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Shirley Chung
Bergen/ Downer
English 10-3/ Latin 2-6
10 November 2011
Queen Boudicca
Since Ancient Roman times, men were the dominant gender for their supposed strength
and wisdom. Considered to be ignorant and fragile, women were overshadowed by men. So,
while their husbands, sons, and brothers went to war to fight for their country and defend their
counterparts’ lives, women stayed at home and without any consideration of fighting back—even
if their survival was threatened. However, one woman, unlike other Roman women of her time,
declared war when her country and dignity were unlawfully taken away from her by Great
Rome: this woman was Queen Boudicca, warrior queen.
Queen Boudicca’s known life is limited to her last years—the start and end of her
rebellion against the Roman civilization. However, what sparked the flame of rebellion in
Boudicca is just as important as the war itself. This detail is what makes Queen Boudicca the
warrior queen, a gem that shines among the common pebbles of the other women in the Ancient
Roman times.
Queen Boudicca’s story started when she married King Prasutagus of the Iceni tribe; a
tribe that is currently located in East Anglia (Eastern England). During this time, the famed
Roman Empire was expanding around the land of the Iceni, threatening war for possession of the
land. Although the land of the Iceni had the protection from the Romans by the sea and dense
forests, King Prasutagus made an alliance with Rome, in an act of compliance, to ensure the
safety of his people and family. There was peace for nearly 17 years, until King Prasutagus died,
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leaving his wife and daughters. In his will, he left a portion of his kingdom to his daughters and a
portion to the Roman Empire, in hopes that they would be content and leave his family alone.
However, a question in raised for why King Prasutagus did not leave his kingdom directly to
Boudicca. In answer, Bulst states, “It may be that he thought his daughter- as wives of client
kings to be appointed by the Romans- (were) more likely to win Roman approval” (Bulst 498).
This quote explains King Prasutagus’ concern for his family’s welfare against the Roman
Empire. However, his actions were wasted. Tacitus, a primary source, describes the Roman’s
reaction:
The opposite turned out to be the case, so much so that his kingdom was devastated by
centurions, his household by slaves—as though both were captured property. At the very
start his wife Boudicca had beatings inflicted on her and their daughters were violated by
rape; all the principals of the Iceni, as if they (Romans) had received the entire district as
a gift, were stripped of their ancestral property, and the king’s relatives were held like
menials (Tacitus 289).
As evident in this quote, Queen Boudicca and her daughters were stripped of their rightful
kingdom, beaten or raped, and sent off with nothing. This detail is important because it was what
enraged Queen Boudicca enough to fight back, thus inspiring her rebellion against the Ancient
Roman Empire. Also, the fact that the Romans let Queen Boudicca and her daughters go- after
the atrocious things the soldiers did to them- justifies the Roman’s assumption that Queen
Boudicca was a typical Roman woman and did not have the ability or courage to fight back
against the most powerful country of the time. However, as the following events show, they were
horribly mistaken.
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Queen Boudicca is considered to be one of the greatest leaders of the ancient world
because of her famous rebellion against the Romans. As soon as Boudicca was freed from the
Romans after being beaten, she immediately “seized arms and stirred into rebellion the
Trinovantes and any others who, not yet broken by servitude, had struck an agreement in secret
conspiracies to regain their freedom, their fiercest hatred being for the veterans” (Tacitus 290). In
other words, she gathered the conquered people of Rome and inspired them to rebel and
forcefully take back their homelands against the Romans. The fact that she was able to be heard
in a crowd of men and rouse the rebellious actions proves how charismatic and strategic she was.
Her fearless action of leading a rebellion against Rome, the biggest empire at the time, alone is
not a feat that anyone could accomplish. More than ever, her great leadership was vital during
the wars of the rebellion against Rome.
