Also known as "the Vengeful Queen of the Iceni," Boudicca first appears on record as the wife of King Prasutagus, ruler of the Iceni tribe of eastern England, which had joined the Romans as a nominally independent ally. After Prasutagus passed away, he left his kingdom jointly to his daughters and the Roman emperor (either Claudius or Nero, the dates are unclear). Unfortunately for the Iceni, the Romans didn't recognize female inheritance, and, by order of the Roman governor, the kingdom was annexed. Boudicca tried to protest this, and as punishment was flogged and then forced to watch as Roman soldiers raped her daughters. Shortly afterward, Roman financiers called in the massive debt Prasutagus had incurred during his reign, ruining Boudicca financially. Boudicca swore revenge, and got her opportunity to get it in either 60 or 61 AD. Taking advantage of the growing dislike of the recently appointed procurator Catus Decianus and the fact that Governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus had most of the troops in Britain occupied with a campaign against druids on the island of Mona off the coast of North Wales, she led the Iceni in revolt against the British, aided by several neighboring tribes. They quickly took the city of Camulodunum (now Colchester), which had long incurred resentment in the surrounding area for various reasons. After destroying the city and soundly defeating the 9th Legion, led by future governor Quintus Petillius Cerialis, Boudicca began her advance on the town of Londinium (now London). Governor Paulinus had returned by this point and was awaiting her at the town, but on hearing of Cerialis' defeat, he decided to abandon the town and seek a more defendable area, prompting the mass exodus of most of the town's population, including Decianus. Boudicca, unopposed for the moment, proceeded to raze both Londinium and the nearby city of Verulamium (now St. Alba). While reports vary, all agree that Boudicca was absolutely ruthless in these conquests, slaughtering any and all Romans she found in a variety of colorful ways, usually on ground sacred to the Romans. She is estimated to have slaughtered between seventy and eighty thousand people. However, by this point Paulinus had managed to organize the 14th and 20th Legions, as well as several auxiliaries, and at the battle of Watling Street, Boudicca's army was slaughtered, along with the women, children, and pack animals that had been brought along on the campaign. Some records says that the Briton death toll was over eighty thousand, but most agree that this is an exaggeration. Boudicca met her death on the field, both Decianus and Paulinus were replaced, and Nero briefly entertained the idea of abandoning Britain to its own devices.
Wasn't that description a bit long?
Yeah, but who outside of British historians has ever heard of this woman? I mean, do you think I wanted to say all that? I can barely pronounce Spanish names, never mind Roman ones!
Who cares? I'm just glad we've finally gotten someone controversial!
Oh, I see you recovered from your psychotic episode. Lovely.
Yes, but I'm saddened to see that you're still suffering from notions of divinity.
I'm an angel!
Of course you are. Anyway, even if she had every right to rebel against the Romans, Boudicca still had no right to kill countless innocent civilians for a crime most of them had nothing to do with.
On the other hand, we have to look at it in its own time. The slaughter of civilians was a common practice…
But that doesn't excuse it. Boudicca's cause was just, which is why she isn't in the circle of violence. However, she still revenged herself beyond an acceptable measure, and, what's worse, felt no guilt over it. We can argue this up and down, but if we excuse these actions purely because there was a noble cause behind them, then how can we condemn those who do the same deeds for an evil cause without charges of hypocrisy? And yes, they were different times, but some things remain constant, and if we excuse Boudicca for that reason, then we shall also have to excuse the Aztecs and Maximilien Robespierre, since they were operating the way times seemed to dictate as well. Also, even Boudicca's contemporaries considered her methods of execution to be horrific.
As much as I dislike it, you have a point.
Ha! Victory, thy name is Malacoda!