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| Boadicea .... a souvenir kiosk at her base, a fast food stall to her right and ignored by those about her |
Whenever I visit London, I always go and look at the
memorial to Boadicea on the Embankment.
I love this memorial to the great Warrior
Queen and have walked passed it too many times to count. I have taken many people to see it since I
consider it to be one of the most important sites of the City. In recent years, I have noticed that each
time I visit London, the memorial appears to interest visitors less and less
and has slipped into the background like so many statues to past kings,
statesmen and other once-prominent dignitaries.
Today there is a souvenir stall in front of the plinth, which obscures
viewing, and a fast food stall
adjacent to it that causes the air around the memorial to be filled with the odour
of heated fat. But these are not the
only insults that one of the greatest Britons to ever live is now forced to
endure. Recently the area became a focal
point for tourists wanting to have their pictures taken with The London Eye on the South Bank. Unfortunately the Eye has totally eclipsed the memorial resulting in Boadicea slipping
more and more into the background and being completely ignored.
During my last visit to London, I once again walked
across Westminster Bridge just as I have many times before and made my way to
the memorial. Although it was late on a
Sunday evening, the area was still filled with tourists each jostling the other
to get their picture with the London Eye. I
moved into their midst and stood before the memorial and looked up at
Boadicea. She looked as she always did,
standing proudly in her chariot and ready to go off into battle with her
daughters at her side. There stood the
mighty Warrior Queen, once the symbol
of British resilience, and now all but forgotten by her own people.
 |
Westminster Bridge |
I looked at the visitors around me. They were all from elsewhere and each spoke in a different tongue. It was obvious that they were thrilled to have seen Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and were now excited by the site of the London Eye. Not wanting to be a spoil sport, I agreed to take pictures for some of the people when they asked and even agreed to be in a few of their photographs. However, I found it disconcerting that no one seemed to notice the memorial.
However into the midst of clicking cameras and flashing
light came a group of Italians. They were a jolly group, laughing and joking
as they made their way across the street.
They quickly joined the throng and began snapping photographs of
themselves with the Eye. They were obviously enjoying themselves
and laughed heartily as they took turns to take a picture of their
friends. Once done, the photographer
quickly rejoined the group to pose for additional pictures taken by another
member. I was enjoying watching the
group have fun and it struck me that it would nice if they had one picture
where they all appeared together. I
offered to take a group picture for them.
They were delighted and a small camera was thrust into my hand and I was
given a quick lesson on which button to push.
They all lined up and I took the photograph while they were all
laughing. Immediately they all crowded around
to look at the picture. They were
evidently delighted with the result and found myself being literally dragged
into the middle of the group to be part of another series of photographs.
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| Tourists enjoying having their photographs taken with the London Eye - Boadicea is to the right of the picture |
This would have been a delightful ending to my
evening, but it was to get better. A
member of the group who evidently spoke the most English came forward and asked
if I knew anything about the statue behind us.
I was overjoyed that someone had noticed Boadicea. They listened attentively while I told them
about her, her daughters and her deeds. This
took a few minutes since my words had to be translated for the benefit of those
in the group that did not speak English.
Meanwhile, the number of listeners grew and before I finished there was
a huge group around me who had listened and heard of the mighty deeds of the Warrior Queen who had risen up and
rebelled against the Romans and who had later died in battle and went on to
take her place in legend and myth.
At the end of my discourse, I received a round of
applause and some of the audience took pictures of Boadicea and me. After thanking me for telling them about the
memorial, the merry band of Italians ran across the road, just having a bus
miss them, and disappeared off into the night to take pictures of Big Ben.
---ooOoo---
I was very young when I first saw the statue of Queen
Boadicea on the Embankment. Being young
and impressionable, I was totally bowled over by it. Who would not be? Here, towering above me was a woman with her
head held high, standing in a chariot with fierce looking knives coming out of
the wheels and about to go into battle and give chase to those Romans who dared
to insult her, her daughters and her tribe.
Now here she stood with determination on her face to take back her land
and revenge her humiliation. This was
inspirational stuff – the stuff that any kid would immediately identify with
and be ready to join her in battle.
Unfortunately the name Boadicea has dreadful
connotations and is decidedly out-of-fashion and no parent would consider
saddling their daughter with such a name today.