Queen Boudicca’s plan of rebellion was to destroy the cities of the Roman Empire, and
take her vengeance without mercy—a task that requires much leadership. Luckily, the Roman
commander was on an expedition to Mona, so she easily sacked the great cities of Camulodunum
and Londinium. In answer to the possible question of how Boudicca’s army of 120,000 could
have hoped to sack such important Roman cities, Dio Cassius explained the strategy of
Boudicca. He described her “species of divination, letting a hare escape from the fold of her
dress; and since it ran on what they considered the auspicious side, the whole multitude shouted
with pleasure, and Buduica, raising her hand toward heaven, said: ‘I thank thee, Andraste’”
(Cassius 93). This whole procedure of recognizing a sign of the gods, and thanking the goddess
of victory no doubt raised hope in Boudicca’s soldiers, regardless if they believed in the same
gods and goddesses or not. In this way, Boudicca used her leadership abilities to use her army
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effectively, as her means for revenge. Queen Boudicca fought for her rights, and made the
Romans pay for their wrongdoing.
All things, however, must come to an end. Unfortunately, Queen Boudicca and her
rebellion were no exception. After Boudicca’s army sacked the three cities Colchester
(Camulodunum), Londinium (London), and Verulamium (Saint Albans), Queen Boudicca
decided to attack Rome once again in a location believed to be somewhere in the West Midlands.
This time, however, “The Roman army got smart. Using a wedge formation, they cornered
Boudicca’s forces” (Waldherr 56). Common among the other tribes of the time, Queen
Boudicca’s army most likely used long spears and no armor during wars. However, the Roman
Empire used short swords and armor. These details and the Roman strategy of cornering
Boudicca’s army rendered Boudicca’s army’s weapons useless. Although the cause of
Boudicca’s death is uncertain, it is highly suspected that after sensing defeat, she took her
daughters away from the battle scene and they all committed suicide by poison. This action
shows her strong will power to not let the Romans get the victory of killing Boudicca
themselves. Thus, the Roman army finally won and ended the revolt.
Queen Boudicca stands out among the other women of the Ancient Roman times because
while she was being a general, fighting for her rights, the other women were quietly accepting
their injustice and only living in the world outside their home through their husbands. Ancient
Roman women were forbidden to participate in law, and overall forbidden to voice their opinions
to the public—except by influencing their husbands. Boudicca refused to behave like a Roman
woman and, according to Dio Cassius, Boudicca was a woman who “possessed of greater
intelligence than often belongs to women” (Cassius 85). Queen Boudicca’s ability to persuade
people into rebelling, surprise the Roman Empire, and be able to win several wars against the
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power of the Romans are only a few examples of how much intelligence she had, especially
comparing her deeds to those of the average Roman women of Boudicca’s time.
Queen Boudicca was unlike other women of the Ancient Roman times. Charismatic,
fearless, strategic are all the characteristics she possessed that were extremely uncommon among
women. Although there is a question of whether Boudicca “was a savage attempting to destroy a
superior civilization in a series of atrocities or a patriotic leader rising up against an alien and
brutal occupying power”(Fraser 5), her leadership through the rebellion was great. In
conclusion, Queen Boudicca was an outstanding woman who rose up in a peril and fought
without fear. She became an example of strong leadership when it was extremely rare for women
of that time.
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Works Cited
Cassius, Dio and E Cary. Dio's Roman History. London, Cambridge, Massachusetts:
William Heinemann LTD, Harvard University Press, 1961.
Collingridge, Vanessa. Boudica: The Life of Britain's Leendary Warrior Queen. New
York: The Overlook Press, Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc. , 2005.
Fraser, Antonia. The Warrior Queens: The Legend and the Lives of the Women Who
Have Led Their Nations in War. New York: Vintage Books A Division of
Random House, Inc. , 1988.
Tacitus and A.J. Woodman. The Annals. Indianapolis/ Cambridge: Hackett Publishing
Company, Inc., 2004.
Christoph M. Bulst. "The Revolt of Queen Boudicca in A.D.60" Britannia, Vol 10. 1979.
Article.