudicainLusitania,andBodiccain Algeria.[34]

Boudica's name was spelt incorrectly by Dio, who usedBuduica.[33]Her name was also misspelled by Tacitus, who added a second 'c.' After the misspelling was copied by a medievalscribe,further variations began to appear. Along with the second 'c' becoming an 'e,' an 'a' appeared in place of the 'u', which produced the medieval (and most common) version of the name,Boadicea.[31][35]The true spelling was totally obscured whenBoadiceafirst appeared in around the 17th century.[33]William Cowperused this spelling in his poemBoadicea, an Ode(1782), a work whose impact resulted in Boudica's reinvention as a British imperialistic champion.[36]

Early literature

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One of the earliest possible mentions of Boudica (excluding Tacitus' and Dio's accounts) was the 6th-century workDe Excidio et Conquestu Britanniaeby the British monkGildas.In it, he demonstrates his knowledge of a female leader whom he describes as a "treacherous lioness" who "butchered the governors who had been left to give fuller voice and strength to the endeavours of Roman rule."[37]

BothBede'sEcclesiastical History of the English People(731) and the 9th-century workHistoria Brittonumby the Welsh monkNenniusinclude references to the uprising of 60/61, but do not mention Boudica.[37]

No contemporary description of Boudica exists. Dio, writing more than a century after her death, provided a detailed description of the Iceni queen (translated in 1925): "In stature she was very tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was harsh; a great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips; around her neck was a large golden necklace; and she wore a tunic of divers colours over which a thick mantle was fastened with a brooch. This was her invariable attire."[15][16][note 2]

Revival and the modern legend

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16th and 17th century literature

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Boudica depicted as aTudorqueen inHolinshed's Chronicles(1577)

During theRenaissancethe works of Tacitus and Cassius Dio became available in England, after which her status changed as it was interpreted by historians, poets anddramatists.[39]Boudica appeared as 'Voadicia' in a history,Anglica Historia,by the Italian scholarPolydore Vergil,and in the Scottish historianHector Boece'sThe History and Chronicles of Scotland(1526) she is 'Voada'—the first appearance of Boudica in a British publication.[39][40]

Boudica was called 'Voadicia' in the English historianRaphael Holinshed'sChronicles,published between 1577 and 1587.[39][41]A narrative by theFlorentinescholarPetruccio UbaldiniinThe Lives of the Noble Ladies of the Kingdom of England and Scotland(1591) includes two female characters, 'Voadicia' and 'Bunduica', both based on Boudica.[39]From the 1570s to the 1590s, whenElizabeth I's England was at war with Spain, Boudica proved to be a valuable asset for the English.[42]

The English poetEdmund Spenserused the story of Boudica in his poemThe Ruines of Time,involving a story about a British heroine he called 'Bunduca'.[43]A variation of this name was used in theJacobeanplayBonduca(1612), atragicomedythat most scholars agree was written byJohn Fletcher,in which one of the characters was Boudica.[44]A version of that play calledBonduca, or the British Heroinewas set to music by the English composerHenry Purcellin 1695.[45]One of the choruses, "Britons, Strike Home!",became a popular patriotic song in Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries.[46]

Depiction during the 18th and 19th centuries

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The statueBoadicea and Her DaughtersbyThomas Thornycroft,nearWestminster Pier,London

During the late 18th century, Boudica was used to develop ideas of English nationhood.[47]Illustrations of Boudica during this period—such as in Edward Barnard'sNew, Complete and Authentic History of England(1790) and the drawing byThomas Stothardof the queen as a classical heroine—lacked historical accuracy. The illustration of Boudica byRobert HavellinCharles Hamilton Smith'sThe Costume of the Original Inhabitants of the British Islands from the Earliest Periods to the Sixth Century(1815) was an early attempt to depict her in an historically accurate way.[48]

Cowper's 1782 poemBoadicea: An Odewas the most notable literary work to champion the resistance of the Britons, and helped to project British ideas of imperial expansion. It caused Boudica to become a Britishcultural iconand be perceived as a national heroine.[47]Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poemBoädicéa(written in 1859, and published in 1864) drew on Cowper's poem. Depicting the Iceni queen as a violent and bloodthirsty warrior, the poem also forecasted the rise of British imperialism. Tennyson's image of Boudica was taken from theengravingproduced in 1812 by Stothard.[49]Another work, the poem "Boadicea" (1859) by Francis Barker, contained strongly patriotic and Christian themes.[50]

A range ofVictorianchildren's books mentioned Boudica;Beric the Briton(1893), a novel byG. A. Henty,with illustrations by William Parkinson, had a text based on the accounts of Tacitus and Dio.[51]

