Boudica was the warrior queen of the Iceni, a Celtic tribe living in what is now Norfolk, Suffolk, and parts of Cambridgeshire. Alongside her husband, King Prasutagus, she ruled the Iceni as allies of Rome, but when he died in 60 CE the Romans seized Iceni land, publicly humiliated Boudica, and abused her daughters. This brutal treatment ignited one of the most famous uprisings in Britain’s history. Fierce and commanding, she rallied her people and found strong allies in the neighbouring Trinovantes of Essex, who had their own grievances after their former capital, Camulodunum (modern-day Colchester), had been turned into a Roman colony. Together, they raised a rebellion that swept across the region, burning and destroying Roman strongholds.
The revolt began with the sacking of Colchester, which was then the heart of Roman rule in Britain. Boudica’s forces burnt in to the ground, leaving behind a thick archaeological layer of charred ruins still visible today. From there, her army attacked London and St. Albans in a campaign that terrified the Roman Empire. Though ultimately defeated by the governor Suetonius Paulinus, Boudica’s rebellion shook Rome’s grip on Britain and left a legacy of resistance that has lasted nearly two millennia. For those of us living in East Anglia today, she’s a local heroine – a Norfolk queen perhaps, but one whose fire and fury stamped itself on Essex soil when she brought Colchester to its knees.
