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Boudiccas Legacy and Life
Boudiccas Legacy and Life
Boudicca
6 February 2019
Writing E06 / Cultural Studies S02
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Boudicca, a strong woman, full of patriotic pride, is sadly overlooked or forgotten.
Over the years she learned many skills and became known as the warrior queen. With a rough
childhood and a partly victorious life. Fighting for her people’s freedom, Boudicca was a
strong queen and warrior that deserved a glorious end.
Around A.D. 30 Boudicca was born in a family of four but was orphaned after her
parents died of smallpox. Her older sister took care of her until the royal family adopted
them, for what particular reason Boudicca and her sister were adopted by them is unknown.
Boudicca stayed with the royal family until she was fourteen. She was smart and brave and
she learned many warrior skills. Boudicca was described as powerful, strict, straightforward,
and serious. The Roman writer Cassius Dio described Boudicca as (qtd. Timmons):
“ Very tall. Her eyes seemed to stab you. Her voice was harsh and loud. Her
thick, reddishbrown hair flung down below her waist. She always wore a great
golden torc around her neck and a flowing tartan cloak fastened with a brooch .”
Boudicca was born into the Iceni tribe. The Iceni tribe was one of the 17 Celtic tribes.
The Iceni tribe was located where East Anglia is in the modern world. During Boudicca’s life,
there was a leader who was unknown, but at 17, Boudicca and the other Iceni welcomed
Prasutagus as their new leader.
During the time, Romans were trying to overthrow the Celtic tribes. All tribes except
for the Iceni tribe had to surrender to the Romans. Prasutagus was an ally to the Romans
because he treated them with care. All the Romans wanted was their gold, silver, and money,
so in order for Prasutagus to keep on ruling, he had to pay a sort of taxes.
In A.D. 43, when all of the Celtic tribes had to surrender to the Roman Emperor
Claudius, who conquered southern Britain, there were new rules. All people, including
women, were taught how to use weapons and fight. As a female, that was one of the times
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Boudicca had lessons for being a warrior other than her times with the royal family. As a
result, Boudicca was a great warrior, and most likely a great student too.
At age eighteen, Boudicca married Prasutagus, king of the Iceni tribe. When he died
in A.D. 60, his will was that half of his kingdom would go to his daughters, and a half to the
Roman Emperor Nero. His daughters were still young, so Boudicca assisted them. Boudicca
was against the Romans. She wanted her own freedom, not to be ruled by another country, so
she decided not to pay the taxes.
Romans saw this as a chance to get all of the kingdoms because Boudicca’s daughters
were weaker. Boudicca, being the warrior she was, became angry, especially after she and her
daughters got abused by the Romans due to not paying taxes. She decided to revolt with her
army against the Romans. Even though Boudicca was against the Romans, the Roman historian,
Cassius Dio , was impressed by her (qtd. In Boudica):
“The rousing of the Britons, the persuading of them to fight against
the Romans, the winning of the leadership and the command throughout the
war this was the work of Boudica, a woman of the British royal
family who had uncommon intelligence for a woman... When she had collected
an army about 120,000 strong, Boudicca mounted a rostrum... She was very tall
and grim... and her voice was harsh. She grew her long auburn hair to the hips.
Taking a spear too to add to her effect upon the entire audience.”
Publius Cornelius Tacitus (A.D. 56117) and Cassius Dio (A.D. 150235) were both
Roman historians and they were amazed by Boudicca’s work. Tacitus and Dio are the only
sources men have now that are most accurate because they lived closest to her time. They wrote
about her revolt and described how she looked. Although they had the same descriptions of her,
they both had a different point of view on things. Dio said that the revolt was because of the
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loans/taxes she had to pay. Tacitus however, claimed that it was her grief over her husband’s
death, spiraling her out of control.
By reason of the abusement of Boudicca and her daughters, three Ancient Roman cities
in England were left as ruins and with 80,000 Roman citizens dead. These three cities were
Camulodunum, Londinium, and Verulamium . During Boudicca’s march to these Roman cities,
more men, women, and children joined her army. When she reached the Roman Cities, she had
around 200,000 people in her army. The Romans had a little army compared to hers. The
Romans were still stronger because they had new armor and were skilled. On the other hand,
Boudicca had exhausted and hungry warr iors. The Governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus defeated
her with the last battle by his cunning battlefield choices and Boudicca’s exhausted fighters. The
Romans only lost a few hundred people, while her army lost many fighters.
