Boudica, Page 3

Seutonius Paullinus sacrificed Londinium, but forced Boudica's army to engage him on ground of his own choosing.  It is said Paullinus desecrated Celtic holy groves.  and lured Boudica to him.  He stationed his troops on high ground, surrounded by forest, and positioned his soldiers carefully.  The British army had to work their way uphill, being struck by javelins and assorted missiles the whole time.  The Celts were not a disciplined, coldly efficient military force, and it was a catastrophic loss for the British.  The Romans basically cut them down as they tried to come at them.    Boudica and her daughters escaped the battlefield, and according to Tacitus took poison to avoid capture and more humilation.  Celtic leaders had been known to choose suicide rather than risk capture.  We can only assume that the same happened to her teenaged daughters.  Tacitus records that she was given a rich and honored burial.    Even though she was defeated eventually, she made the Romans sit up and take notice, and was the inspiration for other native rebellions.  Her victories ended with three cities destroyed and 80,000 Romans killed.

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Click this picture of a reconstructed Celtic village to go to page 2.

Boudica:  What did she look like? In the old classical sources she is described as being tall and strongly built, with waist long red hair and flashing eyes.  One paragraph paints her wearing a tunic and trousers, spear in one hand and driving a chariot.  A colorful mantle or cloak is fastened by a beautiful broach at shoulder, and trails along behind her.  In all likelihood she also wore a heavy golden torq around her neck, which nobility wore in those cultures at that time.   It is doubtless she was fearsome and powerful in battle, a terrifying force to the Romans.

Still interested?  I am working on a story based on the historical Boudica.  Click Queen of Celts and have at it.  Questions and comments can be sent to my two email addresses.  Thanks for visiting!

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Information drawn from Tacitus, Cassius Dio, The Ancient World of the Celts by Peter Berresford Ellis, Who were the Celts? by Kevin Duffy and many others.