To most people, the name conjures up images of a huge Wagnerian creature
complete with long platted fair hair poking out from a brass helmet, with or
without horns, and with a breastplate over a long white flowing robe and
carrying a spire while screeching out a loud, ear-piercing war cry. The name is now commonly used to insult female
politicians and any woman of determination that appears threatening to her
colleagues. Although its use is intended
to insult, if one thinks about its implication, being likened to the real or even the mythical Boadicea,
should be considered a complement. Boadicea
rose up as a result of insult and injustice, not only against herself and her
daughters, but also towards her people.
Boadicea, according to the Roman historians Tacitus (56 AD – AD 117) and Dio (150 AD
– 235 AD), was of royal descent and Dio
wrote that she was possessed of greater intelligence
than often belongs to women.
She was also credited with being tall and with hair that was
reddish-brown or tawny and which hung below her waist. She was also said to have a harsh voice and a
piercing glare, and habitually wore a large golden necklace over a
many-coloured tunic and a thick cloak fastened by a brooch. I am not surprised that she was said to have a piercing glare. I have never met a determined woman yet that
did not have such a glare. Women have to
use every attribute at their disposal, especially in days-gone-by, so as not to
be downtrodden and abused.
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| The Look as modelled by my Mother |
When I was young my own view of Boadicea was naturally different from the more official one. I imagined her to be a determined and forceful woman – a woman of great intelligence who ruled with an iron hand, but with a hand that was none-the-less tempered with mercy. I saw her as someone who stood up for her beliefs and who would rather die than compromise. I don’t believe that I thought of her necessarily as a great beauty, but I believed her to have been striking, with long red hair cascading down beyond her shoulders. Her eyes, I saw as large and clear and with an ability to bore deep into your soul. Her lips had to be full and tempting. I obviously thought of her as a temptress with an allure that was irresistible. I once heard that Cleopatra used her wiles to achieve her aims. I liked to think that Boadicea was made in a similar mold. I definitely saw Boadicea as a woman above everyday morals – after all she was a leader – a warrior queen – she was, after all She who must be obeyed!
I have to laugh now when I think of my image of
Boadicea. I fear that I imagined her as
someone like a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Xena, the Warrior Queen.
But what is actually known about the real Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni Tribe? Very little that is based in fact. Even her name is subject to debate. According to many historians, her name was Boudica or Boudicca. However others have
called her Voadicia, Bunduca, Buddug or Boadicea. By the nineteenth
century, Boadicea became the usual way of spelling her name. It is thought that the name resulted from a
miss-transcription of Boudicca when a
manuscript of the historian Tacitus
was being copied in the middle ages.
The Iceni
was a tribe that once occupied Norfolk and north-west Suffolk and were bordered
on the west by the Cortitani and
fenland and on the south by the Atrebates. Initially, the tribal lands and people were
not part of the Roman Empire, but voluntarily joined following the conquests of
the Emperor Claudius in 43 A.D. The Iceni
were fiercely independent and revolted against the governor when threats
were made to disarm them in 47 A.D. At
this time, inter-tribal struggles were renewed and which blossomed into a full-scale
revolt against Rome. Once the Roman
legions crushed the revolt, the king, Prasutagus,
was granted client king status. A client
king was a term used to describe a leader of a state where the economic, political and/or military affairs of the state became
subordinate to a more powerful one, namely Rome.
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| Norfolk & Suffolk - Lands of the Iceni |
Prasutagus lived a long life and enjoyed much wealth. In an attempt to maintain his dynasty, he made the Emperor together with his wife and daughters joint heir to the Iceni lands. Rome allowed allied kingdoms independence for the lifetime of their client kings just as long as they left their kingdoms to Rome in their wills. Once a client king died, his kingdom became incorporated into the Empire. In addition, Roman law did not allow inheritance to pass through a woman. When Prasutagus died in 60 A.D., the Iceni kingdom became part of the Roman Empire and the people were treated as if they had been conquered. Lands and property were taken by Rome and the people were treated as slaves. According to Tacitus, when Boadicea complained, she was flogged and her daughters raped. At the same time, payment of the debts incurred by Prasutagus by borrowing Roman money was demanded and repayment became liable by the Iceni. Boadicea rebelled against Rome and with the Trinovantes, a neighbouring tribe, the town of Camulodunum (near Colchester) was destroyed including a temple to the Emperor Claudius. She and her followers went on to successfully plunder Verulamium (St. Albans) and Londinium (London).
