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Boudica on avenging lost freedom, per Tacitus

set in c. 60/61 CE, Britain. As Tacitus tells it.

Where and when

set in c. 60/61 CEBritain

about 1,965.5 years ago

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Boudica

, BritainAs Tacitus tells it

In plain words, ours

I am not fighting as a noblewoman but as one of the people, for our lost freedom, my whipped body, and the violated honour of my daughters.

…it is not as a woman descended from noble ancestry, but as one of the people that I am avenging lost freedom, my scourged body, the outraged chastity of my daughters.

Tacitus, Annals 14.35Translated by A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb (1876)Read the full passage (Tacitus, Annals 14.35, opens scaife.perseus.org)

What was going on, our summary

Britain, 60 or 61 CE. As Tacitus tells it, a vast British army, wives watching from wagons, faces the Roman legions, and Boudica rides with her daughters in a chariot from tribe to tribe to rouse them.

Checked claim by claim against: the passage around the quote.

Why it matters

Boudica's battle speeches in Tacitus and Dio are thought never to have been recorded in her life, but these imagined speeches helped create an image of patriotism that turned her into a legendary figure.

Based on Wikipedia: Boudica

Both Tacitus and Dio give an account of battle-speeches given by Boudica, though it is thought that her words were never recorded during her life.

Although imaginary, these speeches, designed to provide a comparison for readers of the antagonists' demands and approaches to war, and to portray the Romans as morally superior to their enemy, helped create an image of patriotism that turned Boudica into a legendary figure.

Wikipedia, Boudica (opens en.wikipedia.org), as of 2026-10-03. Text CC BY-SA 4.0. Our line is checked against these sentences only.

Related moments

In time order, with this one in its place. Each says why it is here.

  1. 43 CEabout 17.5 years earlier Claudius invades Britain Also in Britain
  2. c. 60–61 CEDuring it Boudica leads a British revolt against Rome Also in Britain
  3. set in c. 60/61 CEThis momentBoudica on avenging lost freedom, per Tacitus
  4. set in c. 60/61 CEDuring it Boudica's call to conquer or die, per Tacitus More from Boudica
  5. set in c. 60/61 CEDuring it Boudica's speech before battle, in Tacitus Same passageMore from Boudica
  6. set in c. 60/61 CEDuring it Boudica rallies the tribes, as Tacitus tells it Same passageMore from Boudica
  7. 62 CEabout 1.5 years later Nero answers Seneca, as Tacitus tells it Same years
  8. 62 CEabout 1.5 years later Seneca offers Nero his wealth, per Tacitus Same years
  9. 64 CEabout 3.5 years later The Great Fire burns much of Rome Same years
  10. 65 CEabout 4.5 years later Nero orders his old tutor Seneca to die Same years
  11. 122 CEabout 61.5 years later Hadrian's Wall is begun across northern Britain Also in Britain

Just before and after

The text around the quote, word for word from the same translation.

Show the passageHide the passage

He chose a position approached by a narrow defile, closed in at the rear by a forest, having first ascertained that there was not a soldier of the enemy except in his front, where an open plain extended without any danger from ambuscades. His legions were in close array; round them, the light-armed troops, and the cavalry in dense array on the wings. On the other side, the army of the Britons, with its masses of infantry and cavalry, was confidently exulting, a vaster host than ever had assembled, and so fierce in spirit that they actually brought with them, to witness the victory, their wives riding in waggons, which they had placed on the extreme border of the plain. Boudicea, with her daughters before her in a chariot, went up to tribe after tribe, protesting that it was indeed usual for Britons to fight under the leadership of women. "But now," she said, "

The quote: it is not as a woman descended from noble ancestry, but as one of the people that I am avenging lost freedom, my scourged body, the outraged chastity of my daughters.

Roman lust has gone so far that not our very persons, nor even age or virginity, are left unpolluted. But heaven is on the side of a righteous vengeance; a legion which dared to fight has perished; the rest are hiding themselves in their camp, or are thinking anxiously of flight. They will not sustain even the din and the shout of so many thousands, much less our charge and our blows. If you weigh well the strength of the armies, and the causes of the war, you will see that in this battle you must conquer or die.

Tacitus, Annals 14.34–35Translated by A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb (1876)Read the full passage (opens scaife.perseus.org)

When, and whose words

Date
set in c. 60/61 CE. Set before the battle that ended the British revolt, which ancient sources date to 60 or 61 CE.
Whose words
As Tacitus tells it.
How this post was checked
  • The plain-words line was read against the quote alone by a second, independent pass, which found it adds no claim the quote does not make (2026-10-03).
  • Each claim in the summary was checked by an independent pass against only the material it cites.
  • The quote itself is checked by the build: word for word, once, at the cited section of the stored translation.

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