Boudica, or, How Present-Day Politics Changes The Past: The London History Show

Sign your class up for Archives Live with Tracy Borman here: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/e...
You can support the channel on Patreon here: www.patreon.com/jdraperlondon
You can book me for real--life tours! Find out about that here: www.jdraper.co.uk/private-tours and here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/j-drap...
You can find me on the clock app here: www.tiktok.com/@jdraperlondon
Music is used under a Creative Commons licence, CC-BY:
Mozart Flute Quartet No.1 Mov.2 by Toshiki Iga
Travelers Notebook by Rafael Krux
Sources and further reading:
Adler, E. 2008. Boudica's Speeches In Tacitus and Dio: www.jstor.org/stable/25471937
Hingley, R. & Unwin, C. 2006. Boudica: Iron Age Warrior Queen. archive.org/details/boudicair...
Vandrei, M. “Who will be a coward when a woman leads?”: Boudica and the Victorian Female Hero. www1.essex.ac.uk/history/docu...
William Cowper's poem: allpoetry.com/Boadicea.-An-Ode
The Roman sources for Boudica: warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classi...
The head of Nero: www.britishmuseum.org/collect...
My favourite kids' book on Boudica: Boudica and her Barmy Army, Valerie Wilding, 2005

[@JDraper]

There's some truly exceptional homework coming in, folks. I've seen arguments that Boudica would have been in favour of ULEZ, Scottish independence, Donald Trump, abortion, the EU, unrestricted gun ownership, and more! Please enjoy Ctrl+F'ing the word "homework" on this comment section to see people's wild takes, and feel free to argue a political slant on Boudica yourself- whether you personally agree with the position or not. It's really useful to see how easy it is to argue this stuff, so that one can spot it easier in a live-ammo environment.

[@mikaylastrong7622]

A thought that strikes me is, if history is written by the victors, and Boudica is written as a powerful, vengeful woman with great destructive skills and a following of many tens of thousands, the Romans must have been quite impressed by her. As a respected adversary, or a great thorn in their sides, she is remembered now because

[@RangeGleasry]

These are so well written and so impeccably performed. The way you teach is top tier pedagogy

[@pennycheshire5608]

There is someone from London who’s destiny it is to found the band ‘Boudican Destruction Horizon’ and I wish them godspeed.

[@YvonTripper]

Boudicca would have supported the National Hockey League expanding to Quebec City. Boudicca lived in a cold climate and would have understood the need for winter entertainment. She had experience with taking road trips to more southern cities and emerging victorious. She was good at drawing crowds in small market cities, which is essential for a professional ice hockey team in a city of less than 1,000,000.

[@PhryneMnesarete]

For my homework assignment: Boudicca had long red hair. It probably got in her face and mouth. It may have contributed to her defeat due to distraction and annoyance. Therefore Boudicca fought to bring scrunchies to Britain

[@ollymawson421]

Homework: Boudicca had regular encounters with stricter and more draconian regulations through the occupation of the Romans in Britain. The area of what we now call East Anglia where the Iceni lived was a rich and fertile land, supporting many who lived and worked in communities. These communities, through their day-to-day actions, produced a large amount of waste. Despite this, the Roman Empire persisted in creating more and more bureaucracy to make lives harder for those living in these areas, whilst collecting their gift-debt through the removal of regular promised services to support waste removal. In rising up against the oppressors and taking her fight to the other cities, Boudicca showed her willingness to fight against this bureaucracy and resist attempts to remove regular waste collection services. Which is why Boudicca would have supported weekly bin collections at the doorstep.

[@spooksmalloy]

So here's a fun addendum, Colchester City Council has two icons it uses in different places - on is Boudicca, one is a Legionary. We have a statue of Boudicca outside the train station where she seems to be wearing a Roman helmet and carrying a Roman shield. Gotta play both sides!

[@lagomoof]

Me, a Yorkshireman, early in the video: "We don't know where she's from? Oh, clearly there's a case she might be from Yorkshire then."; Me, later in the video: "How dare you call me out on my biases!". Me, now: "Wait. I hate homework. This comment is blatantly conformant to the homework requirement. AAAARGH"

[@zoes_story]

As a Norfolk gal, I adore Boudica. Sadly they closed the Iceni village living history centre, but we're very proud of her. A lot of local school houses are called Boudica.

[@Kreativmoorabbel]

Homework:

[@maxximumb]

Boudica's story as a modern tabloid headline.

[@RoseAbrams]

Homework:

[@BinhNguyen-dq6hx]

In Vietnam, there is a similar story from exactly the same century as Boudica as well: the Trưng sisters. What is now northern Vietnam was under Han occupation at the time, and it appears that the Han pissed off the natives quite a lot. After a native lord was killed by the Han, his wife Trưng Trắc and her sister Trưng Nhị staged an uprising in 40 AD that was widely supported by other native peoples of the Red River Delta. They rode into battle on the backs of elephants, scaring the shit out of the Han soldiers (so opposite to Boudica, I guess). They managed to form their own government for a while, write up some laws of their own, before the Han sent a different commander, Ma Yuan, down south to crack down on the rebellion in 43 AD. This time, unable to defend their new state, the two sisters lost their lives. According to the Book of the Later Han, Ma Yuan had the two sisters beheaded.

[@else5871]

Homework:

[@lamronjr8785]

I adore the philosophy tube vibes of effort put in to costume going on here.

[@azaleawater]

Homework:

[@greghanson3495]

As an American, I had never heard of Boudica and knew almost nothing about the Roman occupation of Britain. Thank you for bringing this bit of history to life in such an engaging and thought provoking way. Of all the channels I subscribe to, this is one of my Top 5 favorites, in no small part due to your obvious love of your subject and the care you put into each presentation. If I ever get to London and you're still doing walking tours, I'm going to sign up.

[@pedroaugusto656]

I was introduced to Boudicca by Horrible Histories. I still got her song stuck in my head: "Boudicca, superstar..."

[@hollisoorebeek6963]

Homework: When Boudicca marched upon the romans, she brought with her the young and the old, the injured and the ailing, because even if they slowed her army down, she knew that through banding together and ensuring all were taken care of, her people would be stronger and more numerous in the end, with the contribution of the thousands who would have died without aid.