Boudicca & the Revolt

Anglo-Saxon culture consisted of receiving fame, glory, and wealth through acts of vengeance and courage. “Beowulf” portrays these parts in great detail and shows how destabilizing it can be. Through acts of vengeance, a never ending war occurs.

She took on a whole Roman Army of 10,000 men, Her army killed over 70, 000 civilians, in Londinium, Verulamium and Camulodunum ( Margaret Donsbach, 2004).Boudicca was a fierce and daring woman The death of Prasutagus Boudicca’s husband, lead to the uprising between a small Iceni tribe and a Roman army that lasted from 60AD — 61AD. She rebelled for her land, her people and her rights against Rome, that lead to her two daughters being raped by Roman soldiers. Boudica being publicly assaulted, city's destroyed, artifacts that to be found thousands of years later, and her legacy to be remembered forever.

Oliver Cromwell is – and has always been – one of the most controversial characters in British and Irish history. There are few people in Great Britain and Ireland today who have not yet heard of Oliver Cromwell and either loathe him or see him as a hero. Yet, the world is not black and white and so is the truth about Cromwell. In order to understand his role in both countries as a whole, one has to look at the perspective of both nations, Cromwell’s beliefs and his motives.

Interpretations of her final speech by Tacitus and Dio Cassius demonstrate her telling her people that it would be better to perish in battle than live under Roman rule as slaves. The Celts destroyed everything in their path, massacring the Roman army, plundering cities and murdering Roman families. According to accounts the Britons “could not wait to cut throats, hang, burn and crucify” (Tacitus, Annals, XIV), as well as “sack and plunder…and…wreak indescribable slaughter” (Dio Cassius, History of Rome, Vol. III). These accounts lead us to believe the actions of the Celts truly were barbarous. This view is enforced by the finding of the remains of a Roman family at Castle Hill, Nottinghamshire. Three skeletons – a Roman soldier, a British woman and their son – are believed to be victims of Boudicca’s revolt. The vertebrae in the man’s neck had been thrust up into his palate, his arms were pushed behind his back and his legs were doubled up underneath him. The woman’s skeleton showed evidence of lying on her back, but her head was turned face down, and the boy had been dismembered. This archaeological evidence seems to confirm that Boudicca and her followers were violent and murderous

Next, Galgacus claims that slavery is foreign, yet the Britons experience indirect slavery continuously because of their fear of conquest. Since Briton lies on the periphery of the Roman Empire—the centre—it is protected better from the contagion of slavery, as Galgacus describes the Roman Empire, but it also helps foster nationhood, which the Empire is devoid of, according to Tacitus. Already, through his word choice, Tactitus highlights his disdain, while also providing readers with a believable history. Galgacus continues by calling the Romans the “robbers of the world,” who are “rapacious” and insatiable as “neither the east nor the west has been able to satisfy them.” These words clearly provide an unfavourable depiction of the Romans, and this is precisely the point. Tacitus did not want to romanticize the Empire, but instead he wanted to expose the rulers as barbarians. Galgacus concludes this section by proclaiming the Empire to be bogus, built upon corrupt morals, lavish lifestyles, and tyranny.

Tacitus believes that Roman Imperialism has a variety of attributes that include prosperity, cruelty, and jealousy. Imperialism can be a two-edged sword, bringing peace and prosperity during one reign, and fear the next. Tacitus is a great source of the Roman imperialist results as he lived through emperor’s who were thought to be effective and others who were unsatisfactory to say the least. He favored the Trajanic regime that he was serving under while criticized Domitian’s reign undoubtedly. Overall, his opinion on imperial rule was mostly negative since it promoted the corruption of the ruler and the ruled, increased secrecy, paranoia, cruelty and moral downgrades in the emperors, and an increase in greed, hypocrisy, and cowardice in the subjects. While he talks positively of Agricola’s victories over the Britanni, he has mixed opinions on other Roman conquests. He describes his father-in-;aw’s positive effect on integrating conquered peoples into society. Meanwhile, other talks of Roman greed and lust combined with extreme contempt for barbarian culture fills the pages of Agricola. Tacitus includes an enumeration of possible barbarian complaints of Roman rule with a declamation by a renowned Britanni leader, Calagus, that both describe the expansion of Roman influence as destructive rather than the spread of peace.

Boudicca is a historical figure of undeniable significance, “one of those rare individuals from the past who have become folk heroes…” (Hingley, R & Unwin, C, 2005, 7). In Iron Age Britain, Boudicca was able to emerge as a Queen with unwavering passion, determination and the upmost of bravery in her rebellion against Roman rule. It therefore seems fitting to assess her significance and the impact she had in the years following her defeat and subsequent death in AD 60 or 61. However, today we have an ambiguous understanding of her actions, deficient in adequate archaeological evidence. Yet through drawing on the contemporary and secondary sources available, a well crafted

Romans here are portrayed as fearless warriors, being similar to the Spartans, and potentially also being a nodd to the city’s divine origins of Mars, the god of war. But aside from courage, livy also ascribes the Romans with the virtue of forgiveness and mercy. When the Etruscans are cut to pieces by neighboring cities, it is to Rome that they flee: “A handful of Etruscan soldiers, having nowhere nearer to go, found their way to Rome, where they arrived unarmed and helpless... They were kindly received... the majority of them were induced to stay” (125).