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| Londinium: Upper right - remains of the city wall; Lower left - The Temple of Mithras |
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| Verulamium (St. Albans): Upper left, amphitheatre; Upper right, mosaic Lower: remains of Roman walls |
According to Tacitus
and Dio, between seventy and eighty
thousand people were killed during these battles. Apparently, the Iceni had no interest in taking prisoners and were brutal in their treatment
of their enemies. Dio gives a graphic account of the torture methods used by the Iceni and their allies.
When news of the rebellion reached the Governor, Suetonius Paullinus, who at the time was away on the
Island of Mona (Anglesey) fighting
rebels and druids, left for Londinium. Although founded only in 43 A.D., Londinium had grown quickly into a busy
commercial centre and home to many traders.
Suetonius Paullinus’ journey took him through hostile
territory along Watling Street. Watling Street was an ancient trackway
between Canterbury and St. Albans. Later
the Romans paved and lengthened the street and today, the route is forms the A 2 London to Dover and A 5 London to Wroxeter (in Shropshire) Roads.
Once he arrived at Londinium,
Suetonius Paullinus realised
that he was outnumbered by Boadicea’s forces and decided to abandon the town to
the Iceni, much to the chagrin of the
populace, choosing to regroup and to
engage them at a more suitable site.
While Boadicea and her forces were destroying Verulamium, Suetonius Paullinus managed to mass
together roughly ten thousand men and made a stand in a defile (a gorge between mountains and hills) with a wood behind him
at some point along Watling Street in
the West Midlands probably close to High Cross in Leicestershire. By the time the two opposing forces met, it
is believed that Boadicea commanded over two hundred thousand followers. Although markedly outnumbered, the Roman
forces had the advantage of having better equipment at their disposal and being
more disciplined. Also of advantage to Suetonius Paullinus and his troops was the location chosen for the battle. The battle field was narrow, which meant that
Boadicea could not bring more troops into play at any one time than the Romans.
According to Tacitus, Boadicea addressed her troops
before battle. Apparently she told them
that she was an ordinary person who
wished to avenge her lost freedom, her
battered body and the abused chastity of her daughters. She is also said to
have declared that their cause was just and that the gods were on their
side. Finally, she said that she, a woman, was resolved to win or die and
concluded by telling her followers that if they wished to live in slavery, this
was to be their choice. Strong words and
just the kind of stuff that was guaranteed to carry her into immortality!
Tacitus
says
that some eighty thousand Britons were killed compared with only eight hundred
Romans. However, no matter how many
died, Boadicea lost the battle and the Iceni
and their allies that survived were returned to a life under the yoke of
Rome. It is unsure how Boadicea
died. One report says that she poisoned
herself upon defeat while another says that she died of her wounds and was
given a lavish burial. Regardless of
what these accounts say, I like to think that Boadicea stood tall in her
chariot with her two daughters at her side and rode up and down the Roman ranks
mowing those that had dared to treat her and her children so poorly until a
spire flung in the air reached her heart. I also like to think that, as she
died, she maintained hold of the reigns of her horses and continued to have her
revenge against tyranny and brutality!
The area of King’s Cross in London has often been
associated with Boadicea and the Iceni tribe.
King’s Cross was once known as Battle Bridge, which came from the name
of the bridge crossing the River Fleet here.
The name led to the belief that this was the site of a major battle
between the Iceni and the
Romans. However, this belief has no
historical evidence and has been rejected.
In addition, it was once claimed that Boadicea was buried between
platforms 9 and 10 at the station and she is said to haunt the passages beneath
the station. Perhaps it was also
believed that she died here during the rush to catch the last train home on a
Friday night!
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| Could it be that Boadicea is buried beneath a platform at Kings Cross Station? |
I was amazed to learn that the deeds of Boadicea were
all but forgotten by the Middle Ages.
However, with the rediscovery of Tacitus’
writings during the Renaissance, Polydore Vergil (or Virgil) (c. 1470 –1555), the Italian historian chosen by Henry VIII to write his
and his father’s history, reintroduced Voadicea,
as he called Boadicea, back
into British history. Her deeds were also
recorded in Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles
in 1577, which was to inspire the play, Bonduca,
written by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, contemporaries of
Shakespeare, in 1610. However, it was
not until Victorian times that Boadicea deeds joined the ranks of legend. Since a woman reined over Britain at this
time, this is perhaps not too surprising and Queen Victoria was likened to
Boadicea. Tennyson wrote a poem about
her and four ships were named for her during Victorian and Edwardian
times. The first ship to be named H.M.S. Boadicea was a 38-gun launched
in 1797 and used for harbour service from 1854 until she was finally broken up
in 1858.
