Notes
Note N242
Index
He was a military tribune under Lucius Aemilius Paulus, Proconsul in
Liguria.
Magna Charta, Wurts, 1945
Notes
Note N241
Index
Magna Charta, Wurts, 1945
Notes
Note N240
Index
According to some accounts he was the son of Lucius Libo of Rome.
Libo was the son of Lucius Julius Libo of Rome, a Consul BC 267 and
somewhere, back in time, they are reported to have been the great-
great,etc. grandchildren of Romulus King of Rome whose father was
Mars.
Magna Charta, Wurts, 1945
Notes
Note N256
Index
Boudica (pronounced /'bu?d?k?/; also spelled Boudicca), formerly known as Boadicea (/bo??æd?'si??/) and known in Welsh as "Buddug" /'b??ð'??g/)[1] (d. AD 60 or 61) was a queen of the Brittonic Iceni tribe of what is now known as East Anglia in England, who led an uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire.
Boudica's husband, Prasutagus, an Icenian king who had ruled as a nominally independent ally of Rome, left his kingdom jointly to his daughters and the Roman Emperor in his will. However, when he died his will was ignored. The kingdom was annexed as if conquered, Boudica was flogged and her daughters raped, and Roman financiers called in their loans.
In AD 60 or 61, while the Roman governor, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, was leading a campaign on the island of Anglesey in north Wales, Boudica led the Iceni, along with the Trinovantes and others, in revolt. They destroyed Camulodunum (Colchester), formerly the capital of the Trinovantes, but now a colonia (a settlement for discharged Roman soldiers) and the site of a temple to the former emperor Claudius, which was built and maintained at local expense. They also routed a Roman legion, the IX Hispana, sent to relieve the settlement.
On hearing the news of the revolt, Suetonius hurried to Londinium (London), the twenty-year-old commercial settlement that was the rebels' next target. Concluding he did not have the numbers to defend it, Suetonius evacuated and abandoned it. It was burnt to the ground, as was Verulamium (St Albans). An estimated 70,000-80,000 people were killed in the three cities (though the figures are suspect).[2] Suetonius, meanwhile, regrouped his forces in the West Midlands, and despite being heavily outnumbered, defeated Boudica in the Battle of Watling Street. The crisis caused the emperor Nero to consider withdrawing all Roman forces from the island, but Suetonius' eventual victory over Boudica secured Roman control of the province. Boudicca then poisoned herself so she would not be captured.
The history of these events, as recorded by Tacitus[3] and Cassius Dio,[4] was rediscovered during the Renaissance and led to a resurgence of Boudica's legendary fame during the Victorian era, when Queen Victoria was portrayed as her "namesake". Boudica has since remained an important cultural symbol in the United Kingdom. The absence of native British literature during the early part of the first millennium means that Britain owes its knowledge of Boudica's rebellion to the writings of the Romans.
Boudica's name
Until the late 20th century, Boudica was known as Boadicea, which is probably derived from a mistranscription when a manuscript of Tacitus was copied in the Middle Ages. Her name takes many forms in various manuscripts-Boadicea and Boudicea in Tacitus; ???d????a, ????d????a, and ??d????a in Dio-but almost certainly, it was originally Boudicca or Boudica, and is the Proto-Celtic feminine adjective *boudika, "victorious", derived from the Celtic word *bouda, "victory" (cf. Irish bua (Classical Irish buadh), Buaidheach, Welsh buddugoliaeth). The name is attested in inscriptions as "Boudica" in Lusitania, "Boudiga" in Bordeaux, and "Bodicca" in Britain.[5] Based on later development of Welsh and Irish, Kenneth Jackson concludes that the correct spelling of the name in the British language is Boudica, pronounced [b??'di?ka?][6] (the closest English equivalent to the vowel in the first syllable is the ow in "bow-and-arrow"). The modern English pronunciation is /'bu?d?k?/.[7]
[edit] Background
Tacitus and Dio agree that Boudica was of royal descent. Dio says that she was "possessed of greater intelligence than often belongs to women", that she was tall, had long red hair down to her hips, a harsh voice and a piercing glare, and habitually wore a large golden necklace (perhaps a torc), a many-coloured tunic, and a thick cloak fastened by a brooch.
