Tag: Camulodunum

Is Boudicca a Poster Girl For Intolerance and British Nationalism?

Boudicca was reinvented as a symbol of British nationalism, but does she represent the kind of intolerance and nationalism that we should protest?Re-invented by the Victorians, under the name of Boadicea, Boudicca (starring in this Ancient World in London video) was presented as an idol of nationalism, of British warrior tradition and, somewhat incongruently, as a figurehead of imperialism, even though this was the thing she had fought against. Her statue sits directly opposite Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, overlooking the River Thames at the very heart of London. There she stands in her chariot looking over the city like some kind of fierce guardian angel for the British. But what is she doing there? Should we really be touting Boudicca as a hero? Or does she represent the kind of nationalism and xenophobia that we should rail against?

Rebel Woman

In 60 and 61 AD the mighty Roman empire was attacked by a coalition of British rebels, led by a woman, a Celtic Queen who had been tortured, and her daughters raped, by the Romans. Driven by anger and revenge she lead her followers on a rampage through the heartlands of Roman Britain. Her name was Boudicca – in her Celtic language it meant ‘victory’, and she subjected the Roman IX Legion to a defeat that was rare even for the most elite soldiers in the ancient world. Her goal was clear: to get the Romans out of the lands her husband had ruled, and then out of Britain all together. She came close to succeeding, according to some accounts. The Emperor Nero was shaken enough to consider withdrawing from Britain, though ultimately he chose to stay but adopt a more ‘hearts and minds’ approach, as modern terminology might put it.

Kill Boadicea!

Boudicca was an historical figure – Boadicea is a created one, and I say it is time for us to kill off Boadicea, leaving only Boudicca open to historical scrutiny.

Boadicea has corrupted how we view Boudicca, giving Boudicca a heroic sheen that I don’t think she deserves. She was a freedom fighter, we cannot doubt that. The Romans had defiled her (and her young daughters) in the worst way possible and the Roman governor had declared that her kingdom (ruled her late husband) the property of Rome, without thought for the welfare of those within it.

There was a dishonourable descent from a freedom fighting force into a looting mob

She faced a choice between slavery, rebellion, or exile. It was justified, then, to lead an army against the Roman forces in Britain.The Romans were an occupying force, with a presence of less than 20 years on the land which had brought the Britons their livelihood for many generations. Boudicca gathered together rival tribes and formed a liberation army. If the motives of this force were good at first, they did not long remain so, and soon there was a dishonourable descent from a freedom fighting force into a looting mob. This took place ostensibly under her command – we have no reason to think it was not upon her orders that this change of tactic took place.

The city of Camulodunum (Colchester) was set ablaze, but not before widespread plunder, rape and slaughter occurred. The same treatment was given to the populous centres of London and Verulamium (St. Albans). How ironic is it then that in the centre of our houses of parliament, cited as the symbol of civic freedom and welfare, that we have a statue dedicated to the woman who wanted to ‘ethnically cleanse’ the British isles and to raze the burgeoning city that now commemorates her. It is as perverse as having a statue to the leaders of the fourth crusade erected in Constantinople, now Istanbul, or to Slobodan Miloevi in Vukovar. We should also ask ourselves what benefit Boudica brought to Britain. When we weigh that against what the Romans did for us, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to have a monument to Suetonius Paulinus, the then governor of Britain, who matched Boadicea in cruelty but at least stimulated the development of civilisation on these shores?

Queen Boudicca

The Romans hated her, the Celts fought for her and now she is immortalised with a statue in Westminster. But who was Boudicca? The latest video in the Ancient World in London series looks at how her name is often misspelt, how her bloodthirsty rage was caused by the death of her husband and raping of her daughters and how the Romans beat her to within an inch of her life. The story of how she sacked three Roman cities in Britain is uncovered, and how she fell at the Battle of Watling Street.

A Sack Too Far?

Boudica’s barbarians, as they entered London, were not the same force which stormed and liberated Camulodunum – London had never been their land. They did not make the distinction between native Briton and Roman immigrant as they looted and plundered. It seems as if we (English or British) have thrown our colours in with the Iceni tribe without stopping to consider the Atrebates or other tribal peoples victimised by Boudicca.

