What Boudica’s Britons Really Did to the Roman City of Colchester

Join History Hit as we get up close with the incredible physical remains of Boudica's destruction of Colchester.
In 60 AD, the fledgling Roman town of Colchester witnessed ancient Armageddon. Thousands of British warriors descended on the settlement, turning what was then the capital of Roman Britain to ash. At the head of these attackers was one of the most well-known figures in British history - the warrior woman Boudica. Her bloody assault on Colchester marked one of the first gruesome events of her revolt against the Romans.
Watch the full documentary, Fire and Blood: Boudica's Vengeance, on History Hit TV now 👉 access.historyhit.com/what-s-...
For a long time, the Roman historian Tacitus was our main source for Boudica’s great burning of Colchester. But no longer. Beneath the ground level of the modern city, archaeologists have uncovered actual physical evidence of the burning. From a visible ash layer in the soil, to a great wealth of artefacts that have revealed more about the sheer brutality of Boudica’s onslaught and the tragic tales of innocent victims caught up in the carnage.
Tristan Hughes visits Colchester to investigate this incredible archaeology and to see whether it supports the surviving Roman account for Boudica’s bloody sacking of this settlement almost 2,000 years ago.
Sign up to History Hit TV now and get 14 days free: access.historyhit.com/checkout
And remember, as KZbin subscribers, you can sign up to History Hit TV today with code KZbin and enjoy 50% off your first 3 months!
For more history content, subscribe to our History Hit newsletters: www.historyhit.com/sign-up-to...

[@HistoryHit]

Wow, we think the Fenwick treasure is pretty amazing! 😮Remember you can watch the full documentary on History Hit TV here 👉 access.historyhit.com/what-s-new/videos/fire-and-blood-boudicas-vengeance

[@europa8292]

It’s always nice seeing Colchester’s history recognised, it’s almost unheard of

[@KarlAntMercer]

Particularly Colchester's Roman history. There is a narrative that after the Boudican revolt Camulodunum (Colchester) saw a decline in importance as Londinium (London) became the provincial capital and, later, Eboracum (York) became an important city guarding the Northern Frontier. The evidence coming out of Colchester and its collections of Roman artefacts indicate it remained a prosperous settlement throughout the Roman period and has a uniquely rich Romano-British material culture. A hugely underrated place with a nationally significant collection that I am happy is getting this spotlight from History Hit.

[@gonefishing167]

Thoroughly enjoyed this, thank you guys 🙏🙏👵🇦🇺

[@KarlAntMercer]

I am seeing a few comments about the human remains and the story surrounding them so I just want to see if I can clear a few things up. *How Do We Know They Are Celtic Britons?* In my research on the remains I could not find any evidence of analysis having been done to determine their geneology. Thus it is only circumstantially suggested that they are Celtic Britons. There are circumstantial reasons to this which answer the next question... *How Do We Know They Were Executed and Not Killed In Battle?* The remains were found in the ditch off the main gate of the old legionary fortress, around Balkerne Lane in modern Colchester. There were 30-or-so bones found, believed to have been from around 6 different individuals. Only one cranium was suggested to be female, the rest of the remains were male, and there majority of the remains were cranial. They were also mixed in with a variety of animal bones. Where other mixed remains have been found in similar circumstances, particularly with that many head, it is taken as evidence of execution and display - The bodies hung up, or heads taken and put on spikes etc. And what would Romans benefit from displaying the remains of thieves or their own soldiers by their legionary fortress edges? If these are the displayed remains of victims of execution, as we have suggested, it is far more likely they are members of a rebellious local population and the displays are to deter acts of aggression than anything else. A lot of the work and suggestions come from Crummy and Luff. You can find a link to the 1984 Colchester Archaeological Trust report on the finding of the human remains on Balkerne Lane, and their interpretations, here - rose.essex.ac.uk/cat/summaries/CAR-0003.html

[@Inquisitor_Vex]

The man with the context! 🍻 Weird they didn’t put any of that in the video though.