Location of modern Norfolk, once inhabited by the IceniHer husband, Prasutagus, was the king of Iceni, people who inhabited roughly what is now Norfolk. They initially were not part of the territory under direct Roman control, having voluntarily allied themselves to Rome following Claudius' conquest of AD 43. They were jealous of their independence and had revolted in AD 47 when the then-governor Publius Ostorius Scapula threatened to disarm them.[8] Prasutagus lived a long life of conspicuous wealth, and, hoping to preserve his line, made the Roman emperor co-heir to his kingdom along with his wife and two daughters.
It was normal Roman practice to allow allied kingdoms their independence only for the lifetime of their client king, who would agree to leave his kingdom to Rome in his will: the provinces of Bithynia[9] and Galatia,[10] for example, were incorporated into the Empire in just this way. Roman law also allowed inheritance only through the male line. So when Prasutagus died, his attempts to preserve his line were ignored and his kingdom was annexed as if it had been conquered. Lands and property were confiscated and nobles treated like slaves. According to Tacitus, Boudica was flogged and her daughters were raped. Dio Cassius says that Roman financiers, including Seneca the Younger, chose this time to call in their loans. Tacitus does not mention this, but does single out the procurator, Catus Decianus, for criticism for his "avarice". Prasutagus, it seems, had lived well on borrowed Roman money, and on his death his subjects had become liable for the debt.
[edit] Boudica's uprising
In AD 60 or 61, while the current governor, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, was leading a campaign against the island of Mona (modern Anglesey) in north Wales, which was a refuge for British rebels and a stronghold of the druids, the Iceni conspired with their neighbours the Trinovantes, amongst others, to revolt. Boudica was chosen as their leader. According to Tacitus, they drew inspiration from the example of Arminius, the prince of the Cherusci who had driven the Romans out of Germany in AD 9, and their own ancestors who had driven Julius Caesar from Britain.[11] Dio says that at the outset Boudica employed a form of divination, releasing a hare from the folds of her dress and interpreting the direction in which it ran, and invoked Andraste, a British goddess of victory. Perhaps it is significant that Boudica's own name means "victory" (see above).
The rebels' first target was Camulodunum (Colchester), the former Trinovantian capital and now a Roman colonia. The Roman veterans who had been settled there mistreated the locals, and a temple to the former emperor Claudius had been erected there at local expense, making the city a focus for resentment. The Roman inhabitants of the city sought reinforcements from the procurator, Catus Decianus, but he sent only two hundred auxiliary troops. Boudica's army fell on the poorly defended city and destroyed it, besieging the last defenders in the temple for two days before it fell. Archaeologists have shown that the city was methodically demolished.[12] The future governor Quintus Petillius Cerialis, then commanding the Legio IX Hispana, attempted to relieve the city, but suffered an overwhelming defeat. His infantry was wiped out; only the commander and some of his cavalry escaped. Catus Decianus fled to Gaul.
When news of the rebellion reached him, Suetonius hurried along Watling Street through hostile territory to Londinium (London). Londinium was a relatively new town, founded after the conquest of 43 AD, but it had grown to be a thriving commercial centre with a population of travellers, traders, and probably, Roman officials. Suetonius considered giving battle there, but considering his lack of numbers and chastened by Petillius's defeat, decided to sacrifice the city to save the province. Londinium was abandoned to the rebels, who burnt it down, slaughtering anyone who had not evacuated with Suetonius. Archaeology shows a thick red layer of burnt debris covering coins and pottery dating before 60 AD within the bounds of the Roman city.[13] Verulamium (St Albans) was next to be destroyed.
In the three cities destroyed, between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed. Tacitus says the Britons had no interest in taking or selling prisoners, only in slaughter by gibbet, fire, or cross. Dio's account gives more prurient detail: 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.