Ultimately Boudicca’s rebellion was brought to halt with a crash by a force of 10,000 Roman troops, even though her force was much larger and fighting ‘on home soil’. The battle is called the Battle of Watling Street, named after the Roman road somewhere along which it is thought to have taken place. Those in her command were a disorganised rabble, ill-equipped and ill-prepared for the tactics of the Romans. Boudica was suddenly out of her depth and her failure on the battlefield ended in disaster for her army. Caught between the Romans and their own wagon train, they died in a bloody, gory crush. Tragically, their families in the wagon train were not spared.

There is, then, no logical reason I can see to celebrate her so much as the English/British do (I’m English, by the way, if you hadn’t guessed). She is presented as our William Wallace, our underdog fighting against the big bad empire and doing that thing we love more than anything else – failing (‘but she ‘ad a bloody good go’).

Is Boadicea a Symbol of British Nationalism?

I suggest the word to explain the love of Boadicea is xenophobia. A red-haired, milk-skinned dame leading an army of men in tweed and woad against Jonnius Foreignus. She represents the now outdated mentality that our island is our castle and those who come here from abroad are to be repelled. She is often dragged out by ill-informed British nationalists as the poster girl for their hostility – amusing given they talk of themselves as Anglo-Saxons. How would Boudicca have reacted to the arrival of the Saxons I wonder?

The Boadicea statue in Westminster was placed in 1902, designed by Thomas Thornycroft, it is a beautiful and thrilling work of art; but it is becoming rapidly out of date against our modern sensibilities. Britain is now a country which welcomes guests from abroad and co-operation with other nations. It would be a tragedy if that statue was lost and little kids no longer asked parents Who is that?. But perhaps now it would be right to move it elsewhere, where it does not cast its shadow of violence and xenophobia onto the home of our government. Perhaps a better place would be back in Boudicca’s native Norwich or on the site of her great final battle, should we ever find it. There it could live solely as a reminder of a compelling historical figure, a wife and mother, who briefly bested the might of Rome.

Is Westminster the only location to worship Boudicca, or are there other locations in London and Britain where her image can be found? Snap a picture, submit it to our ‘Boudicca spotted in London’ photography contest and win some great Thames &Hudson Books!

Colchester’s Roman Circus ‘Will be Fantastic’

Model of starting gates at Colchester Roman CircusThis week campaigners reached a 200,000 target in their fight to save Colchester’s Roman circus. But it’s just the tip of an iceberg of red tape the circus must dodge to survive as a tourist attraction. And while the city’s leading archaeologist is thrilled the landmark figure has finally been made, he warns there’s much more work to be done.

Philip Crummy, director of Colchester Archaeology Trust, has long been fighting for the circus’ survival, and recongises the effort of everyone involved in keeping the dream alive: “We’re delighted that the sponsors and the public have been so helpful with this,” he says, “it’s been great. We’re now looking forward to moving on to the next stage – there’s a lot to do.”

The target is just one in a series of hurdles facing the campaign, which has already enlisted famous faces like Roman Mysteries author Caroline Lawrence, Time Team host Tony Robinson and TV historian Dan Cruickshank to fight its case. The future of the circus rests on the sale and restoration of the Sergeant’s Mess, a Victorian building sitting on top of the circus’ main gate. “This (money) is enough to do the first round of repairs,” says Philip. “The rest is from a mix of investors and public funding. It’s quite a technical process.”

“The result will be fantastic, and we’re determined to make it work.” – Philip Crummy

The trust plans to excavate the gate area, and open a state-of-the-art ‘interpretation area’, where visitors can experience a Roman day at the chariot races. Other parts of the mess will be made the trust’s headquarters. Philip hopes to have something in place by this summer: “It could take as long as two years to get the whole thing done though,” he says.

“It takes a year just to get planning permission,” Philip adds. “By the summer we could, if all goes as quickly as possible, be in a position to start repairing the building. If we do get into the building we’ll put in a temporary display.”

Artist's impression of Colchester's Roman Circus

Philip insists the long-term future of the project looks bright, with private and council initiatives leading the way: “We’re in talks with a major tea room company about leasing them part of the building. That will hopefully provide enough money to pay the running costs of the interpretation centre which actually won’t be very great. If we can get to that stage we feel there’s a really solid long-term business plan there that will allow us to do what we want to do.

“(The circus) is 10-15 minutes outside the town centre but the council have this idea that they’re going to develop a ‘heritage arc’, which will start at the museum up to St. Botolph’s Priory, up to St John’s Abbey gate and then to the circus. It will tie the circus to the town centre and to the castle.”

It has been five years since archaeologists stumbled across the circus on an evaluation dig for property developers. The fight to save it is understandable: not only is it the only Roman chariot racetrack in Britain, it’s also the biggest known example outside Rome itself. Little wonder the trust is keen to make it one of Colchester’s premier heritage sites. “It’s a difficult project with lots of problems,” says Philip defiantly. “But the result will be fantastic, and we’re determined to make it work.”

Click here to see an extended interview with Philip Crummy, on plans for the circus.

Check out our Ancient World in London video below, when we took Jamie on a guided tour round Colchester, Britain’s oldest city. You can still help save the Roman circus by visiting the campaign homepage and making a donation. Heritage Key – Unlock the Wonders.

Philip Crummy on the Future of the Colchester Roman Circus

Proposed Visitor CentreThis week a group of archaeologists and volunteers from Colchester Archaeological Trust and Destination Colchester attained their goal to raise 200,000 to buy a plot of land that covers the remains of part of what was once the only known Roman Circus in Britain. The appeal started as recently as December 2009, and was quickly won, with the help of celebrity endorsements and public goodwill. We spoke to Philip Crummy, Director of the Colchester Archaeological Trust about the achievement.

HK: Congratulations on raising the 200,000 sum you needed, how do you feel?

PC: We feel quite overwhelmed by it all, the response from the public has been fantastic, much better than we expected when we started and we’ve had all sorts of letters of support and donations that have made us think that what we’re doing is something people really want.

HK: And you’ve raised 200,000 so far, but I understand that there’s still a way to go.

PC: Well the 200,000 is roughly about a quarter of what we need to raise. That’s to pay for the public elements of the project. We have to raise around three times as much again. That’s a mixture of private money from investors to pay for other parts of the building and a mortgage for ourselves, the Archaeological Trust, to relocate into another part of the building – that will be about 230,000. We estimate there is another 150,000 worth of repairs required for the Sergeant’s mess building. Then we have two private investors to buy what space’s left in the building and bring in another 350,000 and that gets us pretty close to the total amount. So that’s how we’ll do it. The 200,000 pays for the public part of the project.

I think one of the reasons why it’s been as successful as it has been is because people, and I think it’s not just true of Colchester, feel that not enough is done with the heritage of the place. Colchester’s a very old city – it’s the oldest Roman town in the country and yet you could walk around the town centre and not get any sort of feeling about its Roman history.

HK: What time-frame do you have in mind to complete the repairs and get the circus excavated and the reconstructions completed?

PC: We hope within this year to be ready to move in to the building and then to submit an application, which will take a good year, to the Heritage Lottery Fund, to raise the money to do the displays to kit out the interpretation centre to a high standard because that particular stage of the operation wasn’t included in the current fund-raising. So I guess to get to the end of the process will perhaps take to the end 2011 but if we can get into the building before that we will mount an interim display for the public to visit while all that’s going on – that could be in the autumn of this year.

HK: And how much archaeological work is there to do?

Well the archaeological remains are about a quarter of a mile long and they’re all underground. You can’t see anything at all, the remains are lying about a foot under the modern ground surface, so what we want to do, we want to bring that to the surface by using mounds along the places where the seats were, having the garden where the actual starting gates were, uncovering a small part of the remains and trying to do a three-dimensional reconstruction to show what the original gates looked like.

HK:Have you been to any other sites which would provide a good model for what you’re trying to do?

Well, around what was the Roman Empire you can find around ten circuses where what’s left is substantially exposed, or different parts of them are exposed. All of those are exposed because they’ve got huge chunks of stonework and masonry which, because of the climates in those parts of the world, can withstand exposure. Our climate gives us a different sort of problem and if we exposed the remains they would very quickly disintegrate. So that’s why we’re not proposing to actually attempt to expose the remains for any kind of length of time because they would decay. So what we’re going to do is use in part three-dimensional artwork and in part reconstructions.

If you walk around the footprint of the circus, which is a quarter of a mile long, it’s strange because you might think that there’s not much to go on but if someone explained to you what it all was and just put across the scale of the thing, and the positioning of it on the ground, it’s worth coming to see. But we want to go beyond that and give a three dimensional representation of the starting gates themselves. It’s the job of the interpretation centre to bring the whole thing to life and we’re actually working on a computerised visualisation for that.

