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Day 5 - Boudicca
Boudicca
Boudicca was the wife of Prasutagus, the ruler of the Iceni people around the time the Romans conquered southern England in 43 A.D. The Romans allowed him to continue to rule after their conquest and when he died sometime around 60 A.D., half of his lands were supposed to be held by the Celts and half by Rome but the Romans reneged on their agreement.
The Romans plundered their lands and wealth, Boudicca was flogged by the Romans and her daughters raped. She became enraged and led a revolt. They destroyed several cities, sacking and burning them and killing thousands, including sacking Londinium. Casualties were said be more 80,000 dead. She and her allies numbered over 100,000 thousand troops. The Romans retreated, regrouped and eventually defeated her and her rebels. Boudicca is said to have committed suicide rather than be taken by the Romans.
The Roman historian, Cassius Dio, said of her: "...a terrible disaster occurred in Britain. Two cities were sacked, eighty thousand of the Romans and of their allies perished, and the island was lost to Rome. Moreover, all this ruin was brought upon the Romans by a woman, a fact which in itself caused them the greatest shame....But the person who was chiefly instrumental in rousing the natives and persuading them to fight the Romans, the person who was thought worthy to be their leader and who directed the conduct of the entire war, was Buduica, a Briton woman of the royal family and possessed of greater intelligence than often belongs to women....In stature she was very tall, 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; and she wore a tunic of divers colours over which a thick mantle was fastened with a brooch. This was her invariable attire."
This was one kickass woman!
Thanks to Keiliss for mentioning this poem about her.
Boadicea: An Ode
William Cowper (1731–1800)
WHEN the British warrior queen,
Bleeding from the Roman rods,
Sought, with an indignant mien,
Counsel of her country’s gods,
Sage beneath a spreading oak 5
Sat the Druid, hoary chief;
Every burning word he spoke
Full of rage, and full of grief.
‘Princess! if our aged eyes
Weep upon thy matchless wrongs, 10
’Tis because resentment ties
All the terrors of our tongues.
‘Rome shall perish—write that word
In the blood that she has spilt;
Perish, hopeless and abhorred, 15
Deep in ruin as in guilt.
‘Rome, for empire far renowned,
Tramples on a thousand states;
Soon her pride shall kiss the ground—
Hark! the Gaul is at her gates! 20
‘Other Romans shall arise,
Heedless of a soldier’s name;
Sounds, not arms, shall win the prize—
Harmony the path to fame.
‘Then the progeny that springs 25
From the forests of our land,
Armed with thunder, clad with wings,
Shall a wider world command.
‘Regions Cæsar never knew
Thy posterity shall sway, 30
Where his eagles never flew,
None invincible as they.’
Such the bard’s prophetic words,
Pregnant with celestial fire,
Bending, as he swept the chords 35
Of his sweet but awful lyre.
She, with all a monarch’s pride,
Felt them in her bosom glow;
Rushed to battle, fought, and died;
Dying, hurled them at the foe. 40
‘Ruffians, pitiless as proud,
Heaven awards the vengeance due:
Empire is on us bestowed,
Shame and ruin wait for you.’
Read about here here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudica
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/britannia/boudica/boudicanrevolt.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/boudicca.shtml
Several books and movies feature her and she was even on one episode of Xena, Warrior Princess.
Boudicca as one artist imagined her:
Boadicea Haranguing the Britons by H.C Selous:
Boudicca was the wife of Prasutagus, the ruler of the Iceni people around the time the Romans conquered southern England in 43 A.D. The Romans allowed him to continue to rule after their conquest and when he died sometime around 60 A.D., half of his lands were supposed to be held by the Celts and half by Rome but the Romans reneged on their agreement.
The Romans plundered their lands and wealth, Boudicca was flogged by the Romans and her daughters raped. She became enraged and led a revolt. They destroyed several cities, sacking and burning them and killing thousands, including sacking Londinium. Casualties were said be more 80,000 dead. She and her allies numbered over 100,000 thousand troops. The Romans retreated, regrouped and eventually defeated her and her rebels. Boudicca is said to have committed suicide rather than be taken by the Romans.
The Roman historian, Cassius Dio, said of her: "...a terrible disaster occurred in Britain. Two cities were sacked, eighty thousand of the Romans and of their allies perished, and the island was lost to Rome. Moreover, all this ruin was brought upon the Romans by a woman, a fact which in itself caused them the greatest shame....But the person who was chiefly instrumental in rousing the natives and persuading them to fight the Romans, the person who was thought worthy to be their leader and who directed the conduct of the entire war, was Buduica, a Briton woman of the royal family and possessed of greater intelligence than often belongs to women....In stature she was very tall, 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; and she wore a tunic of divers colours over which a thick mantle was fastened with a brooch. This was her invariable attire."
This was one kickass woman!
Thanks to Keiliss for mentioning this poem about her.
Boadicea: An Ode
William Cowper (1731–1800)
WHEN the British warrior queen,
Bleeding from the Roman rods,
Sought, with an indignant mien,
Counsel of her country’s gods,
Sage beneath a spreading oak 5
Sat the Druid, hoary chief;
Every burning word he spoke
Full of rage, and full of grief.
‘Princess! if our aged eyes
Weep upon thy matchless wrongs, 10
’Tis because resentment ties
All the terrors of our tongues.
‘Rome shall perish—write that word
In the blood that she has spilt;
Perish, hopeless and abhorred, 15
Deep in ruin as in guilt.
‘Rome, for empire far renowned,
Tramples on a thousand states;
Soon her pride shall kiss the ground—
Hark! the Gaul is at her gates! 20
‘Other Romans shall arise,
Heedless of a soldier’s name;
Sounds, not arms, shall win the prize—
Harmony the path to fame.
‘Then the progeny that springs 25
From the forests of our land,
Armed with thunder, clad with wings,
Shall a wider world command.
‘Regions Cæsar never knew
Thy posterity shall sway, 30
Where his eagles never flew,
None invincible as they.’
Such the bard’s prophetic words,
Pregnant with celestial fire,
Bending, as he swept the chords 35
Of his sweet but awful lyre.
She, with all a monarch’s pride,
Felt them in her bosom glow;
Rushed to battle, fought, and died;
Dying, hurled them at the foe. 40
‘Ruffians, pitiless as proud,
Heaven awards the vengeance due:
Empire is on us bestowed,
Shame and ruin wait for you.’
Read about here here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudica
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/britannia/boudica/boudicanrevolt.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/boudicca.shtml
Several books and movies feature her and she was even on one episode of Xena, Warrior Princess.
Boudicca as one artist imagined her:
Boadicea Haranguing the Britons by H.C Selous:
