HomeNewsArticle Display

Boudica - warrior queen of the Iceni

By Suzanne Harper , 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs / Published April 29, 2009

The bronze statue depicting Boudica , Warrior Queen of the Iceni - mistakenly labeled as 'Boadicea' - was erected in 1902 in London, near Westminster Bridge, on the north bank of the River Thames in the shadow of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Interest in Boudica was limited until the 19th century, when it was sparked by the fact that 'Boudica' is the Celtic word for 'victory' - so the Iceni ruler was the very first Queen Victoria. ( Photo by Senior Airman Nick McNaughton)
PHOTO DETAILS  /   DOWNLOAD HI-RES 1 of 1

The bronze statue depicting Boudica , Warrior Queen of the Iceni - mistakenly labeled as 'Boadicea' - was erected in 1902 in London, near Westminster Bridge, on the north bank of the River Thames in the shadow of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Interest in Boudica was limited until the 19th century, when it was sparked by the fact that 'Boudica' is the Celtic word for 'victory' - so the Iceni ruler was the very first Queen Victoria. ( Photo by Senior Airman Nick McNaughton)

PRINT | E-MAIL
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England -- I think there are very few visitors to the U.K.who are not  familiar with our monarch, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned through more than five decades. Many will also know of her pedecessor, Queen Victoria.

However, few have ever heard of  Queen Boudica, one of our earliest heroines, and her story is firmly rooted in this region.

Today it can be hard to imagine how it must have felt to be a Briton trying to survive under the rule of the Roman Empire in the first century A.D.

Boudica was born about 30 A.D and was married to King Prasutagus of the Iceni tribe in 48-49 A.D., bearing him two children, both girls. At this time, Britain was a tribal nation. The Iceni were a Celtic tribe located in modern-day Norfolk, north Suffolk and part of Cambridgeshire. Prasutagus was pragmatic in his dealings with the Romans, quelling rebellion and, while he was alive, the Romans more or less left the Iceni alone.

Then, in 60 A.D., he died. Prasutagus had tried to guard against this day by drawing up a will in which he left his kingdom jointly to his two daughters and to the Roman emperor, Nero. At the least, he thought, this would give his widow Boudica and their children half his property.

Unfortunately, the Romans decided to interpret the will very much in their own favour. Direct rule was now more to the Romans' taste. On the Emperor Nero's orders, the imperial procurator seized all of Prasutagus's estate and declared that any resistance would be treated as an act of rebellion. When Boudica took the matter to a higher Roman authority, she was, according to the Roman historian Tacitus, publicly stripped and flogged and her daughters raped.

Even the humiliated Boudica must have cut a striking figure. According to another Roman historian, Cassius Dio, writing 150 years later: 'She was very tall and her aspect was terrifying, for her eyes flashed fiercely and her voice was harsh. A mass of red hair fell down to her hips, and around her neck was a twisted gold necklace.'

The treatment meted out to Boudica and her daughters - and to their people, many of whom were evicted and made slaves - turned the Iceni into rebels. They attracted support from other tribes and reignited widespread British discontent with Roman rule. It is said that Boudica and her daughters drove round in her chariot to all her tribes before battle, exhorting them to be brave. She cried that she was descended from mighty men, but she was fighting as an ordinary person for her lost freedom, her bruised body and outraged daughters. Perhaps as taunt to the men in her ranks, it is said that she asked them to consider: 'Win the battle or perish: that is what I, a woman will do; you men can live on in slavery if that's what you want.'

Setting out from the Iceni centre at Thetford in Norfolk in 61 A.D., Boudica and her followers descended on the then capital of Roman Britain at Camulodunum - modern-day Colchester - which they burned to the ground. Then they marched on to Londinium (London), which they sacked and razed. Finally, they turned north to Verulamium (present-day St Albans, Hertfordshire), on which they inflicted great damage. According to Tacitus, a total of about 70,000 Romans were killed, including part of the 9th Legion.

For a while, the rebellion continued, but eventually the Iceni's luck ran out; they were slaughtered. It is said that Boudica poisoned herself rather than be taken alive by the Romans. The sites of the final battle, and of Boudica's death, are unknown.


For a flavour of what it must have been like to live in those times, it would be worthwhile visiting the Iceni Village, which now also includes a nature reserve and museums, at Cockley Cley near Swaffham, Norfolk. It's only about a half hour's drive from RAF Lakenheath.