HK: What you’ve achieved should really give hope to the next group of people trying to save a heritage project.

I think one of the reasons why it’s been as successful as it has been is because people, and I think it’s not just true of Colchester, feel that not enough is done with the heritage of the place. Colchester’s a very old city – it’s the oldest Roman town in the country and yet you could walk around the town centre and not get any sort of feeling about its Roman history. I think we got this response partly because we found this extraordinary old building but partly I think there’s a sense of frustration that more should be done about it. I think that, because of this appeal, over the next one or two years councillors will start to pay a bit more attention to that aspect and put it a bit higher up on their agenda.

Visit Roman Colchester

Colchester, ne Camulodunon (a Celtic name meaning ‘fortress of the war god Camulos’), was near the summit of our Ancient World in London video hitlist, being just 55 miles from London in Essex. And thankfully we had the perfect guide: Howard Brooks, of the Colchester Archaeological Trust. The trust have been discovering and preserving the city’s history for decades. And it’s clear that Howard has lost none of his passion for archaeology.

HK: Do you feel the council gave you enough help? I understand they donated 30,000.

Well we didn’t actually officially ask them for money – they made it clear there wasn’t any. What we’ve actually agreed to do is to gift to the council the garden around the starting gates, because what actually started this whole thing up was that the area around the starting gates, under the current planning permission, were going to be part of a private garden. We feel very strongly that this isn’t right. Something as important as that should be in the public ownership.

HK: How financially sustainable is the interpretation centre and display going to be?

Well we’re in talks with a major tea room company about leasing them part of the building. That will hopefully provide enough money to pay the running costs of the interpretation centre which actually won’t be very great. If we can get to that stage we feel there’s a really solid long-term business plan there that will allow us to do what we want to do. It’s about 10-15 minutes outside the town centre but the council have this idea that they’re going to develop to create a ‘heritage arc’, which will start at the museum, go up to St. Botolph’s Priory, which is not very far away, up to St John’s Abbey gate and then to the circus. It will tie the circus to the town centre and to the castle.

HK: What does your success tell us about the British public and their interest in heritage?

It tells us what we already know: that many, many people feel the past is of some value, of interest and that it adds to the character of where they live. People feel heritage counts, it’s a part of life, it’s a part of history and that it’s something we need to nurture and look after and I think the success of the appeal just reinforces that.

Boudicca – The Battle-axe of Britain

What did Boudicca do to earn her place in the elusive Westminster? Image Credit - Burc Ozkan.The warrior Queen, the avenging mother, the woman scorned. Ask any English person who led ‘us’ in the fight against Rome and they will tell you about a woman whose fame outweighs her achievements. Called Boadicea, Boudicca or Boudica, she has a legendary status, like Vercingetorix in Gaul, as one of the leaders of the old world who fought with courage against Rome. Hopelessly outmatched in so many ways, they represented tradition, their religions and some would say freedom against foreign oppressors. The logistical capability and military precision of the Empire meant that resistance to Roman dominance was in the most part futile. Those who succeeded were few and far between. Boudicca led a rebellion which, literally and metaphorically, set Roman Britain ablaze, but in doing so guaranteed the destruction of her people and their way of life. I want to look at who she was and why she rebelled, and ask what her legacy really was. How did this woman from almost two millenia ago cement her place in British history? What did she do to warrant a statue in Westminster, just metres from the likes of Churchill, Cromwell and Richard the Lionheart?

Gradual Conquest

In the middle of the first century AD Rome had swallowed up territory from North Africa to the Near East, from Spain to Romania. At its north-western corner was Gaul, and beyond that the wild and untamed expanse of Britain, which Rome would never succeed in fully mastering.

The conquest of Britain was a piecemeal and gradual process over the course of many years. The first attempts were made by Julius Caesar in 55 and 54 BC. However, neither of these were made with much conviction. Both were aborted due to trouble in Gaul, but not before Caesar had established some client states on the British mainland. It took almost a hundred years before another emperor decided to have a bash at a more complete conquest. Claudius, emperor from 41 to 54 AD, sent his general Aulus Plautius to deal with attacks on the Roman clients within Britain. At that time there were two dominant tribal peoples, the Catuvellauni, north of the Thames and the Atrebates, south of it. The Catuvellauni rulers were descended from the leaders who had fought against Julius Caesar and had a tradition of resisting Roman influence. The Atrebates on the other hand enjoyed the benefits of ties to Rome, not least because they saw the advantage of ties to Rome for their rivalry with the Catuvellauni. Verica, the Atrebati Prince, gave Claudius cause to invade when he fled to Rome after Catuvellauni invasion of his lands.

