Boadicea

Boadicea (bō"udisē'u) [key], d. A.D. 61, British queen of the Iceni (of Norfolk), properly called Boudicca. Her husband, King Prasutagus, died in A.D. 59 or 60, leaving half his property to the Roman emperor and half to his daughters. The Romans, however, seized the kingdom and began to despoil it, thus provoking the Iceni to revolt. Boadicea led them in sacking Colchester, London, and Verulamium (St. Albans). Her army was eventually crushed by the Roman governor Caius Suetonius Paulinus, and Boadicea took poison.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

• • Cite
  • Print