Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Queen Boudica

Episode Date: August 8, 2021

In the year 60, Roman forces on the island of Britain, the Roman town of Lunduniam, modern-day London, were attacked and sacked by a group of native Celts. They lashed out at the Romans over years of poor treatment abuse. When Romans lost Lunduniam, they were shocked and embarrassed, not just at the loss to a group of barbarians, but because those barbarians were led by a woman. Learn more about Queen Boudica on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the year 60, the Roman town of Lundinium, modern-day London, was attacked and sacked by a group of native Celts. They lashed out at the Romans for years of poor treatment and abuse. When the Romans lost Lundianium, they were shocked and embarrassed, not only just at the loss to the barbarians, but because those barbarians were led by a woman. Learn more about Queen Budica on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? throughline is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night and how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR.

This episode is sponsored by Scotty Vest. I've told you all before about how Scotty Vest has lots of pockets to help you carry all your gear. And that's true. That's what they're best known for. However, they have many clothing innovations beyond just pockets. Their patented technology-enabled clothing, or tech, includes conduits in their clothing, which allows for a personal area network of hidden cables throughout their garments, which are designed for routing charging cords from pocket to pocket or headphones up to the collar for easy access.

I've been wearing Scotty Vest clothing for years, and I still wear their stuff every day. You can get 15% off your next order by going to Scottyvest.com and using coupon code, Everything Everywhere, all one word at checkout. Once again, that's Scott eVest.com, coupon code, everything everywhere. Roman involvement in Britain, what they called Britannia, took quite a bit of time to get established. During the Republican period, Britain was a faraway land that most people thought of in terms of myth or fantasy. Britain might as well have been on the moon given how far away it was. Not only was it far away, but it was an island making it just that much more inaccessible.

You couldn't just go there in the same way that you could go there. to Germany or Spain. The first Roman to lead an organized expedition to Britain was Julius Caesar. While running around Gaul, he took two legions there in 55 BC and did nothing more than land on the shore and claimed victory. It was really little more than a PR stunt for the masses back in Rome. The next year, he built 628 ships and brought over five legions and 2,000 cavalry. It was an impressive show of force, but this also wasn't to be permanent. The local Celtic tribes attacked him, and he ended up leaving to return to Gaul, not leaving a single Roman soldier behind. After Caesar, Britain remained attempting but challenging prize for the Romans.

In the year 40, the Emperor Caligula tried to invade Britain, but ended up amassing a force across the English Channel, ordered them into battle formations, and then told them to collect seashells. And, yeah, he actually did that. The preparations for the invasion of Britannia, which were done by Caligula, were actually put to use by his successor, the much more competent Emperor Claudius. Claudius did a proper invasion and established the Roman foothold on the island which would last for centuries. This story takes place during the reign of the successor to Claudius, his adopted son, Nero. The Romans didn't control all of Britain at this time, only the southern portions. The capital of Lundinium and other cities served as trading posts and bases. Many of the Celtic tribes in the adjoining areas made arrangements with the Romans to pay tribute.

One tribe in particular was the Ikenny. They were located northeast of Londinium in the area in what is now known today as Norfolk. The Ikenny were independent and were not conquered by the Romans in the first wave of Roman invasions. The way they did this was by allying with the Romans against their enemies. The king of the Ikenny was named Prasudigus, and his wife was Queen Budica. Budica was by all accounts a striking woman. The Roman historian Cassius Dio described her, quote, She was very tall, the glance of her eye most fierce, her voice harsh,

A great mass of the reddest hair fell down to her hips. Her appearance was terrifying. Prasutagus had no male heir. In an attempt to placate the Romans, in his will he bequeathed half of his fortune to the Emperor Nero and half to his two daughters. When he died in the year 60, his attempt at buying off the Romans didn't work. The historian Tacitus noted, quote, The Ikean king Prusugus celebrated for his long prosperity,

had named the emperor his heir, together with his two daughters. an act of deference which he thought would place his kingdom and household beyond the risk of injury. The result was contrary, so much so that his kingdom was pillaged by Sincurians, his household by slaves, as though they had been prizes of war. He added that Queen Budica was lashed, and her two daughters were raped by Roman slaves, and that the estates of leading Ikenny were confiscated. The legal pretense given for this action by the Romans was that the Emperor Claudius had loaned them money. This insult to the Ikenny was too much.