Queen Boudicca

The Romans hated her, the Celts fought for her and now she is immortalised with a statue in Westminster. But who was Boudicca? The latest video in the Ancient World in London series looks at how her name is often misspelt, how her bloodthirsty rage was caused by the death of her husband and raping of her daughters and how the Romans beat her to within an inch of her life. The story of how she sacked three Roman cities in Britain is uncovered, and how she fell at the Battle of Watling Street.

The troops who travelled into Britain under Roman colours needed to be brave, for they were travelling to the very edges of ‘the world’ as they perceived it. Four legions, including terrifying war elephants (so Cassius Dio says) headed for the Catuvellauni capital of Camulodunum (modern Colchester), skirmishing with the Catuvellauni on the way. The native resistance was not strong enough and Claudius was able to join his general to personally lead the procession into the city.

From that point onwards each year saw a gradual opportunistic expansion further and further into Britain, as more Roman forces arrived and as tribes weakened against them. By 60 AD the Romans had invaded Anglesey, an island just off North Western Wales.

The Iceni were based to the North of Camulodunum, in modern Norfolk. They had lived in alliance with the Romans until the death of their leader Prasutagus in AD 60. The Romans saw the opportunity to claim valuable land. The alliance was annulled and the lands claimed as part of Roman governed Britain. The Iceni had a choice: give in to the Roman yoke, or resist behind the new Iceni leader. That leader was Boudicca, and her rebellion won her a prominent position in English history.

Outrages

Perhaps Prasutagus had been aware of Roman eyes hungrily looking towards his kingdom, perhaps he wanted to ensure the safety of his wife and daughters. For whatever reason, he left half of his Kingdom to the Roman empire upon his death. Whether this was part of a deal with Rome we do not know. But the Romans were not satisfied with half, they wanted the whole thing. Prestagus had unrepayed loans to the Roman governors, and his lands were to be forfeited. Also, Roman law didn’t recognise the right of a woman to inherit the kingdom. From their point of view, the Iceni lands were now entirely the property of Rome, and the Iceni nobles were just slaves. They rubbed salt into the the wounds of the Iceni by whipping Boudicca and, we are told by Tacitus, raping her daughters. This cruel humiliation did not break Boudicca’s will; in fact it drove her to seek revenge. The Iceni Queen met with the leaders of the Trinovanti tribe and together they conspired to rebel, with other smaller tribes joining their coalition. Boudicca was chosen to lead the rebellion, the woman whose name meant ‘Victorious’ in the Celtic language.

Emperor Claudius

Cassius Dio gives us this account of Boudicca’s appearance:

A Briton woman of the royal family and possessed of greater intelligence than often belongs to women… In stature she was very tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was harsh; a great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips; around her neck was a large golden necklace; and she wore a tunic of divers colours over which a thick mantle was fastened with a brooch. This was her invariable attire.”

If his description is accurate, she would have cut a striking figure as she advanced towards Camulodunum. Camulodunum had been Romanised. The army veterans who had settled there had taken native people as slaves and confiscated lands. In the city they built a Temple of Claudius – a symbol of the alien oppression. When the Romans of Camulodunum got news of the rebels coming their way they appealed to the army for help. However, the troops that were sent were no match for Boudicca’s force. The IXth Legion was routed and only a few of the cavalry survived to tell the tale. The Romans took refuge inside the temple, sentencing them to harrowing deaths as the rampant Britons set the city ablaze. The accounts we have, which may well be biased given their Roman point of view, paint a picture of a merciless foe, sparing nothing from destruction. The archaeological record backs this up – a thick layer of ash exists around two metres under the ground of Colchester to this day. Tacitus describes the fury:

The British did not take or sell prisoners, or practice war-time exchanges. They could not wait to cut throats, hang, burn, and crucify – as though avenging, in advance, the retribution that was on its way.

"[She had] a great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips; around her neck was a large golden necklace"Dio mentions worse still: impalement of noblewomen followed by the cutting off of their breasts, human sacrifice and debauched celebrations after the massacre.

