Roman Britain - Boudicca

1. Boudicca was married to Prasutagus and ruled Iceni with him

2. It was said that Boudicca was, "Huge of frame, terrifying of aspect, with a harsh voice".

3. The Iceni tribe occupied East Anglia and had been allowed by the Romans to keep their land and govern themselves.

4. When Prasutagus died the Romans tried to take all Boudicca’s lands.

5. Boudicca and her daughters were beaten and humiliated in front of their people by the Romans.

6. Boudicca was furious about the way she had been treated

7. She decided to try and raise a huge army to fight against the Romans.

8. Suetonius Paulinus, the Roman Governor, was absent from the area fighting the Druids in Anglesey.

9. Boudicca was well-supported and soon her army numbered over 100,000 thousand people.

10. Boudicca was an effective and brutal commander and her warriors were fierce and intimidating.

11. Boudicca’s army marched on Camulodunum(Colchester) and looted, ransacked and torched the city, leaving 70,000 dead.

12. After her success at Colchester, Boudicca and her army marched south to Londinium (London).

13. Again they set fire to the city and butchered the people.

14. They then moved on to Verulamium (St Albans), where they did much the same.

15. Suetonius Paulinus returned to face Boudicca’s army, which had now swelled to 230,000.

16. With only 10,000 troops the Romans were outnumbered 20: 1, but they were disciplined and had superior weapons.

17. The Celts’ main weapon was the chariot.

18. The Celts were a disorganised rabble and this was to be their undoing.

19. Suetonius Paulinus placed his soldiers on high ground so the Celts had to attack uphill.

20. The disciplined Roman line held firm and pushed the leading Celts back against their own people coming up behind.

21. The Celts were defeated in one of the bloodiest massacre seen on British soil.

22. The Roman army lost 400 men, 80,000 Celts were killed - according to Roman reports.

23. Faced with defeat, Boudicca took her own life by drinking poison.