Boudicca: Meet the Warrior Queen Who Challenged Rome
The Roman historian Cassius Dio described the ancient warrior queen Boudicca as being, “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.” I don’t know about you, but I’d call that description downright aspirational. Boudicca’s fearsome appearance is hardly the most interesting thing about her, though: that would be her righteous uprising against the Roman empire, which very nearly succeeded in driving the ancient Romans out of Britain.
Born into Celtic royalty, Boudicca married Prasutagus — Celtic king of the Iceni tribe — around 44 AD and together they had two daughters. When King Prasutagus died in 60 AD, he named those daughters as his successors, with Boudicca acting as Queen Regent until they were old enough to rule. But since Roman law refused to acknowledge female heirs, the Roman government (already occupying most of ancient Britain at the time) annexed the entire kingdom for themselves. In a vicious show of conquest, they proceeded to enslave the Iceni nobles, publicly flog the queen, and rape her two young daughters. No doubt the Romans expected this brutal takeover to sufficiently quell any resistance from the Celtic tribes — but if that was the case, they severely underestimated Queen Boudicca.
Unlike the patriarchal society of ancient Rome, the Celtic tribes of Britain had a long history of female rulers, warriors, and religious figures: Queen Boudicca herself was thought to be named after Boudiga, a Celtic goddess of victory. Another Roman historian, Tacticus, wrote that Boudicca gave the following fiery speech to her army: “We British are used to women commanders in war… But I am not fighting for my kingdom and wealth now. I am fighting as an ordinary person for my lost freedom, my bruised body, and my outraged daughters… You will win this battle, or perish. That is what I, a woman, plan to do! Let the men live in slavery if they will.”
Boudicca proceeded to lead a rebellion of warriors from dozens of united Celtic tribes that left the Roman cities of Londinium, Camulodunum, and Verulamium in ruins and over 80,000 Romans dead. As Cassius Dio admitted, “All this ruin was brought upon the Romans by a woman, a fact that in itself caused them the greatest of shame.” Gildas, a later 6th century historian writing on the Roman conquest of Britain, disparaged Boudicca as “a treacherous lioness,” but she is now regarded as nothing less than a legendary British heroine, serving as historical inspiration to both Queen Victoria (whose name likewise meant ‘victory’) and Queen Elizabeth I — as well as any girl or woman fighting against injustice.
Ultimately, just as Emperor Nero was considering pulling all Roman troops out of Britain indefinitely, Boudicca was defeated at the Battle of Watling Street by the Roman military commander Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, and (like another rebel queen before her, Cleopatra VII) poisoned herself rather than face capture by the Romans. The legacy of her defiance, however, lingers on even today, centuries after the Roman empire was eventually taken down once and for all — reminding us not to be afraid to challenge our oppressors and to always stand up for what’s right.
Who are your favorite courageous female leaders from history? Let us know in the comments below!
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Image Credit: Carole Raddato/Flickr via Creative Commons
