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The Iceni Rebellion

© Elizabeth Batt

When Britain came under Roman rule after the invasion, most of the Celtic tribes adopted the changes that were made willingly. There was one Celtic tribe however that didn't, and this was the Iceni Tribe. Funnily the king of the Iceni's, a man called Prasutagus, did live the Roman way of life.

Rome was very clever you see. To avoid conflict in their counties they would bribe the local officials. Those that chose to meet these terms, would be rewarded with position and wealth.

Prasutagus ruled jointly with his wife, Queen Boudicca. Upon his death, he divided the kingdom in half between Boudicca and the Emperor Nero. Sounds fair doesn't it? Well, apparently not to Rome who took offence at his act. Rome believed that Prasutagus, having accepted the bribes, position and Roman rule offered him, should have left everything to Rome. He'd been rewarded well, and this one act upon his death saw a disobedience that Rome did not want to tolerate.

Rome being Rome, they decided to try and take Boudicca's half of the kingdom. Naturally there was an outcry by the Iceni queen and her daughters, and they were beaten. This one act caused an uproar among the Celtic tribe and other tribes that dwelt nearby – they chose to rebel against the Roman legion.

The Iceni timed their rebellion well. Most of the Roman army was away from the area and with just one legion sent to attack them, the Iceni who numbered around 70,000 fought well. London, Colchester and St. Albans were destroyed. They captured the three biggest Roman towns in the area and killed 60,000 people. With just 200 men left in the Roman legion, it fled to Gaul for safety.

The Romans did not take defeat lightly and returned with an army of 10,000 soldiers. Boudicca, had an army of 100,000 some of which were women and children. Rather confident and outnumbering the Roman army 10-1, the Iceni's decided to battle it out. However, they faced not one legion this time, but 10,000 professional, battle-trained soldiers.

In just four hours, the Roman army had killed 80,000 rebels while losing only 400 men of their own. The battle over, Boudicca fled to escape capture, but the battle loss was too great for her to take. Her life was ended by her own hand and a bottle of poison.

The Romans had quelled the rebellion of A.D. 60, and England was secure once more under Roman rule.