Queen Boudicca (30 AD–60/61 AD)

After the Roman invasion of south-eastern Britain in 43AD, some kingdoms were defeated while others became quasi-independent allies of Rome. One of these was the British Celtic Iceni tribe led by King Prasutagus. To protect his kingdom, his two daughters and the Roman emperor Nero were named heirs in the king’s will. After the death of Prasutagus, much of the kingdom was pillaged by Roman centurions, his wife queen Boudicca was lashed, her daughters were raped, and the estates of leading Iceni families were confiscated. In response, Queen Boudicca led an unsuccessful uprising against the occupying forces in 60 or 61 AD. More than 50 years later, The Roman historian Tacitus related Boudica's speech to her followers before battle:

‘But now’, she said, ‘it is not as a woman descended from noble ancestry, but as one of the people that I am avenging lost freedom, my scourged body, the outraged chastity of my daughters. Roman lust has gone so far that not our very persons, nor even age or virginity, are left unpolluted. But heaven is on the side of a righteous vengeance.’