What was going on: As Tacitus tells it: Boudica, queen of the Iceni, has led a revolt that burned three towns. Her huge army, so sure of winning that the Britons brought their wives in wagons to watch, now faces a Roman force of about ten thousand.
Why it matters:Rome's final victory over the revolt ended resistance to Roman rule in most of southern Britain, a period that lasted until AD 410.
With her daughters in her chariot, she went from tribe to tribe, saying Britons were used to going to war led by women.
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.
As Tacitus tells it. Tacitus, Annals 14.35, translated by A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb (1876)B
What was going on: 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.
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.
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.
As Tacitus tells it. Tacitus, Annals 14.35, translated by A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb (1876)B
What was going on: Britain, 60 or 61 CE, before a battle with the Romans. As Tacitus tells it, Boudica rides in a chariot with her daughters from tribe to tribe, speaking of her flogging and the abuse of her daughters. The huge British army has brought wives to watch from wagons.
Why it matters:Rome's final victory over the revolt ended resistance to Roman rule in most of southern Britain, a period that lasted until AD 410.
The gods are with a just revenge. One legion that dared fight us is dead. The rest are hiding in camp or thinking about running.
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.
As Tacitus tells it. Tacitus, Annals 14.35, translated by A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb (1876)B
What was going on: Britain, 60 or 61 CE. After Romans flogged Boudica and abused her daughters, she led a revolt that burned three towns. As Tacitus tells it, before the battle she drove with her daughters in a chariot from tribe to tribe.
Why it matters:Rome's final victory over the revolt ended resistance to Roman rule in most of southern Britain, a period that lasted until AD 410.
Think it through and you will see: in this battle we win or die. That is what a woman has decided. Men can live as slaves if they like.
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. This is a woman's resolve; as for men, they may live and be slaves.
As Tacitus tells it. Tacitus, Annals 14.35, translated by A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb (1876)
No portrait here: we have not found one whose identification and licence we can confirm.