[@cyankirkpatrick5194]

But not the current royals

[@KarlAntMercer]

@@Inquisitor_Vex It just comes down to time. It would have been amazing to go a lot more in-depth with the human remains - but the main focus of the video was to show the archaeological evidence of Boudica's revolt, and there are a lot more things to cover than just these unfortunate (potentially) Celtic Britons. But this is what comments are for!

[@kevcaratacus9428]

Good ol P.C ... I've done some field arch work for him in the distant past, He's been around Colchester forever . He's respected by many and not so much by others . ....if only we could go back in time... Admittedly he's done a lot of really good work. But ....... That shouldn't be there , ### ### # ### removed .. Unrecorded.. It's a small world field archaeology, At least 5 put of 10 whos been working 30 or so years know about him & others ... plenty of horror stories .. Sadly .

[@fuferito]

Michael Wood did the documentary series, _In Search of the Dark Ages_ for the BBC more than forty years ago, and the first episode was, indeed, Boudica.

[@hsheeld]

Yeah, I have that series it’s absolutely fantastic. They should redo it and then take it further.

[@TeddyBelcher4kultrawide]

Tldr

[@raypurchase801]

Brilliant series. My parents bought me the book for Christmas.

[@raypurchase801]

@@hsheeld Does anybody remember the 1980s comedy TV series, "Colchester 123"? An ancient British warrior, wearing wode and a frog jock-strap.

[@fuferito]

@@raypurchase801, Just looked up _Chelmsford 123._ Never knew about this show before, but I can't wait to watch more clips. It looks brilliant.

[@Emthe30something]

Enjoyed. Thanks!

[@SDD3204]

Nicely done. Clearly a Roman military man, he may well have felt honour bound to stand and fight. He may well have sent his wife, who may also have been perceived as a leader amongst the community, and his child to "safety" at Claudius' temple, where the castle now sits nearby, and where they may have been burned alive or killed amongst many thousands of others.

[@billbhein2949]

What about the poor Britons that had been slaughtered or enslaved during the Roman invasions on the run up to Boudica's rebellion.

[@leighcecil3322]

It's terrible how she was treated 😢... Viva Boudicca 👍

[@stuartmcnair4809]

Good on Boudicca I say, why should we care about the suffering of the invader?

[@stephanieyee9784]

I agree. I don't care about the suffering these "Romans" or Romanised Britons suffered. They treated the Iceni, and all Britons, as beneath them. Enslaved them, beat them, raped their women. The disrespect and scorn they showed for Boudicca and her daughters is a disgrace. I have no sympathy for the invaders.

[@kevwhufc8640]

​@@stephanieyee9784 Why did the Iceni make a deal with Rome before the invasion, promising to stay at home instead of joining the other tribes fighting to stop the Roman's invading. They did nothing until 18 years after the Romans had been in Britain. They were cowards who didn't fight the Romans when they invaded.

[@cathyspiller7154]

Don't "F" with a woman's children.

[@mancroft]

The background noise is irritating and unnecessary.

[@leegoddard2618]

As much as the Romans tried. I learned of Boudica through a video game, did more independent "research". Humans are brutal creatures. 😔

[@chrislightfoot1234]

I just wonder how the curator knows that the two skulls belong to beheaded Britons rather than cives et socii (Roman citizens and allied Britons) who were massacred at Camolodunum in the Boudicca revolt? And note the fancy Roman blown glass bowl in the display case. It came from a local chieftain’s tomb dated about ten years before the revolt. Some natives were doing nicely then. Chris Lightfoot, Cyprus

[@kc3718]

they don't, they are fitting the evidence to the narrative by supposition alone. No different from Sir Mortimer Wheelers exubriant speculations or indeed that silly fantasist Hancock fellow.

[@kevwhufc8640]

​@@kc3718 excellent, its great to see someone else who knows about wheeler and his crazy made up stories. I live in StAlbans, across the river from verulamium. A few miles from a place called wheathampstead, a Celtic settlement where he claimed Julius Caesar came attacked and destroyed. Even though not one tiny shred of evidence supports his story. 12000 Romans yet archaeologists, even metal detecorists have found nothing, not one broken buckle or any of the usual things youd expect to find . Detecorists have found Roman coins , buckles and all sorts of other things, but from a century later, after the Claudian invasion, from the beginning to the end of the empire. Same thing with verulamium, I have a nice collection of Roman coins and artifacts .

