Rebellion of Queen Boudica

Rebellion of Queen Boudica

Prasutagus, client king of the Iceni after the Roman invasion of

Britain, realised that his province was in danger when he died, so he

decided to write up a will, in which he said that the Emperor Nero

would receive half, while the other half went to his two daughters

(Under British law, if the king had no male heir, he could leave his

estate to his daughters, but not in Roman law). The Iceni tribe was

ransacked, with even the highest men being treated as slaves. Boudica

herself was flogged while her daughters were raped; this was the last

straw for the majority of Britons.

When Britain was invaded by the Emperor Claudius, it was decided that

to prevent upheaval, some tribes would be allowed to keep there kings,

which would make the tribes think they had control of themselves,

while infact it was the Romans who controlled them by using the king

like a marionette. However when these “client kings” died, the tribes

land and riches would be seized. Prasutagus, suspecting this, decided

to leave a will so that his daughters, wife and tribe would be safe,

in it, he left to the emperor of Rome.

When he did die in AD 60, Nero (the new Roman Emperor) decided that

half was not good enough, and that all the assets must be seized, so

it was taken, however iceni resistance was fierce, but, ultimately in

vein, to make an example, Boudica, the wife of Prasutagus was flogged,

while her daughters were raped. This more than anything led to the

rebellion, which brought Roman control in Britain to its knees.

But it would be wrong to say that this was the only cause of the

rebellion, events that predated this also ca...

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fate of her daughters is not known. Whether they died with Boudica or

were killed by the Romans, or escaped is unclear. All we do know is

that they disappeared from the scene, never to return.

If Boudica had survived and been captured, Suetonius would have taken

her to Rome and displayed her in a triumphal parade in Rome, and

subjected to absolute horrors of public torture before having her

executed in the amphitheatre.

Cassius Dio wrote that the British buried Boudica in an expensive

manner appropriate for a Celtic monarch, and halied her as a hero.

Tacitus says nothing of her burial. There is a story that she was

buried at Stonehenge and its legendary circle of stones were set up by

the Druids to mark her tomb. However, there is not solid foundation

for this and isthe story is largely taken to be a fable.