Adam Palmer - The Boudicca Parchments

“And what exactly did they do? I mean if they were in East Anglia and the Romans were in Anglesey, who exactly did they fight?”

“Basically, Boudicca and her rebel army — if one could call them an army — attacked those towns that were deemed to be representative of Rome, even if they were populated by their fellow Britons. The first place they attacked was the Roman town of Camulodunum. That’s modern day Colchester.”

“And that was originally a Roman city?”

“Well strictly speaking it had originally been a local city — the capital of the Trinovantes tribe. But by the time it was attacked by Boudicca it had become a Roman colonia — that was the highest status of Roman city, even larger than a municipalis. It was settled by retired Roman soldiers, who liked to lord it over the locals. That made it a perfect target for the irate Britons: not too well guarded, but symbolizing everything they despised about Rome. When the local Romans knew the British hordes were coming, they requested reinforcements from the Roman procurator, Catus Decianus. But he underestimated the scale of the problem and only sent two hundred auxiliaries.”

“That’s all they had?”

“Well no, not exactly. After Boudicca had laid siege to the city for two days, the commander of the Ninth Legion, the Hispana , sent some reinforcements to break the blockade. But still not enough, given the large size of the forces that had allied themselves to Boudicca. Most of the Roman forces were wiped out, but the cavalry got away, as did their commander, one Quintus Petillius Cerialis.”

“He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.”

“Exactly, and he did indeed redeem himself in the final battle and go on to become governor of Britannia. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Boudicca systematically destroyed the city with a take-no-prisoners policy.”

“That must have put the wind up the Romans.”

“Oh it did that all right. Catus Decianus, the discredited procurator, fled to Gaul. And when the news of the defeat got to Suetonius — the Roman governor — he and his men began hurrying back. But of course there was no point sending just the cavalry. And the bulk of their men were on foot.”

“But surely by then Camulodunum would have been destroyed. I mean they must have known that? And surely Boudicca wouldn’t just stick around would she?”

“Oh no, she didn’t Instead she went on to Londinium, which at the time was a major commercial city, though not the capital that it was going to one day become. And that’s where the Romans were trying to get to as well, because they knew that Londinium would be next on her hit list.”

“But presumably Boudicca got there first — not having to cover such a great distance.”

“Of course. In fact Suetonius did get there with an advanced party, but he didn’t have enough men to make a fight of it. He’d seen what happened at Camulodunum when Petilius had decided to fight with inadequate forces and he decided not to make the same mistake. There were very few Romans in Londinium. Most of the inhabitants were locals or foreign merchants. So he simply pulled his forces out — ignoring the pleas of the locals — and abandoned Londinium to Boudicca’s angry mob, who burnt it down.”

“And we know that for a fact?”

“Oh yes. Archaeological excavations at various London sites have confirmed a combustion layer. It’s seen in dust covering coins and pottery from before 60 AD but not after.”

“So what did Petronus do?”

“He waited for the rest of his forces to arrive in the area north of Londinium. Meanwhile Boudicca and her ever growing army went on to destroy Verulamium, also mostly by fire.”

“Verulamium?”

“Modern day St. Albans. It wasn’t really a Roman city but it was heavily roman ized — largely by choice of the inhabitants themselves. So it would also have been a natural target for a vast horde that had grown to detest anything Roman. You have to remember that in addition to the fighters, this vast army was accompanied by the wives and children of the British combatants. It wasn’t so much a war or a military campaign as a rampage with very little by way of planning.”

“So far, I make it Boudicca three, Romans nil.”

“And so it was, but by now the Roman army was back. You could say they made a couple of last minute substitutions and their team was now back to full strength. Suetonius now assembled his army, somewhere that the Britons would have to pass through if they wanted to get back to their lands. There is some dispute as to whether they had planted their crops that year — ”

“Similar to the Jerusalem siege in the year 70,” Daniel interrupted.

“Exactly. But regardless of that, the Iceni and their allies couldn’t just wonder around aimlessly. According to Tacitus, Suetonius assembled his forces in a place where he had the topography on his side. He had a forest behind him and steep slopes on either side.”

“But couldn’t be attacked from above if he did that?”

“No because the wasn’t overlooked by the steep slopes. They overlooked the approach to his front line. That meant that Boudicca’s army would be funnelled into a narrow area where their front line would be no larger than the Roman line. So the Roman’s could pick them off one line at a time.”

“But the Romans were still outnumbered weren’t they?”

“Oh yes, Daniel. But not to the extent that Tacitus or Cassius Dio suggest in their historical propaganda. The Romans had the Germina Legion — that’s the fourteenth, as well as some of the twentieth legion, known as Valeria Victrix . He also had the cavalry remnant of the Hispana , the famous ninth legion, plus assorted auxiliaries. The one thing he didn’t have was the second Legion, the Augusta , who were stationed in Exeter. He had in fact sent a message to Poenius Postumus, the commander of the Augusta , telling him to send forces. But Postumus declined to do so.”

“Does history record why?”

“Some say he was afraid. Some say he didn’t have time to get them there and some say he had to maintain a rear guard defence and that his decision was sound strategy. I’m inclined to the last of those, but regardless of my opinion, when he missed out on the great battle he was so shamed for depriving his men of a part of that great victory, that he committed suicide.”

“Ah, so we are now talking about the final battle.”

“Yes. And this is where Boudicca’s strategy — if one could call it that — fell apart. First of all you have to remember the Romans had an iron discipline to match Boudicca’s iron will. Secondly they knew military strategy inside out. It was in their blood… and their history. So when the first line of Britons charged at them, the Romans used their spears. Even if the Britons defended themselves with their shields, the spears imbedded themselves in the shields and bent or warped, so they couldn’t easily be removed from the shields.

“Then when the Britons charged again, the Roman’s held their shields in a tight formation and when the Britons got close enough to engage, the Romans fought with swords taking advantage of their superior combat skills. When the Britons tried to flee, they found their retreat blocked by their own wagons that contained their families whom they had brought along with them. And then with the Britons in retreat and disarray, it was the Romans who went on the rampage with a take-no-prisoners policy.”

“And what happened to Boudicca?”

“Well according to Tacitus, she poisoned herself. According to Cassius Dio, writing a hundred years later, she fell ill and died and was given a lavish burial.”