click image above to see candle set

~ BOUDICEA ~

Mother. Queen. Warrior.

She was definitely all three.

Her husband was Prasutagus,
king of the Iceni tribe in Britain,
during the 1st Century,
in the area now known as...
Norfolk.

Together they conceived,
and She birthed,
two daughters.

Interestingly, the name Boudicea
might never have made it's way to this page,
if She had bore a son,
as you will discover...

The fourth wife of Roman Emperor Claudius,
Agrippina,
was very interested in furthering her son,
Nero.
Thus it is believed,
that she provoked an estrangement between Claudius
and Britannicus,
a son Claudius had with his third wife,
Messalina.

Unfortunately,
Agrippina was quite effective and tireless in her efforts.
Nero, than became Emporer after Claudius was assassinated
possibly by Agrippina herself.

Not long after,
Britannicus was assassinated by Nero,
due to the insistence of his mother,
that he posed a serious threat.

The cruelty and abuse
Agrippina instilled in her son
finally turned on her,(ouch - karma is a _itch!)
and she was killed at his order.

Nice Family.

Meanwhile...
back in Britain . . .
Prasutagus was worried about his apparent mortality
and the effect it would have on his stable kingdom,
so he came up with a plan
he believed would prove infallible.

He left his private wealth to his two daughters
and to Nero as well,
thinking
that this would oblige Nero
to respect his will.

This proved to be quite disasterous!

According to Roman historian,
Cornelius Tacitus, (55-120 A.D.),
after Prasutagus died in 60 A.D.,
the Roman soldiers dared to punish the Queen
by flogging Her
and raping both Her daughters.

If this was not done with the approval of Nero himself,
then at least with his silent consent.

Besides,
Nero had no reason to respect the last wishes of a dead barbarian king
whom he considered merely another one of his subjects.

These atrocities besides ravaging the country!

Boudicea was outraged!
She decided to take matters into Her own hands
to protect the inheritance left to her daughters.

So . . .
Sustained by anger
and a sense of injustice,
She appealed to the pride of Her tribe.

She incited the Iceni
in the name of freedom,
and to seek vengeance, (oops!)
and protest against the atrocities of Roman rule.

It worked.

She raised an army of one hundred and twenty thousand strong.

When the governor of the province,
Suetonius Paulinus,
was abroad,
Boudicea seized the day!

The rebellion began in the whole of East Anglia.
It was a surprise attack and a massacre.

According to Tacitus,
the Iceni slaughtered seventy thousand Romans
and local sympathizers.

The Iceni sacked
Camulodunum (Colchester),
Verulamium (St. Albans),
and Londinium (London),
as well as many military outposts.

Upon Suetonius return,
he organized a counterattack,
so that even though the Ninth Legion was annihilated,
reinforcements were called up.

Following a fierce battle,
Suetonius reconquered the province.

Supposedly,
even though Boudicea had failed in Her efforts,
She did not submit
to more humiliation and torment
that seemed likely to follow.

Instead,
She chose the fate of a warrior
and Queen . . .
death at Her own hand,
probably by poison.

It is documented that Her daughters joined Her in this final action.

So...
it is with admiration
for Her righteous indignation
and respect for the fact that the records
of Her name
and deeds
were recorded by a Roman,
that we have chosen to change
the spelling of Her documented name,
from the version written by Mr. Tacitus.

In our arc-hive,
She is no longer
Boadicea,
but rather
Boudicea!

~ Queen ~ Mother ~ Warrior ~