Iceni

For example, let's just tie in a real world example of an epic female warrior here.

If you've never heard of the Iceni tribe during the Roman occupation of Britain, there is an epic statue of Boudicca, the female warrior chief of the Iceni tribe, outside of the Houses of Parliament in Westminster in London.

Now, the Iceni tribe had resisted the Roman occupation or were largely kind of lording the fact that, you know, they had some independence and so on and so on.

and they were punished, their village was pillaged by Roman centurions.

The reasons that led up to that, not super important.

The Romans had flogged her and raped her daughters, because that was what invading powers did.

She gathered an army of the Iceni people and marched on Londinium.

The entire city burned to the ground.

We know this because archaeologists have found layers of ash, charred remains, the bones of those who were trapped in the flames.

The

Iceni, wherever they were.

Black Park, isn't it? That's where they'll be.

Yeah.

Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni by Anna Jameson.

This is a LibriVox recording.

All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.

The spirit of revolution, prompted by a love of liberty and keen resentment for wrongs inflicted, which had been increasing in intensity for a long time, broke out into open rebellion at a time when Paulinus was absent upon the island of Mona or Anglesey.

A peculiar act of cruelty on the part of the Romans was the immediate cause of this general revolt, and to that act and its consequences we devote these pages.

Prasutagus, king of the Iceni, a state which included that portion of England now known as the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, and Huntingdon, and a prince much beloved for his mildness and equity, when on his deathbed made an equal division of his kingdom, one half of which he bequeathed to the Roman emperor and the other to his family.

The reason for making this bequest to the emperor was the vain hope that it would so far satisfy his rapacity as to secure his protection for his wife and children.

But the moment that the death of Prasutagus came to the ears of Paulinus, he sent an army sufficient to take forcible possession of the whole of the wealth and the kingdom of the deceased prince.

Kenton Hall was, is still, a lovely old farmhouse with a rare double moat and was partly situated on Bloodfield, which we know.

Where tradition had it that Boudicca, queen of the Ikeni, fought the Romans, which of course, I'm not sure where he got that from, but that's another bloody oral history.

I'm not sure that is, I think he's getting his early ancient battles mixed up, frankly.

Yeah, I wasn't expecting to actually hear that.

Yeah.

If you go through, if you go that entire region, so you're going from Colchester, you're skirting around the territory of the Iceni-

Yeah

... because they're a Roman client state, so you don't need to deal with North Norfolk.

Um, let's see.

There's also Boudica, Queen of the Iceni, a barbarian tribe from Roman times.

I guess Gorgo, Queen of Sparta, didn't start a war necessarily, but she certainly finished one.

I've already learned two things and we haven't even started.