[edit] Romans rally
Statue by Thomas Thornycroft, standing near Westminster Pier, LondonSee also: Battle of Watling Street
Suetonius regrouped with the XIV Gemina, some vexillationes (detachments) of the XX Valeria Victrix, and any available auxiliaries. The prefect of Legio II Augusta, Poenius Postumus, ignored the call, but nonetheless the governor was able to call on almost ten thousand men. He took a stand at an unidentified location, probably in the West Midlands somewhere along the Roman road now known as Watling Street, in a defile with a wood behind him. But his men were heavily outnumbered. Dio says that, even if they were lined up one deep, they would not have extended the length of Boudica's line: by now the rebel forces numbered 230,000. However, this number should be treated with scepticism: Dio's account is known only from a late epitome, and ancient sources commonly exaggerate enemy numbers.
Boudica exhorted her troops from her chariot, her daughters beside her. Tacitus gives her a short speech in which she presents herself not as an aristocrat avenging her lost wealth, but as an ordinary person, avenging her lost freedom, her battered body, and the abused chastity of her daughters. Their cause was just, and the deities were on their side; the one legion that had dared to face them had been destroyed. She, a woman, was resolved to win or die; if the men wanted to live in slavery, that was their choice.
However, the lack of manoeuvrability of the British forces, combined with lack of open-field tactics to command these numbers, put them at a disadvantage to the Romans, who were skilled at open combat due to their superior equipment and discipline, and the narrowness of the field meant that Boudica could put forth only as many troops as the Romans could at a given time.
First, the Romans stood their ground and used volleys of pila (heavy javelins) to kill thousands of Britons who were rushing toward the Roman lines. The Roman soldiers, who had now used up their pila, were then able to engage Boudica's second wave in the open. As the Romans advanced in a wedge formation, the Britons attempted to flee, but were impeded by the presence of their own families, whom they had stationed in a ring of wagons at the edge of the battlefield, and were slaughtered. This is not the first instance of this tactic. The women of the Cimbri, in the Battle of Vercellae against Gaius Marius, were stationed in a line of wagons and acted as a last line of defence;[14] Ariovistus of the Suebi is reported to have done the same thing in his battle against Julius Caesar.[15] Tacitus reports that "according to one report almost eighty thousand Britons fell" compared with only four hundred Romans. According to Tacitus, Boudica poisoned herself; Dio says she fell sick and died, and was given a lavish burial.
Postumus, on hearing of the Roman victory, fell on his sword. Catus Decianus, who had fled to Gaul, was replaced by Gaius Julius Alpinus Classicianus. Suetonius conducted punitive operations, but criticism by Classicianus led to an investigation headed by Nero's freedman Polyclitus. Fearing Suetonius' actions would provoke further rebellion, Nero replaced the governor with the more conciliatory Publius Petronius Turpilianus.[16] The historian Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus tells us the crisis had almost persuaded Nero to abandon Britain.[17]
[edit] Location of her defeat
The location of Boudica's defeat is unknown. Most historians favour a site in the West Midlands, somewhere along the Roman road now known as Watling Street. Kevin K. Carroll suggests a site close to High Cross in Leicestershire, on the junction of Watling Street and the Fosse Way, which would have allowed the Legio II Augusta, based at Exeter, to rendezvous with the rest of Suetonius's forces, had they not failed to do so.[18] Manduessedum (Mancetter), near the modern town of Atherstone in Warwickshire, has also been suggested,[19] as has 'The Rampart' near Messing in Essex, according to legend.[20]. More recently, a discovery of Roman artifacts in Kings Norton close to Metchley Camp has suggested another possibility.[21]
[edit] Historical sources
Tacitus, the most important Roman historian of this period, took a particular interest in Britain as Gnaeus Julius Agricola, his father-in-law and the subject of his first book, served there three times. Agricola was a military tribune under Suetonius Paulinus, which almost certainly gave Tacitus an eyewitness source for Boudica's revolt. Cassius Dio's account is only known from an epitome, and his sources are uncertain. He is generally agreed to have based his account on that of Tacitus, but he simplifies the sequence of events and adds details, such as the calling in of loans, that Tacitus does not mention.
