BOUDICCA

died AD 60 also spelled Boadicea ancient British queen who in AD 60 led a revolt against Roman rule. Boudicca's husband, Prasutagus, was king of the Iceni (in what is now Norfolk) as a client under Roman suzerainty. When Prasutagus died in 60 with no male heir, he left his private wealth to his two daughters and to the emperor Nero, trusting thereby to win imperial protection for his family. Instead, the Romans annexed his kingdom, humiliated his family, and plundered the chief tribesmen. While the provincial governor Suetonius Paulinus was absent in 60, Boudicca raised a rebellion throughout East Anglia. The insurgents burned Camulodunum (Colchester), Verulamium, the mart of Londinium (London), and several military posts; massacred (according to Tacitus) 70,000 Romans and pro-Roman Britons; and cut to pieces the Roman 9th Legion. Paulinus met the Britons at a point thought to be near present-day Fenny Stratford on Watling Street and in a desperate battle regained the province. Boudicca took poison or died of shock.