The Akinney reached out to other tribes in the region who had also suffered at the hands of the Romans. In particular, they allied with their neighbors, the Trinavantes. They had a combined army of 120,000 soldiers under arms. The allied tribes elected Budica to be their leader. The combined armies first attacked the Roman colony town of Camaldonum, which is today the modern-day town of Colchester. It was lightly defended and the town was easily captured. They took the head off a bronze statue of Nero to use it as a trophy.

The Ninth Legion was the closest. military unit and they were sent to provide relief to the town, but they were quickly defeated. The Roman governor of Britannia was Gaia Soutonius Paulinius. He, along with most of his legions, was fighting up in Wales at the time. When news reached him, he immediately turned to reach the rebellious Celts. While he was doing that, Buduka and her army had marched on Londinium. The town was abandoned before they arrived, so they entered to an open city and proceeded to loot and burn it to the ground. To this day, archaeologists digging in London can find a layer of burnt red ash above the period from the year 60.

The next city to face the wrath of the Celts was Verulamium, which is today the modern city of St. Albans. In total, of the three cities destroyed, it was estimated that 70 to 80,000 people were killed. The Celts didn't take prisoners, and they were not interested in capturing slaves. They didn't just kill the local Roman inhabitants, but were quite cruel in their execution methods. By this time, Governor Soutonius had regrouped his forces and had taken up a position along the main road which went through Britannia, known as Walting Street. He had approximately 10,000 legionnaires under his command.

He faced a serious problem. As governor, all of the blame would be placed upon his shoulders. Moreover, he had to suffer the added embarrassment of this coming at the hands of a woman. If he didn't rectify the problem, the name of him and his family would be destroyed in Rome. By this time, Budica had attracted an army of 230 to 300,000 men and women under arms. when the Celts had arrived to meet the Romans, before the battle she appeared in a chariot and rode up and down the lines with her daughters, giving an impassioned speech. She said, quote, If you weigh well the strength of our armies, you will see that in this battle we must conquer or die. This is a woman's resolve. As for the men, they may live or be slaves. I am not fighting for my kingdom and wealth now. I am fighting as an ordinary person for my lost freedom, my bruised body, and my outraged daughters. End quote. Despite the overwhelming numbers, the Romans routed the Celts.

According to Tacitus, an estimated 80,000 Celts died versus only 400 Romans. The Romans, in an unusual move for them, did not take slaves, but rather killed everything and everyone they could, including women and even pack animals. Budica, true to her word, killed herself by poison rather than being captured. This battle in a nutshell really encapsulates why and how Rome was so powerful. Their training, equipment, and discipline were simply no match for tribal peoples and places like Hispania, Gaul, and Britannia. That they were able to secure such a lopsided victory against such overwhelming forces was a testament to the superiority of the Roman military. Over time, the legend of Queen Budica grew.

The Romans actually respected her as she fiercely fought for her people's independence. She took on added importance during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, as Elizabeth was positioned as the modern Budica, standing up to the Spanish Armada, as Budica did to the Romans. Plays, poems, and other works of art were dedicated to Budica. She came back into fashion again in the 19th century under the reign of Queen Victoria. Budica, in some ways, has become the embodiment of Mother England. The Welsh, however, have claimed her as her own, as the Angles and Saxons hadn't arrived by this time, so she couldn't have been English.

She was Celtic, and hence she would have been more Welsh. She and her daughters today are the only women enshrined in marble statues at the Cardiff City Hall. regardless if she is claimed by the English or the Welsh, Queen Butika remains a symbol of resistance and independence for everyone in Britain. The associate producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Thor Thompson. If you'd like to support the show, please donate over at patreon.com. There is content only available to supporters, merchandise, and even opportunities for a show producer credit. If you know someone you think would enjoy the show, please share it with them.

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