XI Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2019

Boudicca, legendary warrior queen of the Celtic Iceni tribe, is noted in history for decimating a number of Roman settlements while leading an uprising of Celtic tribes against the might of the Roman army occupying England in the 1st century AD. Although historical records from this period are limited, mainly relying on the reports of Roman historians Tacitus and Cassius Dio, the story of Boudicca's uprising is generally accepted to have gone something like this:

Boudicca's husband, King Prasutagus of Iceni, had long been an ally to the Romans and maintained a sovereign rule over his people during the Roman conquest of Britain. Upon his death, he is said to have named Boudicca and their two daughters as joint-heirs, in the hopes of maintaining the rights and nobility of his family line. With little regard for their old friends, the Romans swiftly moved to annex the Iceni territory, and it can be said with certainty that the Romans' brutality in the matter was unwavering. Boudicca was publicly flogged.

The outrage spurred by the Romans' disrespect and brutishness towards the Iceni led Boudicca and her people to organize a rebellion with the assistance of neighboring tribes, particularly the Trinovantes. Boudicca gathered a huge force, estimated at 70,000 or more, and marched to the Roman colony of Camulodunum. The Romans, unprepared for such a vast assault, were caught off guard and found no mercy at the hands of the rebellion. The city of Camulodunum was besieged and destroyed, and the rebel army proceeded next to the city of Londinium, destroying everything of value to the Romans in their wake. Verulamium was the 3rd and final city crushed during Boudicca's uprising, burned to the ground and it's Romans citizens massacred. In all, Boudicca's army is said to have killed over 80,000 Romans and pro-Roman Britons.

Meeting at an unknown site in the English Midlands in 61 AD, the Roman Army and its collected legions finally faced the rebellious tribal force head-on. Unfortunately for Boudicca, the Romans' extensive training and tactics would be the undoing of the uprising. Women and children, accompanying the rebel supply wagons, are said to have come to observe the battle and provide support. The presence of these observers on the field, however, would leave the rebels with little room to maneuver. The uprising was crushed, and some 70,000 to 80,000 rebels were killed in the ensuing battle and its aftermath. It is believed (although no means of confirmation exists) that Boudicca died by her own hand sometime shortly after the battle, the most common theory being that she consumed poison to avoid capture.