#boadicea

[tamiart]

Boudicca, Celtic warrior queen of the Iceni people of Eastern England. After the Romans took their land, stripped her, flogged her and raped her daughters, she led a rebellion against them, destroying several cities and armies in the process. Badass.

[womenofantiquity]

Boudicca was such a hardass! I love her.

BASIC BIO: (c. 30 - 60 AD) Boudicca was queen of the Celtic Iceni when Britain was still a far-flung territory of the Roman empire. After her husband, the king, died, the Iceni found themselves battered by the Romans; Boudicca herself was beaten and her daughters raped. The Iceni and other groups planned an uprising, with Boudicca at the helm. The rebels managed to raze several major settlements to the ground, including London. Though the details of her defeat are spotty, it is a known fact that Boudicca and her army eventually fell to the Roman imperial forces. Her exact fate is unknown.

HER IMPACT: Boudicca was largely forgotten until the Renaissance came to Britain. From there, her popularity soared, and Queen Victoria, in an ironic misunderstanding of Boudicca’s fight against imperialism, took her on as a symbol for herself and the British empire. Boudicca remains a folk hero in Britain, and has inspired a number of films and books. She also lends her name one of the best Enya songs, which is exactly the legacy the rest of us daydream about.

[worldofcelts]

She stood upon her chariot, spear in hand, a frightful sight and spoke: 'I am avenging lost freedom, my scourged body, the chastity of my daughters. Behold the proud display of warlike spirits, and consider the motives for which we draw the avenging sword. On this spot we must either conquer or die with glory. There is no alternative. I am a woman but my resolution remains firm. You men can either fight or die.'

Cassius Dio about Boudicca

[thewritersramblings]

history series →  the warrior queen of the iceni [boudica]

i am not fighting for my kingdom and wealth now. i am fighting as an ordinary person for my lost freedom, my bruised body, and my outraged daughters.

[diaphanee]

Statue of Boudica, Westminster Bridge, London.

Boudica, also known as Boadicea or Buddug (d. AD 60 or 61) was queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire.

[fleshosphere]

Enya / Boadicea

[prof-peach]

Don't think I can express how much i love this dumbass.

[venicepearl]

An engraving by William Sharp published in 1793, based on Boadicea Haranguing the Britons (called Boudicca, or Boadicea) by John Opie (died 1807)

Boudica or Boudicca (also Boadicea or Boudicea /boʊdɪˈsiːə/, and known in Welsh as Buddug) was a queen of the British Celtic Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire in AD 60 or 61, and died shortly after its failure, having supposedly poisoned herself. She is considered a British folk hero.

[boleyn36]

Alex Kingston as Boudicca (or Boadicea) Queen of the Iceni in ‘Warrior Queen’ (2003)

[the-manila-institute]

Boadicea of different generations 

“So the Queen Boadicea, standing loftily charioted,/Brandishing in her hand a dart and rolling glances lioness-like-” Will broke off at Tessa’s look of incomprehension and grinned. “Nothing? If you were English you’d know. Remind me to find a book about her for you. Regardless, she was a powerful warrior queen. When she was finally defeated, she took poison rather than let herself be captured by the Romans. She was braver than any man. ” -Clockwork Angel, Chapter 4: We Are Shadows, Page 93.

Source: x

[archaicwonder]

Silver Iceni Coin from the time of Boudicca, Britain, Late 1st Century BC

This is a  "face/horse" type coin. It shows a  Celticized head facing right; a branch behind. On the reverse, a horse prances right; a wheel above and a lozenge below. 

Boudicca was queen of the Iceni tribe, a Celtic tribe of Britain, who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire.

The Iceni began producing coins c. 10 BC. They were a distinctive adaptation of the Gallo-Belgic "face/horse" design, and in some early issues, most numerous near Norwich, the horse was replaced with a boar. Some coins are inscribed ECENI, making them the only coin-producing group to use their tribal name on coins.

[faunwand]

Boudica, also known as Boadicea was queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudica

[kittypichuofficial]

Boadicea Her name is based on the book called “Little Bo” about a grey kitten with a white heart-shaped spot on her chest

[pootential-blog]

Historical Badass: Queen Boudicca

Queen Boudicca probably isn't a name you have heard before. For one thing, she wasn't a real queen. (At least not by the standard definitions.) We only have two primary sources which mention her at all, and both of these historians date back to the first or second century AD.

The short version: Romans are assholes and Boudicca tries to fight back. She loses. The End.

So why the fuck should you care? Because Boudicca was a bonafide badass that's why. During the first half of the first century AD, the native Britons/Celts lived in peace. But that all changed when the firenation Romans attacked. Emperor Claudius decided that the British isle looked like a lovely place for his vacation home (who wants a vacation home in England? It's always raining) and began colonization. Some native tribes submitted to the emperor hoping their people would be spared. 

Boudicca's husband tells the Romans leave me the fuck alone and I'll let you have half my land when I die. He left the rest of the land to his wife and daughters, because unlike pretty much every other civilization in existence during this time, the Celts knew what the hell gender equality was. Women could hold positions of authority or political power, own land, choose whom they married, and even initiate divorce. Boudicca's husband dies and the land is left jointly to her and the Emperor, right? No fuck that, newly crowned emperor Nero Caesar says woman aren't people and therefore all the land is his. 

So in the Romans go. They flog Boudicca and force her to watch as her 12 year old daughters are tortured and raped. And of course nobody in Rome expects a women to be powerful, so they let her go. Probably a bad idea, considering at this point she was pissed. Boudicca gathers up 1-2 hundred thousand of her closest buddies and starts going on a rampage. She and her little band of freedom fighters destroy two major cities before getting to London. London (Londinium) was still a new settlement at the time, but it had a population of about 10,000. She sacks that too, beating up every pussy Roman general she found. She rode around in a chariot fighting these guys off with both her daughters fighting alongside. I don't know about you, but after turmoil like that, if you see one of those woman riding straight for you with a spear you fucking run. The only sources we have describe Boudicca as a half naked mad women with wild red hair and tattoos. (on second thought, maybe i wouldn't run away.)

Eventually Rome realizes that they're messing with some serious lady power here. They send in plenty of backup and beat back the Celts. Boudicca, like the badass she is, escapes capture and takes her own life so that Rome can never have the honor of defeating her. Boudicca became a symbol for woman's rights and empowerment. Queen Victoria took on Boudicca as her namesake. "Ironically, the great anti-imperialist rebel was now identified with the head of the British Empire, and her statue stood guard over the city she razed to the ground."

[regwishesshehadmagic]

Arthur and Boadicea, circa 1897

[prof-peach]

Little boa gesture/shape doodles I found.

Love that dragon. Such a babe.