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The Ancient World in London - Boudicca, Warrior Queen (6/25)
Poziom:
Temat: Społeczeństwo i nauki społeczne
Addison Lee is proud to sponsor the Ancient World in London series.
Having collected an army of 120,000, she mounted a tribune (that is like
a speaker's platform) made in the Roman fashion out of earth.
In stature, she was very tall and grim in appearance
with a piercing gaze and a harsh voice.
And now, taking a spear in her hand, so as to
present an impressive sight to everyone, she spoke as follows:
If you weigh well the strength of the armies, and the causes of the
war, you will see in this battle you must conquer or die.
This is a woman's resolve. As for the
men? They may live.. and be slaves.
The Romans hated her, the Celts fought for her,
and we've turned her into a national icon.
But who is Boudicca? Boudicea? Boudica? Well how do you even say her name?
Boudicea is wrong. It should be Boudicca. Manuscript readings
of the Roman historians actually say Boudicca,
but in the course of transmission, the 'U' (B-O-U) turned into an 'A', and the
second 'C' in Boudicca turned into an 'E'. That's why we get Boadicea.
Britain was a tribal state, and that's what the Romans found. It would make
alliances with some of the communities that they came in contact with.
Prasutagus, the King of this tribe – The Iceni – he had made an alliance with Rome; it
was an alliance with him personally, and so it lasted as long as he was still there.
But then Presutagus died and he wrote a will in which he made Emperor Nero
and his widow Boudicca, he made them co-heirs of his own personal private property.
The chap who was in charge of the financial affairs of
the Roman province - a man called Deciano Canus
said “Who's fussed about some tribal chieftain or whatever
he said? We're not worried about that!”
So they went in and they just took over everything.
When Boudicca said “Look, you can't do this. There's
a legal will made by my late husband.”
And Deciano said “Pull the other one!”
And Boudicca was flogged, and her daughters raped.
Well, this wasn't exactly the way to win hearts and minds
and that was why the Iceni tribe rose in revolt.
The Greco-Roman historian, Dio, describes her as this great, big, busty woman with
a great mass of blonde hair falling down to her shoulders.
And she's wearing the Torc – that's was really a symbol of virility.
So there's this great big sort of blonde standing up with the
Torc around her neck, and speaks with this husky voice.
And Dio says she says to her men “This great insult must be avenged!”
If you want to get the Boudicca look, there's
going to be three things that you need:
The first is the Golden Torc necklace. Now this is usually worn
by men so it suggests that she wore the trousers.
Number two is a massive case of revenge. You got to bear
in mind that Boudicca lost her husband, then her land,
then her daughters were raped by the Romans and she
was beaten to within an inch of her life.
And the third is blood on your hands. Because after all,
Boudicca is responsible for the death of 80,000 Romans.
The most obvious places are, particular as they aligned
themselves with the Trinovantes, was to take Colchester.
The town was undefended, so the town was just sort
of annihilated – it went up in flames.
Except for one point – and this was the Great Temple of Claudius, which was built in stone, and those
people who could, fled to the Temple of Claudius and they managed to hold out for two days.
And in two days, that was empty because the
Britons had finally smashed in and broken in.
Suetonius realised that there was no way that they could hold this undefended city against the
rebels and so he would have to retreat back up the line of Watling Street.
He said to the people that anyone who likes can try and
come with us, but old guys and women and children
there was no way they could keep up with the
Romans. They were virtually abandoned to their fate.
Suetonius Paulonis had time to choose a place where he
would wait for the arrival of the Britons.
And it was a place where there was dense woodland on each side, and
this meant that the British superiority in numbers couldn't have an effect,
because they couldn't wheel around and attack the Roman
lines from the side from the flanks.
The Romans had the detachments from the two legions
– the 14th and the 20th legion.
They also had auxiliary troops, particularly auxiliary cavalry.
Opposing them were the British forces, and behind them were the wagons
drawn by oxen on which the women and children were placed.
They'd come along to see the fun too.
And anyways, the Romans, it was inevitable that they, with their superior equipment,
superior training and that they were trained for close hand-to-hand fighting,
that they should absolutely annihilate the Britons. They forced them back on their wagon line, and
this is where the Britons had made a terrible, terrible error because they were trapped.
that they should absolutely annihilate the Britons. They forced them back on their wagon line, and
this is where the Britons had made a terrible, terrible error because they were trapped.
And the Romans, according to Cassidus, in their bloodlust, having slaughtered
the enemy, then they turned even on the oxen!
They were drawing the wagons, and they just cut them down
– they were absolutely beserk, in a sort of rage.
After Boudicca was defeated, it was a bit of a mystery as to what happens her.
Some people say she got ill and died, some people say she took poison.
There's a myth that she's buried under one of the platforms as King's
Cross Station, so I suppose that's as good an explanation as any!
But basically, we don't know what happened to her.
So there's been loads and loads of speculation about where
Boudicca's buried, but where do you think she is?
Leave your comments below.
See you next time!
It's possible that the Celts traditionally, they sometimes fought naked.
I don't think Boudicca would have run around naked. Some
of her elite warriors, conceivably might have done.
