Boudica: Iron Age Warrior Queen

by Richard Hingley, Christina Unwin

Boudica, or Boadicea, queen of the Iceni, led a famous revolt against Roman rule in Britain in AD 60, sacking London, Colchester and St Albans and throwing the province into chaos. Although then defeated by the governor, Suetonius Paulinus, her rebellion sent a shock wave across the empire. Who was this woman who defied Rome? Boudica: Iron Age Warrior Queen is an account of what we know about the real woman, from classical literature, written for the consumption of readers in Rome, and from the archaeological evidence. It also traces her extraordinary posthumous career as the earliest famous woman in British history. Since the Renaissance she has been seen as harridan, patriot, freedom fighter and feminist, written about in plays and novels, painted and sculpted, and recruited to many causes. She remains a tragic, yet inspirational, figure of unending interest.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Roman Britain, Biography Memoir, Ancient History, Feminism

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 6, 2005

About the author

Richard Hingley is Professor in Roman Archaeology at the University of Durham.

Reviews

[Faith Justice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I first heard of Boudica, I've been fascinated by her tragic story: wronged queen, vengeful mother, freedom fighter for her people, warrior queen who came this close to throwing the mighty Roman Empire off the island of Britain. Over the years, I've collected books and articles--many useful and most fanciful. I found Boudica: Iron Age Warrior Queen to be an incredibly useful book--actually two books. "Part I: Boudica" explores the known classical sources, archaeology, and numismatics relating to the British revolt against the Romans in AD 60-61. The authors explore how little we know about Boudica the woman and leader. There are no coins linking Boudica or her husband to the Iceni people (or any Celtic tribe). Although the archaeology is rich with detail on the people living in the three towns likely destroyed by the rebellious tribes, again there is nothing directly linking a female ruler named Boudica to the destruction. Our sole sources for the story are three classical pieces written years after the events, by two Roman men with their own political agendas. Two of those sources are by Tacitus and contain contradictory and different details (in the earlier version Boudica rules the Brigantes, in the later it's the Iceni). This will come as a surprise to the vast majority of us who think we know Boudica's story.

But why do we think we know Boudica's story? That's explained in "Part II: Boadicea" where the authors review how the legend (and name) of the Warrior Queen evolved and grew through the centuries, morphing through "histories," plays, poems, art, TV, movies, museum exhibits, and websites. They comprehensively cover most of the non-classical literary sources, how they portray Boadicea (or any of the dozens of alternate spellings) and how the work was of it's time. I found the following quote from the end of the book, to be of enormous value: "We shape our own past, either to get what we need from it or to answer questions about the times we ourselves live in--we get the past we desire." Boudica's legend has been interpreted by many people to get the past they wanted--including Tacitus and Dio--our primary sources.

I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to see past the veils of legend and dig into the real history--as far as we can know. It is a research book, filled with footnotes and quotes, but the language is accessible. Published in 2005, it has a good survey of current archaeological evidence and revisits some earlier finds with updated interpretations.

[Zena Ryder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really, really liked the first half of the book (about the evidence we have regarding the real, historical figure of Boudica) but haven't picked it up for months because the second half (about how Boudica/Boudicea is [mis]represented in literature, myth, art, etc) wasn't as interesting to me. It's time for me to admit that I've abandoned this book!

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gotta love Iron-age warrior queens!

[Tim Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We cannot avoid taking sides when we study the past, but we can attempt to explore whose side we are on, even if there is no simple and clear answer. The stories of Boudica and Boadicea enable us to pose some questions, although we have seen that it does not provide any straightforward solutions; nor should it. The events of AD 60 to 61 are quite distinct from modern-day Ireland, Afghanistan or Iraq. We cannot avoid being influenced by our social contexts but we need to be aware of the possible nature of that influence upon our understanding. If we keep these issues in mind and try to comprehend the rich complexity of past events, perhaps this is an achievement in itself. The past may help us to understand the present, but we should not try to use the former as a direct analogy for the latter, or we will simply be continuing a long tradition of forcing information into inappropriate frameworks that are the result of current concerns."

[Darrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the most important modern book about the famous queen and rebel leader Boudica, telling her story as drawn from the scant classical documentary and archaeological sources but also delving into and evaluating the ways in which her story has been drawn upon and reformulated by different generations and audiences for different purposes. Hingley and Unwin understand the importance of this Iron Age warrior queen, have a strong mastery of the available historical and archaeological evidence for her and her story, and effectively demonstrate how her story has and continues to resonate in different ways to different people.

[Sally Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, just-the-facts-as-we-know-them overview of Boudica. I'm about to start reading Manda Scott's 4-book historical fiction series on Boudica, so I decided I wanted to know her "real" story first. This slim, NF book gave me what I wanted, including the admission that there's really more that we *don't* know than that we do know. The writing was clear if not a bit dry and repetitive. But it was perfect for my needs.

[Emma Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!! Love how the author explored archeological evidence and how societies have interpreted her story throughout history. As an American who knows little about Boudica, I found this book very informative and feel that I have a full understanding of her story. 10/10

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Half of this is very much a historiography of how Boudica has been regarded in England throughout English history.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative. Just what I needed for a school project. Discussed historical evidence for what happened with Boudica's story, and the impact her revolt and story have had.

[Milly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the movie about this book, written about my ancestor Boudica.

"Boudica was tall, terrible to look on and gifted with a powerful voice. A flood of bright red hair ran down to her knees; she wore a golden necklet made up of ornate pieces, a multi-coloured robe and over it a thick cloak held together by a brooch. She took up a long spear to cause dread in all who set eyes on her."

"'They are men who bathe in warm water, eat artificial dainties, drink unmixed wine, anoint themeselves with myrrh, sleep on soft couches and are slaves to the incompetent lyre player'?" - On the Romans

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I find Boudica to be extremely fascinating. What's not to love about a woman in charge? However, this book was fairly boring. In my opinion it spent too much time focusing on how Queen B has been portrayed though out history - post life. Of course I was interested in all of the art depicting her, I just felt that a little more time could have been devoted to the history of her as we know it.


In addition to the scattershot method of focus, the actual writing was pretty bland. Educational books do not have to be boring. ESPECIALLY when the topics are so exciting.

Bloop

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a fast read at some parts. I loved how so many different perspectives were shown to the reader and these perspectives were from throughout history. The evidence presented of some of Boudica's actions, along with photographs, helped understand more about who the Iceni people were. Some of the information got very wordy and made it easy to get bogged down. Overall, it was very informative.

[John]

I've found this rather heavy-going - I'm not attuned to biography from archaeological evidence. I'm very interested in Boudica though and hope to get back to it.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent summary of the historical and archeological record about this intriguing woman and the way she has been portrayed through the centuries.