For those who
don’t know who was, she was one of the bravest women in the history of the
world, she is known as the mother of the Britons.
She lived and the events occurred in about 60 of the common era. These events caused a
wife and mother to absolutely lose it.
Boudicca was the queen of the icini
tribe of Celts, which inhabited an area of Southern Britain. These event were
heinous, her husband in an effort to make it easier tribe to survive the roman
occupation of THEIR land, they became supporters of the roman occupation. There was
one thing he did not know at the time, the Celts absolutely believed in the
rights of women, to not only have political power but an opinion as well. This is
one of the things that differed so drastically in the ancient world, which was
so foreign to any male dominated society, and they call us barbarians, ha!
When Boudicca’s
husband Prasutagus suddenly and mysteriously died he left his kingdom to his
two daughters and the roman emperor Nero, however he did not know that roman
law did not allow royal inheritance to be pass to daughters and co-rulership of
a kingdom with a woman was unacceptable based on the Roman standard of succession.
The family of
the king was enslaved, Boudicca was publicly flogged and her daughters were tortured
and raped in the village square, they were about 12 and 13 years old at the time.
What they,
the Romans did not count on is her people, the Icini, the Celts did however
believed in the absolute right of a woman to succeed her king and lead, oops their
mistake!
The reality
of Roman rule propelled neighboring tribes, among them were the Trinovantes, to
join Boudicca in her rebellion against Rome, her force of guerilla warriors was
said to have been 100,000 strong, against Roman forces.
They began by
storming, sacking and razing the Roman cities of Camulodunum and Colchester, then proceeding to the
growing trade center of Londinium (modern day London), and ending in a final catastrophic
battle.
The overconfidence of the Romans may have caused their negligence,
again, never, ever underestimate a really pissed off red headed broad!
The Roman preconceived
notions of the “barbarians” were completely ill advised, and the Romans were ill
equipped to deal with small bands of warriors slipping quietly through the
thick forests.
The Celts excelled in small-scale guerilla warfare while the
slow-moving Roman units were at an obvious disadvantage in the forest. These
raiding parties included men, women, and children, "tattooed" in the style of
the Picts, the early inhabitants of Scotland, they were mostly naked and their
bodies were painted with terrifying blue tats.
After changing
their tactics they stopped underestimating a lowly woman and the Romans succeeded
in crushing the rebellion, but not before losing a third of their men and the
sacking of three of the major trade cities in Briton.
Never,
ever, underestimate the anger of a an angry red headed woman.
Now we fight
with the preverbal pen rather than with a sword, but the word cuts, slash's and hacks just as deeply and leaves just deep a wound as any sword.
"She was
huge of frame, terrifying of aspect, and with a harsh voice. A great mass of
bright red hair fell to her knees. She wore a great twisted golden necklace and a tunic of many colors, over which was a thick mantle, fastened by a
brooch. Now she grasped a spear, to strike fear into all who watched
her...…"
Lucius Cassius Dio
150 - 235 CE
