Europe 60 AD: Boudica’s Rebellion

Political map of Europe & the Mediterranean on 15 Oct 60 AD (The Julio-Claudian Dynasty: Boudica’s Rebellion), showing the following events: Massacre of the Druids; Boudica’s Rebellion.

When the Roman client king of the Iceni died in around 60 AD, the Romans brutally annexed his kingdom, provoking the Iceni and neighboring tribes to revolt under the leadership of his widow Boudica in 60 or 61 AD. The uprising caught the Roman governor—who was on the other side of Britain suppressing the Druidic colony on Anglesey at the time—by surprise and Boudica destroyed three major towns, including Londinium (London), before he was finally able to rally his forces and defeat her.

[Actual date uncertain: Map depicts situation in fall of 60 or 61 just before Battle of Watling Street.]

Main Events

60? AD Massacre of the Druids

The island of Mona (Anglesey) was a center of the Druidic religion and formed a refuge for Britons fleeing the Roman conquest. In 60 or 61 AD the Roman governor of Britain, Suetonius Paulinus, led an amphibious invasion of the island, slaughtering the defenders—armed warriors, chanting Druids, and “frenzied women”—and destroying their sacred groves. However, at this point Suetonius received word of Boudica’s revolt and was compelled to hurry back to the mainland to deal with it.in wikipedia

60? AD Boudica’s Rebellion

In c.60 AD Prasutagus, Roman client king of the Iceni, died, naming the Roman Emperor and his two daughters his heirs. Instead of honoring his legacy, the Romans treated his kingdom as a conquest, lashing his widow Queen Boudica and raping his daughters. In 60 or 61, while governor Suetonius Paulinus was leading a campaign against the Druidic island of Mona (Anglesey), Boudica led the Iceni and the neighboring Trinovantes in an uprising, swiftly capturing and destroying the Roman town of Camulodunum (Colchester) and defeating reinforcements sent to stop her. Suetonius hurriedly returned to Londinium (London) to stop her, but, finding himself outnumbered, was forced to abandon both that town and Verulamium (St Albans) to the rebels. Regrouping, Suetonius met Boudica in battle somewhere along Watling Street, this time defeating her and bringing her revolt to an end.in wikipedia