Boudicca’s force pushed on to their next targets, the Roman hubs at Verulamium (now St. Albans) and finally Londinium. With the bulk of the Roman force in Britain far off in Anglesey, all the colonists could do was retreat and watch the burning skies above their adopted home towns. The death toll is estimated at 70-80,000 people in these cities. This included the deaths of many non-Romans who were between the Britons and their plunder.

The Bloody Tide Turns

The Roman governor Suetonius Paulinus had been away with his forces in Angelsey, returning to London in time to flee from the rebel force, which was gathering in size like a rolling snowball. After the sacking of London Paulinus gathered together 10,000 troops and took them to an unknown location where they met the much larger rebel force. Tacitus talks of an army of 230,000, but we can take that claim with a pinch of salt as the population of the entire British mainland is estimated to have been between only 1 and 1.5 million. The Battle, called the ‘Battle of Watling Street’ as it happened somewhere along the route of that particular Roman road, had a predictable outcome.

If we compare the two armies, the differences were in more than just size. The Roman force was made up of professional soldiers equipped with weapons designed specifically to kill humans and dressed in high-tech plated body armour and helmets. The disorganised mob they faced were poorly equipped, in part due to Roman enforced de-armament of the Iceni. Their force was of men and, according to Tacitus, also women, and behind the soldiers was a crescent-shaped wagon train made up of the families who had followed their kin to the battlefield. Chariots – probably without the Persian-style bladed wheels as seen on Boudicca’s statue – circled the warriors, shooting missiles towards the Romans. The chariot has become synonymous with Boudicca.

Suetonius Paulinus chose a location where his two sides were flanked by a gorge, and his rear protected by dense forest. Tacitus’ father-in-law was Agricola, future governor of Britannia, who fought in the battle under Paulinus, and this connection gave Tacitus special insight into what happened next. We are told Paulinus made a speech to his troops:

“Ignore the racket made by these savages. There are more women than men in their ranks. They are not soldiers – they’re not even properly equipped. We’ve beaten them before and when they see our weapons and feel our spirit, they’ll crack. Stick together. Throw the javelins, then push forward: knock them down with your shields and finish them off with your swords. Forget about booty. Once we have one we’ll take everything.”

And then Boudicca’s screaming army rushed forwards. Their first wave was met by two volleys of the Roman pilum javelins, and many of them were killed, wounded or their shields made useless. With no other tactic in her arsenal Boudicca sent wave upon wave against the Roman shield wall. The Roman spirits held against the onslaught and their tactic of shifting places in the ranks ensured the men on the front of the formation were always fresh to continue the butchery. As the Britons tired the Romans formed a tight formation of wedges, advancing into the field slowly and with crushing precision. We can imagine the horror of the onlookers amongst the British wagon train, as they saw the Romans advance and the Britons break against the gnashing teeth of the wedges. Then the cavalry charged into the wavering force. The remnants of Boudicca’s army tried to flee, but were sandwiched between the Romans and baggage train, a horrific killing field was created and the Romans spared no one. Tacitus’ appraisal was of 80,000 Britons dead, compared to only 400 Romans, although historians are sceptical of these figures.

What of Boudicca? Did she die in the battle? We do not know. Tacitus tells us she poisoned herself rather than face the terrible repercussions the Romans would have inflicted. Dio disagrees and says she fell ill and died. There is also no record of her daughters, who may have followed their mother into battle. We can imagine that Boudicca would have done all in her power to prevent them from falling into enemy hands again.

Boudica rallies her troops as they prepare to battle.This did not stop the reprisals. Paulinus led punitive actions against any remaining opposition, and in doing so only exacerbated relations with the populace. By this time Nero was emperor and he was concerned by Paulinus’ approach, ultimately replacing him with a more amicable governor.

Boudicca’s rebellion had cost perhaps as many as 100,000 lives by the time the last strike fell in anger (my own estimate based on more conservative versions of the Roman figures). She had destroyed the lives of many inhabitants of her former kingdom and weakened the other tribes in her coalition. In battle she had been nave and this ultimately seems to have cost her her life and maybe also those of her daughters. Subjected to cruelty herself, in her rage she perpetuated the cycle of violence and it seems did so without a great deal of discrimination between Roman and Briton. As a result she justified Paulinus’ own crackdown.

