Queen Boadicea

 

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Who was Boudicca? British local leader who raised a rebellion against the Romans.

Date and Place of Birth: Unknown.

Family Background: Boadicea (pronounced Boudicca) was Wife of Prasutagus, King of the Iceni, an ally of Rome. The Iceni tribe hailed from Norfolk, Suffolk and part of Cambridgeshire.

Education: By members of the Iceni tribe.

Chronology:

AD60: Her Husband Prasutagus died leaving his fortune jointly to his daughters and the Roman Emperor Nero. The Romans then annexed and pillaged all the Iceni territory. Boudicca was flogged and her daughters raped.

The Iceni rebelled led by Boudicca and they destroyed Camulodunum (present day Colchester), the market town of Londinium (present day London) and Verulamium (present day St. Albans). They are also said by Tacitus to have destroyed the Ninth Roman Legion in battle killing up to 70,000 Romans and civilians.

The Roman governor of Britannicus, Suetonius Paulinus, who was away at the time of the attack in Mona (present day Anglesey) returned in haste, rallied his troops and overwhelmed the Iceni at a bloody battle slaughtering up to 80,000 tribesmen for the loss of only 400 Roman dead.

Marriage: To Prasutagus, King of the Iceni.

Places of Interest:

COLCHESTER:

Monument to Boudicca
Monument to Boudicca near Westminster Bridge,
Embankment, London
(© A Blagg)

LONDON:

British Museum

St. ALBANS:

Date and Place of Death: 60 AD, Fenny Stratford, England. Reputedly died of shock or took poison.

Age at Death: Unknown.

Site of Grave: Reputedly on the site under platform 12, Kings Cross Railway Station, London, England.