Boudica — The Celtic Queen Who Led An Uprising Against The Roman Empire
Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesBoudica, Queen of the British Iceni tribe, skewered, crucified, and hanged Roman invaders.
In 43 B.C.E., the Romans conquered southern England — at the time, ruled by Prasutagas, king of the Iceni tribe. The Romans allowed Prasutagas to continue his rule, but upon his death in 60 B.C.E., they flogged, beat, tortured, and raped his daughters and his wife, a woman named Boudica.
Scorned, violated, and furious, the once proud royal woman swore a vow of revenge.
Boudica and the Iceni spoke with members of other tribes who, unsurprisingly, were also displeased with Roman rule. In total, Boudica amassed an army of roughly 100,000 to fight back against the Romans.
Their first target was Camulodunum, the capital of Roman Britain, around which the Romans had foolishly neglected to construct a wall. Boudica’s army easily overthrew the town, destroying buildings, setting fire to the city and its people — and ambushed and defeated the reinforcements sent to fight their rebellion.
View Pictures/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesA statue of the warrior queen, Boudica, in London, England.
From there, the army marched to Londinium, modern-day London, massacring its citizens and torching the city. Then, they were on to Verulamium, skewering, crucifying, and hanging Romans along the way.
In total, it’s estimated that her army killed 80,000 people during the rebellion.
And though she failed to completely overthrow the Roman Empire — defeated in battle by an army led by Roman Governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus — she certainly proved that Hell hath, indeed, no fury like a woman scorned.