Her rebellion was absent from history until its rediscovery during the Renaissance. If archaeologists were ever to find her burial place it would be perhaps the greatest find yet in the British isles, as she is intertwined with Victorian nationalism. Queen Victoria was called the (metaphorical) reincarnation of Boudicca, and the romanticised image of the Celtic queen sprung a life of its own. The anti-imperialist became a heroine of a new empire claiming dominion of other far-off lands, a final twist of irony in the tale of Boudicca.

AWiL Video Series – Colchester, Britain’s First Roman City

Colchester can lay claim to a bevy of titles: some impressive, some not so. For instance, you might not know that it’s the first-ever town in Britain, founded as a Roman soldiers’ outpost shortly after Claudius‘ 43AD landing. You may also be unaware that it’s the home of Mary Whitehouse, Colchester United and Darren Day. A mixed bag, admittedly.

But there’s no denying Colchester’s history runs deep, and the wealth of ancient history lurking above ground could put central London to shame. Walls, churches, castles and priories are the lasting evidence of a town which became the capital of England in its Roman infancy, before the brutality of Boudicca and her marauding Celts saw to its total destruction in 60AD. Later years saw the city rebuilt by the Romans, before Saxons and Normans stamped their fearsome mark upon it.

Colchester, ne Camulodunon (a Celtic name meaning ‘fortress of the war god Camulos’), was near the summit of our Ancient World in London video hitlist, being just 55 miles from London in Essex. And thankfully we had the perfect guide: Howard Brooks, of the Colchester Archaeological Trust. The trust have been discovering and preserving the city’s history for decades. And it’s clear that Howard has lost none of his passion for archaeology. “It’s a thrill to be a digger working on a site as rich as this in Colchester,” he says.

“It’s a thrill to be a digger working on a site as rich as this in Colchester.”

Our first stop lies predictably on the outskirts of central Colchester, where the Roman wall (Check out our Top Ten Roman Walls)is a poignant reminder of Boudicca’s bloodthirsty rampage. Built just after her revolt in 60AD, it’s still visible in giant chunks today. The Balkerne Gate is a triumphant arch and watchtower at the mouth of the ancient city. “This is where the guards who would have been stationed in theory to say ‘Halt! Who goes there?'” says Howard. Most of the gate still stands, including lumps of Roman waterproof mortar, which allowed them to build in the less-than-tropical climates of East Anglia.

There’s a lot more of Colchester’s Roman wall left than in London, a large part of which we visited last week with Ian Smith(Watch that video). This may be because Colchester was the first city to feel the wrath of the Boudiccan Revolt, an incredible piece of British history. Boudicca, an Iceni queen native to modern Norfolk, was betrayed by the Roman British governer, beaten and her daughters raped. Understandably enraged, Boudicca rounded up her Celtic men and marched on Colchester, London and StAlbans in 60AD, burning each city to the ground and killing up to 80,000 people in the process. To this day, a layer of burned soil in each city is testament to the ubiquity of her destruction.

The Balkerne Gate, Colchester

Boudicca would eventually meet a mysterious end a year later, defeated by the Roman governer at the Battle of Watling Street, whereabouts unknown, and slain in battle or by her own hand, depending on who you believe. Colchester, or what was left of it, was rebuilt, and the walls duly went up to avoid a bloody repeat. Colchester would then play second fiddle to London for its entire history, losing capital status but remaining an important outpost.

The Roman assimilation of Britain continued at break-neck speed until the 4th century AD. And the empire’s progressiveness is shown in Colchester’s Roman church, oddly found at the foot of a modern roundabout. “It’s almost 300 years after the Roman invasion we became officially Christianised,” says Howard. Before Constantine led the empire’s conversion in 313, Britain was still worshipping pagan gods like Mithras (see his temple in London here) and the Roman emperor, who was also officially a god.

Later centuries saw the Saxons bringing their versions of Christianity to the country, and Holy Trinity Church in Colchester’s city centre shows perfectly the ramshackle nature of Saxon architecture. “It’s been built out of Roman material, stone, brick and tile that has been recycled from the Roman houses around here,” says Howard.

Saint Botolph's priory

Our next stop is the Roman theatre, discovered in the 1980s, lying strangely inside a house in Colchester’s Dutch Quarter. This is “where they had gladiatorial contests and also probably addresses of the council and meetings,” says Howard. Its current home, inside a small house in the city’s Dutch quarter, only adds to its mystique.

