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Title: War Anarchic: Boudica Author: Aaron Koek Date: August 8, 2020 Language: en Topics: war, Britain, history, insurrection Source: Retrieved on 9th August 2020 from https://c4ss.org/content/53225
Roman incursions into Britain began with Julius Caesar between 55–54
B.C.E. with two separate attempts. The first invasion (55 B.C.E.) was
launched on the grounds of supposed support from the Britons towards the
Gallic tribes against the Romans during the Gallic Wars (58–50 B.C.E.).
This first attempt ended in failure, loosing their cavalry boarded on
ships due to bad weather and constant guerrilla attacks by the Britons
forced a stalemate. The second invasion (54 B.C.E.) proved more fruitful
for the Romans and Caesar as they managed to fight their way to the
river Thames as well as establishing a number of treaties and trade
partners with local tribes living in the south-eastern parts of the
territory.
It wouldn’t be until about a hundred years later that Rome would even
attempt to set foot in Britain again. When it did return in 43 AD under
the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus it would be with
much greater success. Rome had wanted access to Britain for some time
due to rumors of great material wealth, both in metals and food that
were always in need by the large, imperial government of Rome. It would
be under these conditions that Boudica of the Iceni tribe would rise to
become queen of her people and lead a brutal insurrection against Roman
occupation.
The Romans invaded Britain when Boudica was around eighteen years old,
having either previously or within recent times married their husband
Prasutagus, whom may have been related to the then king of the Iceni,
Antedios. Meanwhile their neighbors to the south in the Catuvellauni
tribe, in alliance with other tribes, waged a guerrilla campaign against
the Roman army. After a successful battle against the Catuvellauni lead
rebellion Claudius established a legionary fortress located at
Camulodunum, now modern day Colchester in Essex, as well as the
submission of eleven British tribes, including the Iceni under Antedios.
In 47 AD Ostorius Scapula replaced the first, previously established
Roman governor of Britain. Ostorius arrived to the territory under
guerrilla attacks and as such, decided to disarm the British tribes,
including the Iceni. This was seen both as a threat and an insult to the
Britons Celtic traditions and as such rebelled. However, this rebellion
would fail and at some point Antedios would die, leaving Prasutagus and
Boudica as king and queen of the Iceni. The Romans seized more land
around Camulodunum to establish a colonia of veteran Roman soldiers,
resulting in the enslavement and execution of many local tribes in an
attempt to expand Roman influence, both materially and culturally in an
effort to “Romanize” the territory. In 52 AD the king of the
Catuvellauni, whom had been a leading figure in much of the resistance
up to this point, was captured by Rome. That same year, Ostorius died,
replaced as governor by Didius Gallus.
In 54 AD Emperor Claudius was poisoned, possibly by the mother of his
successor, Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus who became emperor of Rome.
Later in 58 AD Caius Suetonius Paullinus, replacing Didius Gallus,
became governor of Britain and began a vicious military campaign in
Wales. After successfully pushing to the north-western borders in 61 AD,
Suetonius reached the sacred Celtic groves on the isle of Mona. There,
they attacked the isle slaughtering the druids and what resistance was
there, cutting down the sacred groves that were located on the isle.
This would most likely have been an incredibly painful moment for the
Celtic tribes of Britain, and it wouldn’t have been unlikely for Boudica
to have heard of this assault against such an important spiritual
location.
In conjuncture to the brutality at Mona, Boudica’s husband Prasutagus
died. In death, Prasutagus left a will that was meant to split power
between Rome and the Iceni, however this had no legal precedence either
in Roman law or Celtic tradition and was therefore ignored. Under Roman
law the death of a client king meant that either a new one was to
replace them or Rome would take control of the territory directly. In
this case, it would be the latter. Boudica, now acting as the sole ruler
of the Iceni, was confronted by the procurator Decianus Catus, a
financial official of Rome. They began to take inventory of Iceni
property and lands, now considered property of Rome. When Boudica
objected to this, Boudica was beaten and their daughters were raped.