[@bertassellodavide1297]

Di è incredibile trovare la statua di Boudica in centro a Londra!

[@conorcoltman5756]

And equally the statue of Vercingètorix👍

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

@@conorcoltman5756 Herman the German? An old friend of mine tells of "Standing on the tip of Herman's sword." In a past time when they were doing restoration work on the statue! 😉

[@bertassellodavide1297]

@@conorcoltman5756 ma anche no! Vergicetorige non ha massacrato oltre alla popolazione romana anche quella locale 💔

[@bertassellodavide1297]

@@theoztreecrasher2647 l'anima del commercio e del turismo. Pensi che quando fanno la ricostruzione storica della battaglia di Teuotoburgo molti si vestono da legionari e meno da Germani.❤️😃🥂👍

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

@@bertassellodavide1297 As my heritage is German, perhaps they only need half as many Stormtroopers as Legionaries? 😜😉

[@scotty5717]

We could do with a Boudica today to drive invaders out

[@pinknylon1121]

They were really being invaded though, not just racist drama queens.

[@nobodysbaby5048]

She & her people paid a horrible price.

[@leejames1792]

@@pinknylon1121 yeah well when several cities including the two biggest are now English minority, i'd say that is something to be concerned with, 10m in the last 10 years, you clearly are not bothered about this nations history and traditions being decimated by an influx from the third world looking for free handouts, not going to end well is it.

[@pinknylon1121]

@@leejames1792 so much ignorance in that comment. Stop reading the daily mail and read a book.

[@Backto5oh5]

​@@pinknylon1121👏

[@DUIRduje]

10 points to curator for fashion style!

[@KarlAntMercer]

I assume you're talking about Ben and his gorgeous red jumper and not the wally in the waistcoat.

[@DUIRduje]

@@KarlAntMercer all hail wally in the waistcoat!!!

[@acevent5759]

Someone needs to find that battle field

[@sammycinnamon7300]

??? It was a rolling battle from what os known. An onslaught, no one location.

[@acevent5759]

@@sammycinnamon7300 No, the final battle was at a single location. It was there 10,000 Roman legionaries put down the 180,000 army rebellion

[@sammycinnamon7300]

@@acevent5759 In colchester?

[@acevent5759]

@@sammycinnamon7300 no, the final battle named the battle of Watling Street, by today’s terms, has never been truly located by archaeologists, though they have a strong suspicion I’m where it was

[@sammycinnamon7300]

@acevent5759 thats where the confusion was, this is just about Colchester, not the whole saga.

[@stuartmcnair4809]

We must demand reparations from Rome

[@carolefreeman2544]

Talk about the shear brutality of Boudicca’s assault on Roman Colchester, let’s not forget that this was a revengeful attack for what violence the Roman’s conquering assault had taken on the Iceni tribes after the death of the Iceni King and the brutal rape of Boudicca’s daughters and others of this tribe on Iceni lands. An eye for an eye was indeed the motto during these turbulent times in history. Boudicca bravely fought for her people’s rights over the invasion of the Roman Soldiers.

[@kevwhufc8640]

The Iceni didn't just destroy the Roman temple in colchester, they destroyed the whole city and killed as many people as they could, which were not all Roman , most of them were celtic people from the trinovantes tribe. Ok destroy the Roman temple and the Roman people hiding in the cellar. But why destroy the whole city and the trinovante people? They had done nothing against the Iceni. They fought against the Roman's when they were invading 18 years earlier. Unlike the Iceni, who had made a deal with the Romans agreeing to stay on their own land and not join the others Celts, the trinovantes, the catuvellauni etc fighting against the invaders . Yet 18 years later she destroyed the trinovantes city and the catuvellauni villages and capital city verulamium. If she wanted revenge on the Romans why didn't she/ they go north towards the Roman forts instead of south which had no military bases or forts , just Celtic people building new style Roman city's. I bet they regretted doing the deal with the Romans when they saw seutonius waiting to destroy them all .