Howard takes us round St Botolph’s Priory, Britain’s first such Augustinian priory, and Colchester Castle, the largest-ever Norman keep, before telling us about Colchester’s hottest story: the Roman circus. Discovered in 2005, it’s Britain’s only chariot-racing track, and the biggest outside Rome.

The trust is understandably excited – especially now a fundraiser to save the site from development has just reached its 200,000 target (see the full story here). “It’s like Ben Hur, it’s a place where the Romans raced chariots competitively round a long circuit,” says Howard. The trust hopes to preserve the circus as an interactive centre where you can see chariots racing on a big screen. We leave Colchester praying they can make it happen.

HD Video: Colchester/Camulodunon (Save Our Roman Circus)

(Click here to read a transcript of this video)

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London’s Best Invaders – The Roman Traders

When it comes to invading marauders, who had more influence in shaping London? To my mind, the Romans will win this hands down. They came, they saw, and they started building drains, underfloor heating and fancy mosaics. They also had awesome military organisation and ferocious fighting techniques, but I think the Romans should be remembered as the invaders to beat all other invaders for a slightly different reason.

There’s no doubt they completely transformed the landscape of London. If it wasn’t for the Romans, Southwark would still be flooded by salt water twice a day. If Julius Caesar hadn’t landed in 55 BC, the thousands of Londoners that commute into the City would to this day be paddling across the Thames in boats instead of walking over London Bridge (fact based on the sound logic that the Romans built the first bridge across the Thames near the site of today’s London Bridge). This may not be a strict fact, but I liked the image of people in smart suits rowing across a bridge-less Thames to get to work. See, life without the Romans just wouldn’t be much fun.

London Transformed From Marshland

What is a fact, though, is that when Claudius’s armies conquered Brythonic tribes in 43 AD, the Romans arrived on the

They came, they saw, and they started building drains, underfloor heating and fancy mosaics

banks of the river Thames and found… well, not that much really. At the most, there may have been a smattering of Iron Age dwellings dotted around the area, but nothing resembling a village let alone a town. There may have been quite a good reason for the lack of Celtic settlers in the area namely the fact that Southwark was marshland while much of the north side of the river was threaded with watery areas and tributaries. While the Celtic tribes had built their oppidums in places such as Camulodunum (Colchester), they hadn’t much fancied setting up home on the water-logged banks of the Thames. Who can blame them?

The Roman Business Brain

But this didn’t stop the Romans, mainly because they had a sharp eye for one thing in particular. Yes, they liked their mosaics, their hot baths and pagan temples but more than all those things, the Romans were canny businessmen. By the first century AD they had become the supreme traders of the Mediterranean and had the organisational skills, methodical planning and sophisticated knowledge of mechanics, construction and industry to enable them to make money almost anywhere.

They saw their chance to set up a colony that had good sea access, while being sheltered, and also positioned at a certain distance inland, within reach of various Celtic tribes. In short, the Romans spotted a business opportunity.

So although it was the Roman legions who first set up camp and found a good place for Londinium’s first bridge across the Thames, it wasn’t long before the traders and merchants moved in. They, in my opinion are the true Roman invaders of London. Although they initially came to provide services to the military camp, industry and long-distance trade soon followed and enabled the town of Londinium to grow and flourish.

Whether the merchants and traders would all have been Roman citizens, I’m not sure. It might be more likely that some were traders who moved to Londinium from other parts of Britain, or other parts of the empire, creating the very first cosmopolitan multi-race centre on the Thames.

Anyway, the traders were tenacious and resilient, building the town up from scratch. They probably had to endure uncomfortable conditions, and probably lived in a town that must have looked more like a muddy, swampy building site during the first century at least. It would have been a far cry from the marble-clad monuments of imperial Rome (although living conditions in Rome’s insulae weren’t great either).

When Boudica’s army sacked and burned Londinium in around 60 AD, some of the town’s inhabitants fled while thousands who couldn’t leave were killed. Nevertheless, within a decade or two, the town was rebuilt and was once again thriving.

Without the tenacity of the traders who populated, built and rebuilt early Londinium, the town might never have been much more than a Roman military camp. In my opinion, the town’s Roman traders are the real invaders who put Londinium on the map and created the blueprint for what the city was to become over the next two millennia.