Despite having a play and a poem written about her
and having a number of ships named for her, it is the great bronze statue of
Boadicea standing tall and proud in her war chariot with those deadly knives or
scythes projecting out from the wheels with her two daughters seated beside her
that helped raise the Warrior Queen
to legend statue and brought her to the attention of the world. Prince Albert (1816-1861) commissioned Thomas
Thornycroft (1815–1885), the
sculptor and engineer, to produce the equestrian statue. However, it was not cast in bronze until 1902 long after
Prince Albert and Thomas Thornycroft’s deaths.
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| Left, Prince Albert; Right, Thomas Thornycroft |
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| On one side of the base of the statue are written the words: This statue by Thomas Thornycroft was presented to London by his son Sir John Isaac Thornycroft and placed here by the London County Council A.D. 1902 |
The statue was
completed in 1905 and stands at the north-east corner of Westminster Bridge
with Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament across from
it. The following lines are inscribed
on it and refer to the British Empire:
Regions Caesar never knew
Their posterity shall sway.
This is somewhat
ironic since Boadicea rebelled against the authority and tyranny of Imperial
Rome, but now finds herself memorialized and identified with the head of the
British Empire and with her statue placed in a prominent setting in the city
that her forces once destroyed.
In 1978, Thames Television made a television
series for Independent Television in
Britain based on the life of Boadicea entitled Warrior Queen. Sian Phillips
played the title role. She had
previously played Livia, the mother
of Claudius, in the television
series, I Claudius, which was based
on the books of Robert Graves – I Claudius
and Claudius the god. Ms Phillips has made a number of films and is
an accomplished stage actress having received rave reviews for her portrayal of
Vera Simpson in the revival of Pal Joey on the London stage in 1980 and
later in Calendar Girls.
In 2003, the television film, Boudica, was produced with Alex Kingston playing the queen, and playing her very well, I thought. Ms Kingston had been seen previously in The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders and ER and later in Doctor Who, where she played River Song.
In 2003, the television film, Boudica, was produced with Alex Kingston playing the queen, and playing her very well, I thought. Ms Kingston had been seen previously in The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders and ER and later in Doctor Who, where she played River Song.
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| Alex Kingston - The Warrior Queen |
References:
---ooOoo---
After the tourist number had begun to dwindle, I noticed the food stall beside the memorial and saw a young server finishing her work before closing-up for the night. She was an attractive young woman with a nice smile and with long dark hair swept into a pleat behind her. She had a certain voluptuous quality that could not be hidden by her work garment. We began talking and I discovered that she was Brazilian and came from Rio de Janeiro. She said that she was a Cariocas, which is what the people who are born in Rio de Janeiro are called in Brazil. I told her that I was a Cockney and explained what that meant. She laughed and said that we obviously have much in common since we were both proud of where we were born. She said that she had been working on the stall for about a year while also attending college. A friend had spoken to the owner and she got the job when the previous worker left. We talked about her life in Brazil and her life in London. She seemed relatively happy although she was tired of being asked for directions to various London sites by the multitudes that stopped by her stall. We laughed and our conversation turned to talk of:
Orpheu Negro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KznlNRyjUg),
Samba (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CxcnB16Tyk) and
the Bossa Nova (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSZAuCqN3_M).
She was impressed that I knew of: Antonio Carlos Jobim and his music:
and laughed when I told her that I knew some of the words of:
Mas Que Nada (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrZBiqK0p9E).
She began to sing the song and I joined in where I could. At the end, we both felt a certain sadness; her for her home and me for the time when I first heard that song.
As we spoke, I could not help but wonder if this was
how Boadicea had once looked before the Romans had treated her so
shabbily. The young lady stood erect
with wide open eyes and maintained a certain regal quality despite her
surroundings. I pointed to Boadicea and
asked her if she knew who she was. She
smiled and said that she had not, but had listened to what I had told the
Italians earlier. She said that she
found my story interesting and that she would now be certain to tell her
customers the story of the Warrior Queen in
future.
.JPG)