Boadicea and Her Daughters,a statue of the queen in herwar chariot,complete withanachronisticscytheson the wheel axles, was executed by the sculptorThomas Thornycroft.He was encouraged byPrince Albert,who lent his horses for use as models.[52]The statue, Thornycroft's most ambitious work, was produced between 1856 and 1871, cast in 1896, and positioned on theVictoria Embankmentnext toWestminster Bridgein 1902.[53]

  • The History of England(1791), illustration by Francis West
  • An engraving byWilliam Sharpafter Thomas Stothard (1812)
  • A caricature ofQueen Caroline(1820)
  • Robert Havell,The Costume of the Original Inhabitants of the British Islands(1821)
  • John Cassell'sIllustrated History of England(1857)
  • G.A. Henty,Beric, the Briton(1893)

20th century – present

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Boudica was once thought to have been buried at a place which lies now between platforms 9 and 10 inKing's Cross stationin London. There is no evidence for this and it is probably a post-World War II invention.[54]AtColchester Town Hall,a life-sized statue of Boudica stands on the south facade, sculpted by L J Watts in 1902; another depiction of her is in astained glasswindow byClayton and Bellin the council chamber.[55]

Boudica was adopted by thesuffragettesas one of the symbols of the campaign forwomen's suffrage.In 1908, a "Boadicea Banner" was carried in severalNational Union of Women's Suffrage Societiesmarches. She appears as a character inA Pageant of Great Womenwritten byCicely Hamilton,which opened at theScala Theatre,London, in November 1909 before a national tour, and she was described in a 1909 pamphlet as "the eternal feminine... the guardian of the hearth, the avenger of its wrongs upon the defacer and the despoiler".[56]

A "vocal minority" has claimed Boudica as a Celtic Welsh heroine.[57]A statue of Boudica in the Marble Hall atCardiff City Hallwas among those unveiled byDavid Lloyd Georgein 1916, though the choice had gained little support in a public vote.[58][57]It shows her with her daughters and without warrior trappings.[59]

Permanent exhibitions describing the Boudican Revolt are at theMuseum of London,Colchester Castle Museumand theVerulamium MuseuminSt Albans.[60]A 36-mile (58 km)long distance footpathcalledBoudica's Waypasses through countryside betweenNorwichandDissin Norfolk.[61]

In film and TV

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In music

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^The sources describe Boudica as a wife and not a queen.[11]
  2. ^The termxanthotrichos('tawny') can also mean 'red–brown' or 'auburn', or a shadeshortof brown.[38]