Graham Webster said that Boudica's troops "lacked organization, discipline, and
equipment" and that the "best body protection a man could acquire was a leather jerkin,
heavily greased to turn a sword blade, with toughened strips or patches to the shoulders and
other vulnerable parts." Julius Caesar claimed in his book The Gallic War that they usually
went into battle naked." all the Britons dye their bodies with woad, which produces a blue
color and gives them a wild appearance in battle (qtd. Simkin). While the site of the battle is
unknown, it is referred to as The Battle of Watling Street and there are theories to the location
range, which is now at King's Cross, London to Church Stowe, Northamptonshire in the
modern world.
In spite of Boudicca having a life full of adventures and action, she died at 61. Today,
her death is still a mystery. There are a lot of theories about her death. Some people think that
she died of battle injuries. Some people think that she committed suicide with her daughters
by drinking poison to not be held hostage.
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However, before her death, Boudicca’s childhood was a big influence on her future
life. Being an orphan made her stronger and more independent. She knew how to take care of
herself. Boudicca also lost plenty of people throughout her life, this made dealing with death
a bit easier. The fact that Boudicca had to learn skills because the Romans wanted everybody
to, made her much stronger. It also gave Boudicca a better start to her warrior life and made
her very much appreciated and idolized.
Boudicca was greatly appreciated because men, women, and children adored and
listened to her. It didn’t matter that she was a woman because she was intelligent and knew
what she was doing. She was tall and had a harsh voice and glaring eyes. This made people
also conclude she was serious. She was also usually a head taller than men. Fortunately, this
great leader was taken into the royal family which gained her fame and let her learn battle
skills.
Boudicca is now a big influence on women. Not just to women, to everybody. She
shows that one can fight for what one wants, no matter what. Boudicca opened eyes to the
capabilities of female leaders. The newspaper The Sun described Boudicca as “inspiring” and
“a reason to be proud to be British”. Boudicca is now one of the great faces of England and
the English are proud of having a strong woman like her to be from their country. She’s a
symbol of patriotism and fighting for freedom. In fact, it is claimed that Boudicca told her
troops and yelled around from her chariot (qtd. In Statue of Boudica):
“I am not fighting for my kingdom and wealth. I am fighting as an
ordinary person for my lost freedom... Consider how many of you are fighting
and why. Then 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.” Tacitus, Annals (XIV.35)
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Boudicca deserves awards and recognition for fighting for her tribe and freedom. In
Britain, Boudicca is a school topic, due to her national resistance. Plenty of times Boudicca is
overlooked, just like other female leaders. Many people think Boudicca was just a queen or
only somebody that fought in the war, for herself. She was barely that, she was a warrior that
fought in a war for others’ freedom. Being a great mother, a strong warrior, and a fantastic
queen, Boudicca deserves more fame and attention. More people should learn about this
heroine.
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Works Cited
Johnson, Ben. “Roman England, the Roman in Britain 43 410 AD.” Historic UK,
www.historic uk.com/HistoryUK/ HistoryofEngland/TheRomansinEngland/. 13
Jan. 2019
LewisStempel, John. England: The Autobiography. Penguin Books, 2006, 24 Jan 2019
Mark, Joshua J. “Boudicca.” Ancient History Encyclopedia , Ancient History Encyclopedia, 2,
www.ancient.eu/Boudicca/, 4 Jan. 2019
N.A."Boudica (26/30–60 CE)." Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. n/d.
Encyclopedia.com. 31 Jan. 2019
N.A. “Boudicca: The Warrior Queen.” Youngzine , 7 Nov. 2013, youngzine.org/uwrite/
ureport/boud iccawarriorqueen. 24 Jan. 2019
N.A. “The Celtic Tribes.” English Monarchs , n/d, www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/celts_ 6.html.
26 Jan. 2019
N.A. “Influence.” Boudicca Unchained , Weebly, n/d, boudiccaunchained.weebly.com
/influence .html. 24 Jan. 2019
N.A. “Statue of Boudica.” Arch of Augustus , 0AD, penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/
encyclopaedia_romana/britannia/boudica/boudicastatue.html. 25 Jan. 2019
Nice, Alex. "Boudica" The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. 1 st ed., 2013, 1 Mar. 2019
Simkin, John. “Boudica's Revolt.” Spartacus Educational , Spartacus Educational, n/d,
spartacuseducational.com/ROMboudiccaB.htm. 5 Mar. 2019
Timmons, Greg. “Boudicca.” Biography.com , A&E Networks Television, 13 Mar. 2018,
www.biography.com/people/boudicca. 5 Mar. 2019
Webster, Gary S. Boudica: the British Revolt against Rome AD 60 . Batsford, 1993.
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