However, for the project of the naval battle of Salamis was documented in Res Gestae and the structure of the whole sea battle was extraordinary. They had 270,000 cubic meters of water for the fight, and the basin was 1,800x 1,200 Roman feet. They even had people that were in the sea battles were 6,000 prisoners of war and 4,000 oarsmen and 1,000 men that were fighting on any side. These were the people that fought in the battles even if it meant death for them and they had to fight for people of Rome. Also, the only way they would live was if the emperor lets them live. So even though they did the reenactment of sea battles they used people that were prisoners of war so they could entertain the people of Rome and the soldiers too. There was a naval battle that happened in 2 BC by Augustus, which was constructed on an island right in the middle of the basin. Another person that recorded a battle was Tacitus, and the battle involved 19,000 fighters were they used triremes and quadriremes for the sea battle. The only person that had shown compassion to the fighters was Tacitus because the fighters fought

Reaping one of the many benefits as it comes to being wealthy, Boudica lived in a Celtic Roundhouse until the age of seven. The second house she lived in greatly influenced her of becoming a powerful, trained, skilled warrior queen. It was AD 43 when Claudius ordered his Romans to invade Britannia, merely for his desperate need in a military achievement. Within AD 48, Boudica married King Prasutagus, “the head of the Iceni tribe in south East England” (Tejvan). Living in Norfolk with two children, the married couple’s freedom was limited under Rome’s power. When King Prasutagus died, the Claudius took over his kingdom, as well as seizing his wealth. Unsurprisingly, the savage Romans atrociously tortured Boudica and savagely raped her two daughters. Roman History captures the hunger for vengeance against the repulsive Romans: “In stature she was very tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was harsh”

In the year 1939 in the community of Sutton Hoo near Suffolk, England a discovery of massive proportion took place. The magnitude of this archeological find was described in a local news article, “For the first thousand years of the Christian era the little island of Britain was overrun by hordes of men who rose up out of the sea. In the Fifth Century came the Angles, from somewhere on the bleak coast of the Baltic. Ships brought them, and when their kings died they were buried in ships with their bows pointing toward the sea.” This discovery answered many of the questions left by the story Beowulf, a document once cast of as a transcribed lore. Modern day archeological discoveries prove that Beowulf is a story founded in truth.

With the arrival of Republican admiral Gnaeus Domitus Ahenobarbus, communications back to Italy were made very difficult because of the large fleet of ships that he brought with him which blockaded the triumvirate. These fleets of the Liberators did not wish to engage in a physical battle with the Triumvirate, but only to block their communications with their supply base back in Italy. With this swarming fleet they were able to outflank the Triumvirate and set up their own defensive positions forcing Norbanus and Saxa to retreat from their positions moving west giving the Liberators the upper hand at this spot. Brutus and Cassius were able to gain position on the Via Egnatia on each side with this fleet. To the north and south were impassable marshes and mountains. Brutus and Cassius then split their forces each manning a North and South defensive position of the Via Egnatia. After arriving to the scene, Marc Antony put his troops to the south while Octavian put his troops to the north, preparing for battle with the Liberators.

From the beginning, Rome has made it known that they are a force to be reckoned with. It is a state built upon lust, treachery and deceit, but most importantly Rome is founded on the power struggle and overwhelming amount of greed that inhabits every roman that follows its legacy. Livy makes it clear to his audience that the Roman soldiers are a force to be reckoned with, even from their earliest beginnings. Through his tellings of the story of Romulus and Remus, and the Rape and Theft of the Sabine women, Livy also details the ruthlessness that this greed entails, by quite explicit means.

However, it appears the whole country was hostile to the Romans, with vast numbers of natives up in arms ready to fight them . When the British went to the last battle, they brought their families with them, lining the far end of the field to watch the fighting . Unfortunately for the rebels, they were gravely outmatched by the much smaller Roman force . The Icini had been disarmed previously and were unable to muster much military strength to aid them in their quest for freedom . The rebels were also comparatively disorganized during the battle and lacked discipline, enabling the Romans to break through their line during combat . The result was wholesale slaughter of the British fighters and their families: 80,000 British were said to be killed and Queen Boudicca committed suicide by drinking poison, whereas Rome only lost 400 soldiers

Boudicca led a resistance against the Romans in 60-61AD after the lands which belonged to King Prasutagus who was independently ally of Rome died. After his death the lands of Iceni was annexed by Rome losing its status as an ally. Boudicca the Celtic Queen of Iceni objected, leading a revolt which was eventually crushed leading to her suicide according to Tacitus in the Annals. Cassio Dio on the other hand makes no reference to suicide but says she died of illness. Tacitus’ account is generally seen as the more trustworthy or closer to the truth as his father-in-law Agricola was the Roman general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain.