The Legendary Queen of the Iceni, Boudicca (England)
Also known as Boadicea, Boudicca died in 60 CE. She became a symbol of English freedom, and stories of her heroism are still taught in schools. Boudicca was the wife of King Prasutagus of the Iceni, a British tribe located near modern-day Colchester during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero.
When Prasutagus, an ally of Rome, died, local Roman officials decided to seize his wealth and lands. When Boudicca protested, claiming that as an ally of Rome she was being treated worse than a slave, Roman soldiers flogged her and raped her daughters. This atrocity was more than Boudicca could bear, and she decided to fight back. She rallied her tribe to rebel against Rome.
Her first target was Camulodunum (Colchester), which she burned to the ground, massacring its inhabitants. At the time, Suetonius Paulinus, the Roman governor of Britannia, was in the north attacking the Druids on the island of Anglesey. When news of Boudicca’s attack reached him, he marched south at a pace of 24 miles a day. Meanwhile, Boudicca advanced towards Verulamium (St. Albans), avoiding fortified locations and targeting regions with weak defenses.
The Second Augusta Legion, under Petillius Cerialis, sent 2,000 Roman troops to face Boudicca's 800 rebels, but the soldiers were nearly wiped out. After Verulamium was set ablaze, Suetonius entered Londinium (modern London). He warned the citizens to flee and offered to escort them. Suetonius did not have enough troops to defend the city, and the London garrison was too small to counter Boudicca's forces. Most of Suetonius’s army would not arrive for several days.
The Britons took no prisoners—they slit throats, burned, hanged, and crucified their victims. Rather than engage Boudicca immediately, Suetonius chose to meet her on ground favorable to his 10,000 legionaries, ensuring an advantage over the disorganized 100,000 rebels. He positioned his troops with a dense forest at their backs to prevent ambushes and waited for the queen to attack.
The Britons were so confident of victory that they brought their families along. Throughout the day, they launched attacks against the Romans. By evening, the Romans counterattacked, trapping the Britons. The Roman forces massacred around 80,000 Britons, including women, children, and the elderly, avenging the earlier atrocities.
Boudicca and her two daughters took poison to avoid capture and deportation to Rome as prisoners.