References

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  1. ^Tacitus.The Annals.
  2. ^abcHingley & Unwin 2006,pp.42–43
  3. ^Suetonius(1914). "Lives of the Caesars, Book VI: Nero".Suetonius(in Latin and English). Vol. 2. Translated byRolfe, John Carew.Cambridge, Massaschsetts: Harvard University Press. p.157.OCLC647029284– via HathiTrust."... a disaster in Britain where two important towns were sacked and great numbers of citizens and allies were butchered;...
  4. ^abcdHingley & Unwin 2006,pp.52–53
  5. ^Vandrei 2018,p. 4.
  6. ^Grant, Michael (1995).Greek and Roman Historians: Information and Misinformation.London: Routledge. pp.104–105.ISBN0415117704.
  7. ^abAdler, Eric (2008)."Boudica's Speeches in Tacitus and Dio".The Classical World.101(2):173–195.doi:10.1353/clw.2008.0006.ISSN0009-8418.JSTOR25471937.S2CID162404957.
  8. ^Hoffman, Birgitta (2019).The Roman Invasion of Britain: archaeology versus history.Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Books Limited. p. 12.ISBN978-15267-5-663-3.
  9. ^abNewark, Timothy (1989).Women Warlords: an illustrated military history of female warriors.London: Blandford. p. 86.ISBN978-07137-1-965-9.
  10. ^https://vridar.org/2018/05/07/doing-history-how-do-we-know-queen-boadicea-boudicca-existed/
  11. ^Davies 2008,p. 60.
  12. ^abcPotter, T. W. (2004)."Boudicca (d. AD 60/61)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2732.Retrieved4 October2010.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
  13. ^Davies 2008,pp. 11, 54.
  14. ^abcdDavies 2008,pp. 134–136
  15. ^abcdElliott, Simon (2021).Britain.Roman Conquests. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Books Limited. p. 92.ISBN978-15267-6-568-0.
  16. ^abCassius Dio 2015,pp.84–87
  17. ^Webster 1978,p.88.
  18. ^Hingley & Unwin 2006,p.71.
  19. ^abHingley & Unwin 2006,p.70
  20. ^Hingley & Unwin 2006,p.55.
  21. ^Webster 1978,p.90.
  22. ^abWebster 1978,pp.91, 93
  23. ^Hingley & Unwin 2006,p.49.
  24. ^Vandrei 2018,p. 2 "After sacking the settlements of Camulodunum (present-day Colchester) and Verulamium (now St Albans) Boudica's army brought its destructive force to Londinium. Footnote 4: The destruction of Verulamium follows that of Londinium in some accounts."
  25. ^Tacitus.Annals.p. 14.33.eadem clades municipio Verulamio fuit – Like ruin fell on the town of Verulamium
  26. ^Wall, Martin (2022). "2. The treacherous lioness: Boudicca and the great British revolt (60–61)".The Lost Battlefields of Britain.Stroud, England:Amberley.ISBN978-1445697086.
  27. ^Cunliffe, Barry W(1978).Iron Age Communities in Britain: an account of England, Scotland, and Wales from the seventh century BC until the Roman conquest.London; Boston:Routledge & Kegan Paul.p. 143.ISBN978-0-7100-8725-6.
  28. ^Henshall, K. (2008).Folly and Fortune in Early British History: from Caesar to the Normans.Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 55.ISBN978-0-230-58379-5.
  29. ^Vandrei 2018,p. 46.
  30. ^Frénée-Hutchins 2016,p. 12.
  31. ^abDavies 2008,p. 141
  32. ^Jackson, Kenneth(1979). "Queen Boudica?".Britannia.10:255.doi:10.2307/526060.JSTOR526060.S2CID251373737.
  33. ^abcWaite, John (2007).Boudica's Last Stand: Britain's Revolt Against Rome, A.D. 60–61.Cheltenham, UK:The History Press.p. 22.ISBN978-07524-3-809-2.
  34. ^Webster 1978,p.15.
  35. ^Dudley, Donald R.;Webster, Graham(1962).The Rebellion of Boudicca.London:Routledge & Kegan Paul.p. 143.OCLC3648719.
  36. ^Hingley & Unwin 2006, p.152.
  37. ^abHingley & Unwin 2006,p.61
  38. ^Williams 2009,p. 62.
  39. ^abcdLawson, Stephanie (2013)."Nationalism and Biographical Transformation: the case of Boudicca".Humanities Research.19.Sydney:Macquarie University:101–119 [118].doi:10.22459/HR.XIX.01.2013.06.ISSN1440-0669.S2CID160541599.
  40. ^Williams 2009,pp.41,50.
  41. ^Frénée, Samantha (2012)."Warrior Queens in Holinshed's Woodcuts".Cahiers de recherches médiévales et humanistes (Journal of Medieval and Humanistic Studies).23(23):417–433.doi:10.4000/crm.12859.Archived fromthe originalon 13 October 2022.Retrieved13 October2022.
  42. ^Hingley & Unwin 2006,p.118.
  43. ^Curran, John E. (1996)."Spenser and the Historical Revolution: Briton Moniments and the Problem of Roman Britain"(PDF).Clio: A Journal of Literature, History, and the Philosophy of History.25(3). Indiana University & Purdue University:273–292.
  44. ^Ioppolo, Grace (2013).Dramatists and Their Manuscripts in the Age of Shakespeare, Jonson, Middleton and Heywood: authorship, authority and the playhouse.Taylor & Francis.p. 76.ISBN978-11343-0-005-1.
  45. ^Adams, Martin (1995).Henry Purcell: the origins and development of his musical style.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.pp.334–335.ISBN978-05214-3-159-0.
  46. ^Price, C. A. (1983).Henry Purcell and the London Stage.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-05212-3-831-1.
  47. ^abHingley & Unwin 2006,pp.146–152
  48. ^Hingley & Unwin 2006,p.153.
  49. ^Hingley & Unwin 2006,p.154.
  50. ^Hingley & Unwin 2006,p.158.
  51. ^Hingley & Unwin 2006,pp.159–160.
  52. ^Macdonald, Sharon (1987).Images of Women in Peace & War: cross-cultural & historical perspectives.London:Macmillan Press.ISBN0-299-11764-2.
  53. ^Hingley & Unwin 2006,pp.162–165.
  54. ^"The" Warrior Queen "under Platform 9".Museum of London. Archived fromthe originalon 1 March 2009.Retrieved13 August2011.
  55. ^Bettley, James; Pevsner, Nicholas (2007).Essex: Buildings of England Series.Yale University Press.pp.276–277.ISBN978-0300116144.
  56. ^Johnson, Marguerite."Boadicea and British Suffrage Feminists".Outskirts Online Journal.31(1994).Retrieved31 October2020.
  57. ^ab"Queen Boudica, A Life in Legend".www.HistoryToday.com.Retrieved4 August2022.
  58. ^Chappell, Edgar L. (1946).Cardiff's Civic Centre: A historical guide.Priory Press. pp.21–26.
  59. ^"Statue of Buddug – Boadicea".
  60. ^Hingley & Unwin 2006,pp.198–199.
  61. ^"Boudicca Way (Norwich to Diss)".www.norfolk.gov.uk.Norfolk County Council.Retrieved31 October2020.

Sources

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Further reading

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