In AD 60 King Prasutagus of the Iceni died. he was a client king and he decided to leave half his estate to the Emperor Nero to ensure that his wife Boudicca and his daughters would be allowed to continue ruling. Unfortunately the Romans who dealt with the matter plundered the kingdom, enslaved many of the Iceni, flogged Boudicca and raped her daughters. Tacitus wrote condemning the behaviour of the Romans involved but matters had gone beyond a strongly worded note.
The Iceni rose in rebellion and were joined by the Trinovantes who had had just about enough of the Romans. They headed for Colchester with its expensive temple dedicated to the Emperor Claudius and its triumphal arch…and no walls. The Roman army led by the provincial governor, Suetonius Paulinus, was on Anglesey and when the citizens of Colonia Victricensis sent to Londoninium for help there was only a small force available to assist.
It has to be supposed that the Roman villas outside the town were the first to be attacked and their inhabitants murdered. Then the Britons swept into the town, looting, destroying, killing and razing the colonia to the ground before it turned its attention to the hated Temple of Claudius. Today archeologists have their own name for that layer of soil – it’s the Boudicca destruction layer. Excavations have revealed smashed Samian ware pottery, glass that became so hot that it melted, carbonised dates and charred figs. The Fenwick Hoard tells the story of a panic stricken couple hiding their valuables beneath the floor of their home before fleeing. The fact that they never returned suggests that they were among the victims of the revolt. Oddly though, very few bodies have ever been discovered.
Tacitus recorded that those Romans who remained in Colchester sought sanctuary in the Temple of Claudius where they held out until they were finally overwhelmed and killed. Boudicca and the Britons swept through St Albans and on to London which also went up in flames. Suetonius and the Roman army dashed back towards London and in a set piece battle near St Albans, called the Battle of Watling Street, the Britons were defeated. Boudicca survived the battle and either died soon afterwards or took poison. No one knows where she is buried – and no its not under one of London’s railway stations.
For Colchester it meant the end of its time as the Roman capital. Even so, Colchester today reflects the lines of a Roman garrison and the first colonia in Britain. The town needed to be rebuilt and repopulated. Many of the houses were rebuilt on the same plots as before and most importantly the new town had walls. Today Colchester is proud of the fact it has the most complete Roman walls of any town or city in England. In places they were over six meters high and almost 2.5 meters thick – perhaps a case of bolting the stable door after the horse had well and truly bolted. A new theatre was built at Gosbecks, apparently capable of seating 5,000 people; a circus – the only one discovered thus far in this country; the Temple of Claudius was restored; more temples were built; workshops and shops sprang up; oysters from the region were exported across the empire.
During the next 350 years Colchester would see other uprisings and unrest. The third century saw inflation, a decline in the administrative system across the empire and increasing problems with raiders from outside the empire… more of that tomorrow. In the meantime when Colchester Town Hall was built, Boudicca, the queen who razed the town to the ground was commemorated by a statue and a stained glass window. The more famous statue is in London near Westminster Bridge, commissioned by Prince Albert, depicting the queen driving a war chariot like none that the Iceni would have driven…but its still one of my most favourite statues ever.
I’ve not read the MacKay book yet but am looking forward to doing so. Click on the image to open up the link in a new tab. And for those of you who like a more lighthearted moment, why not look up the wonderful Horrible Histories ‘Boudicca Song’ – what’s not to like?