This violent act against Boudica and their daughters wouldn’t silence
them however. It would spark a fire that would be felt across Britain
and would not be forgotten.
After uniting with a number of other tribes resistant to Romes
imperialism, Boudica attacked Camulodunum, slaughtering the inhabitants
and burning it to the ground. The Roman legion Legio IX under the
command of Quintus Petillius Cerialis Caesius Rufus attempted to halt
the rebellion, but was ambushed by Boudica’s forces, escaping with their
cavalary leaving his remaining infantry to be slaughtered. At this point
Suetonius would learn of the rebellion and made their way from Mona to
Londinium, Boudica’s next target. However, much like Camulodunum,
Londinium had no walls or defenses and so Suetonius ordered the town
evacuated. Those whom remained were brutally executed by Boudica’s
forces.
Similarly to Camulodunum and Londinium, Verulamium, which had been
granted the title of municipium by Rome which allowed for a limited
amount of autonomy and participation in Roman government, was raided by
Boudica. Suetonius gathered an army of around 10,000 soldiers, made up
of the combined forces of Legio’s XIV and XX, as well as a number of
auxiliaries gathered from around the local area. Dio wrote that
Boudica’s forces number at around 230,000 warriors from various celtic
tribes that had allied themselves to Boudica’s cause. Where exactly
Suetonius and Boudica’s forces met in battle isn’t exactly known, though
some suggest it to be located around Watling Street (A5).
One might initially think that Boudica’s numbers would have played a
decisive factor in the battle. However, the training, equipment and
strategem of the Roman army would prove itself once again against the
might of the Celtic rebels. The Romans chose to position themselves in a
defile in which the woods would be at their back, with open country in
the front, taking advantage of an essentially natural fortification.
Boudica’s forces met Suetonius’s in the field, Boudica reportedly riding
in a chariot, commonly used by the Celts in warfare. The Romans opened
the battle with their throwing javelins, followed by a charge in wedge
formation, supported by cavalry on their wings. The long swords of the
Celtic warriors, which required relative space to swing properly, were
rendered ineffective on the cluttered battlefield that favored the
Romans shield formations, stabbing with their short swords into Celtic
lines. The chariots that the Celts favored proved completely useless
against an enemy that had effectively fortified their position. The
Celtic warriors weren’t even able to effectively retreat as they had
brought their wives in wagons, set up behind their lines to witness the
battle, effectively barricading themselves against retreat. The result
was an overwhelming Roman victory, slaughtering the Celts and pushing
Boudica to suicide, most likely in order to avoid capture by the Romans.
Tacitus reports around 80,000 causalities for the Celts and 400 for the
Romans.
Boudica’s revolt resulted in the death of about 70,000 Roman civilians
and 7,000 Roman soldiers, if Tacitus’s numbers are to be believed.
Boudica’s revolt, while a failure, shocked Roman society with its
tenacity and violence. Rome would eventually take control of Britain,
but the effects of Boudica’s rebellion are still felt to this day and
much can be learned from them and the Celtic warriors that fought by
their side. Lessons can be drawn from the successes, failures and
context of the insurrection itself.
Which is what Boudica’s revolt must be understood as, an insurrection.
An insurrection is a general uprising against the power structure. It is
usually a sustained rebellion over the course of days, weeks, months or
even years. It is a type of class war that involves a whole population
in an act of armed or semi-armed resistance. Sometimes mistakenly called
a rebellion, its character is far more combative and revolutionary.
Rebellions are almost totally spontaneous, short-term affairs. An
insurrection is also not the revolution, SINCE REVOLUTION IS A SOCIAL
PROCESS, RATHER THAN A SINGLE EVENT, but it can be an important part of
the revolution, maybe its final phase. An insurrection is a planned
violent protest campaign which takes the spontaneous revolt of the
masses to a higher level. Revolutionaries intervene to push rebellions
to insurrectionary stage, and the insurrection to a social revolution.
