March is International Women’s History Month, a month where we honor accomplishments of allwomen, from their successes in passing crucial civil rights and women’s rights legislation to their achievements and influence as scientists and artists. However, we don’t spend a lot of time in the modernworld thinking about the women of the ancient world: women like Sappho, Agrippina the Younger, and Boudica. In this article, I will be recounting the story of Boudica, my personal favorite.
After King Prasutagus died in either 60 or 61 AD, he left his two daughters and Emperor Nero as his heirs. Rome, ignoring King Prasutagus’s will, sent Catus Decianus to secure the Iceni to be part of the Roman empire. Romans pillaged the countryside and plundered the King’s family, treating Boudica, King Prasutagus’s wife, and her daughters brutally. In Cassius Dio’s account, he states that a rebellion arose from the fact that loans given to the Iceni were recalled and Boudica’s own will. Boudica, fueled by the desire for justice and freedom from the Romans, began her rebellion.
Boudica assembled an army of 120,000 men to march upon Camulodunum, a Roman settlement for retired soldiers, a city where local people had been displaced, causing resentment towards the Romans. Boudica led her men to a victory in Camulodunum as the Roman troops were unable to provide proper assistance; all of the inhabitants were killed in the Temple of Claudius. Quintus Petillius Cerialis also attempted to help the Romans of Camulodunum, but was quickly defeated. Catus Decianus fled after hearing of the rebellion, fearful of the Iceni.
Suetonius was also in Britain. Upon hearing of the Iceni rebellion, he left Mona in order to defeat Boudica. Outnumbered by Boudica’s army, he left Londinium to be abandoned and plundered by Boudica’s army. In fact, Boudica had no interest in leaving Romans as prisoners and killed all who remained. Later, Suetonius regrouped his soldiers and faced Boudica; his army, heavily outnumbered by Boudica's, used the terrain and their superior military strategy to their advantage, crushing the Iceni. Boudica either poisoned herself or died due to some sort of sickness.
Even though Boudica’s story ends in defeat, her legacy lives on. During the English Renaissance, her story was revived and she later became a cultural icon in Victorian Era Britain for her being a symbol of liberty and justice. Boudica remains a heroine in the modern day and certainly should be celebrated during Women’s History Month.