Boudica
30-61
“In
stature she was very
tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most
fierce, and her voice was harsh; a great mass of the tawniest hair fell
to her hips; around her neck was a large golden necklace; and she wore
a mantle of divers colours fastened with a brooch.” Cassius Dio
King Prasutagus of the ancient
Iceni tribe of Britain had acknowledged Roman authority and paid them
tribute, but when he died, the Romans considered their agreement
to this arrangement void. The Romans moved in, looted his household,
flogged his
widow and raped his daughters. The widowed queen, Boudica, then called
upon
several allied tribes and led a uprising against the conquerors. Her
forces
massacred tens of thousands of Roman colonists and Celtic
collaborators,
and burned London, but she was ultimately defeated because no one could
fuck with the Romans for very long. She poisoned herself rather than fall into Roman hands.