Source.
Under this definition, Boudica’s revolt meets all the criteria for an
insurrection. When we consider the revolts that proceeded Boudica’s from
the beginning of the Claudian invasion in 43 AD all the way to their own
ending in 61 AD, there exists eighteen years of prolonged
insurrectionary activity within Britain. Though not necessarily able to
be classified as a revolutionary process, the Celtic tribes of Britain
certainly were united in a sustained, multi-year long process of warfare
against Roman occupation. Boudica’s revolt was an extension of this
campaign, which is especially obvious when we consider the targets that
the Celtic insurrectionists chose and the kind of violence and
destruction unleashed upon Roman colonists and soldiers. Of note is
Boudica’s first target at Camulodunum, due to its establishment as a
colonia and especially for the temple to the emperor Claudius that had
been constructed there by emperor Nero in their honor. In assaulting
Camulodunum, the soldiers and survivors that were able to escape the
initial attack took shelter inside the temple itself. Archaeological
evidence suggests that the Celts burned Camulodunum to the ground,
including the temple. The Celts also, according to Roman reports,
slaughtered and mutilated much of the towns inhabitants, though to what
extent the Romans could judge with their own use of rape, torture,
slavery and gladiatorial blood sports is questionable.
Suffice it to say, the Celtic insurrectionists sought to remove the
Romans, and anyone who would ally with them, from Britain entirely. Of
the three locations that were assaulted by Boudica’s forces, Camulodunum
and Londinium were colonia. Verulamium itself was a Celtic community
that had accepted a degree of Romanization and was therefore seen as a
threat to Celtic autonomy due to their loyalty to Rome. A clear path of
anti-imperialism is present in the insurrectionary campaign of Boudica,
for personal as well as social, political, economic and spiritual
reasons. This campaign would culminate in the battle against Suetonius.
The Celts made a number of errors in regards to this particular battle.
Equipment wise, the Celts were highly under prepared for the type of
engagement that they were about to undertake. While the style of weapons
and battle dress of the Celts did not necessarily spell defeat for them,
it had to be undertaken with their strengths in mind against whatever
weaknesses could be exploited against their opponents, namely the Roman
military. However the Celts choose to meet the Romans in open battle,
something they were incredibly experienced with, in a position that
highly favored the Romans. Not only that but the Celts, under their own
arrogance, brought their wives in wagons with them, which would later
prevent them from escaping Roman slaughter. The Celtic failure at this
battle is quite disappointing given resistance up to this point,
especially given the strategic knowledge Boudica had employed
previously. There is an argument to be made that, had the Celts been
successful in this battle it very well may have completely halted Roman
incursion into Britain, at least for some time.
Boudica’s insurrection demonstrates that the struggle against domination
and oppression is not one that can be accomplished over night. It is an
evolutionary social process. Boudica’s insurrection was not the first in
Britain but rather a part of an established historical struggle. Without
that, Boudica would have had little to no reason to resist with the
tenacity that they did, barring their own obvious personal reasons for
doing so. This history would have given Boudica an understanding of what
and why Roman imperialism needed to be resisted. The colonization,
enslavement, murder, torture, rape and destruction of spiritual
practices and ritual sites that had taken place before Boudica’s
insurrection deeply informed their actions and strategy. It is why for
example they chose to burn Camulodunum and the temple built there as
they represented, both materially and symbolically, Roman domination
over their lands and peoples.
In order to struggle for our freedom against domination, we must
understand the history of that struggle for us to understand the context
of our current one. Not only that, but we must be united in our
struggle, otherwise it may fall apart without direction or understanding
of what we are fighting for. Finally, struggling against domination must
be understood within the evolutionary social process, that the struggle
for freedom itself will contain the potential for a free society within
it. These are the lessons that Boudica’s insurrection teach us, ones
that I am of the idea must be understood if we are not only to
understand the context of rebellions in our own time, but so that we may
push them towards their insurrectionary and quite possibly,
revolutionary potentialities.