Gildas, in his 6th century De Excidio Britanniae, may have been alluding to Boudica when he wrote "A treacherous lioness butchered the governors who had been left to give fuller voice and strength to the endeavours of Roman rule."[22]
References
^ Davies, John (1993). A History of Wales. London: Penguin. pp. 28. ISBN 0-14-01-4581-8.
^ Tac. Ann. 14.33
^ Tacitus, Agricola 14-16; Annals 14:29-39
^ Cassius Dio, Roman History .html#1 62:1-12
^ Graham Webster, Boudica: The British Revolt against Rome AD 60, 1978; Guy de la Bédoyère, The Roman Army in Britain, retrieved 5 July, 2005
^ Kenneth Jackson, "Queen Boudicca?", Britannia 10, 1979
^ Boudicca. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Boudicca (accessed: December 20, 2007).
^ Tacitus, Annals 12:31-32
^ H. H. Scullard, From the Gracchi to Nero, 1982, p. 90
^ John Morris, Londinium: London in the Roman Empire, 1982, pp. 107-108
^ Tacitus, Agricola 15
^ Jason Burke, "Dig uncovers Boudicca's brutal streak", The Observer, 3 December 2000
^ George Patrick Welch, Britannia: The Roman Conquest & Occupation of Britain, 1963, p. 107
^ Florus, Epitome of Roman History 1.38
^ Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 1.51
^ Tacitus, Annals XIV.39
^ Suetonius, Nero .html#18 18, 39-40
^ Kevin K. Carroll, "The Date of Boudicca's Revolt", Britannia 10, 1979
^ Sheppard Frere, Britannia: A History of Roman Britain, 1987, p. 73
^ Messing-cum-Inworth Community Website: Messing Village
^ Is Boudicca buried in Birmingham?, BBC, 25 May 2006, retrieved 9 September 2006
^ Hingley, Richard; Christina Unwin, Boudica: Iron Age Warrior Queen # Hambledon Continuum; New Ed edition (15 Jun 2006) ISBN: 978-1852855161 p.61 [1]
^ Polydore Vergil's English History Book 2 (pp. 69-72).
^ Raphael Holinshed, Chronicles: History of England 4.9-13
^ Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Bonduca
^ William Cowper, Boadicea, an ode
^ Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Boadicea
^ Corinne Field (30 April 2006). "Battlefield Britain - Boudicca's revolt against the Romans". Culture24. http://www.culture24.org.uk/history+%2526+heritage/war+%2526+conflict/pre%252d20th+century+conflict/tra22669. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
^ Graham Webster, Boudica: The British Revolt against Rome AD 60, 1978
^ Boadicea (1928)
^ Boudica (2003)
^ Boudicca (2010) at IMDb
^ Boudicca at The Gargoyles Encyclopedia.
^ Dan Asfar, Haunted Highways: Ghost Stories and Strange Tales, 2003
^ Queen Boadicea ( - 61) - Find A Grave Memorial
^ Bob Trubshaw, "Boudica - the case for Atherstone and Kings Cross" from At the Edge
^ "A Boudicca question", discussion on the Time Team forum at Channel 4
^ Copeland CS, Brindley PJ, Heyers O, Michael SF, Johnston DA, Williams DL, Ivens AC, Kalinna BH, "Boudica, a retrovirus-like long terminal repeat retrotransposon from the genome of the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni". Journal of Virology 2003 Jun;77(11):6153-66; Copeland CS, Heyers O, Kalinna BH, Bachmair A, Stadler PF, Hofacker IL, Brindley PJ, "Structural and evolutionary analysis of the transcribed sequence of Boudicca, a Schistosoma mansoni retrotransposon". Gene 2004;329:103-114.
^ [2]