[@seansabhaois]

"Boadicea, Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni who died AD 61 after leading her people against the Roman invader" Some of the inscription, on Boudicca's chariot statue, Thames side in London. The events leading up to her rebellion, were terrible and her revenge and payback on the Romans and their Romanised British neighbours, was equally terrible. The Romans and their decendants occupied Britain for nearly 4 and half centuries, so assimilation and intermarrying must have been quite widespread in later centuries. Who said: "The Britons, eventually became more Roman, than the Romans...?" The Romans were like any other of history's brutal, overconfident occupiers: vulnerable to a well placed sucker punch. But if that's all you had in the bag, watch out, when they returned. Scorched earth and all that. In those times, being a low ranking local man, being under Boudicca's cosh or Rome's would make little difference to me. I'd guess though, throwing my lot in with Rome, enlisting as an auxiliary or whatever the title was, if I survived the training, survived being posted overseas, fighting other 'Barbarians' I'd get some cash in hand and Roman citizenship. Sounds a whole lot more enticing than being painted in blue woad and wearing scratchy plaid trousers and ending up dead or enslaved anyway. SPQR!

[@freebeerfordworkers]

I agree I can't help thinking of monty python's; what have the Romans ever done for us?

[@realthirteen.3471]

Definately, rather be a Roman than a smelly Celt

[@ginojaco]

The chap talking about gold alloys needs to do some homework... in fact 9 carat 'gold' has 37.5% gold, 18 carat has 75%, 22 carat has 91.6% gold and 24 carat is 'fine' gold i.e.100%. The commonest alloyed metals with gold to make the various carats were and still are silver and copper; changing the proportions of the three metals alters both the appearance and physical qualities of the alloyed 'gold'. A lighter, almost green tinge can be achieved with increased silver, a red / pink colour with more copper. The alloy can also be made harder, more ductile etc. by changing the proportions within it. 👍

[@francisjones174]

Lots of inaccuracies - the soldiers involved in the original despoilation of Boudicca were part of the standing Roman garrison in Britain at the time; the ''veteran Roman soldiers'' from Colchester were in fact time served legionaries settled as colonists, and had no role in regular Roman military operations after discharge. Yes Boudicca killed tens of thousands of people - but most were native Britons, living locally. There were only a relative handful of Romans in the whole of Britain at the time, so no extremely large numbers of them to kill.

[@didierroux1547]

Camulodunum the Ancient Roman name for what is now Colchester in Essex !

[@klackon1]

According to the subtitles, Boudica was a "ducks femina". No wonder she was in a foul mood when she arrived at Colchester.

[@mairiconnell6282]

Boom Boom

[@geoffmarr7526]

DUX FEMINA. QUEEN.

[@pheart2381]

She was also Queen of the Issini,rather than the Icene.

[@Pretermit_Sound]

*fowl mood 😉

[@joannathesinger770]

@@pheart2381 There is some thought that the Isseni were a subgroup of the Essenes...and the fact that the museum curator mentioned that the family had come from the Mediterranean area where there were dolphins...even more sauce for that particular goose.

[@beachboy0505]

Excellent video Would British historians regard the 1857 Indian Mutiny in the same glory?

[@skepticalbadger]

"Glory" isn't really the right word, but yes, they would. Academic history is very left-wing and no longer about patriotic mythmaking. So a rebellion that lead to self-determination is, if anything, painted in a positive light by historians.

[@allangibson8494]

Would Indian historians? That is a better comparison.

[@PSMCR69]

British East India Company coined it as Sepoy Mutiny ---- but in India 🇮🇳 it is called First War for independence ⚔️

[@Kaytecando]

this video was lacking. Not enough info. The 'startling' artifacts? There is no connection between the jewelry and Boudica. All smoke and mirrors.

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

It was a significant history coverage of Celt's revolution against the Roman empire rules that defeated &crushed the Boudicas Revolution beastly by Roman

[@KernowekTim]

'With anxiety, Colchester's burning, Colchester's burning'. Such a shame the British tribes lacked unity, cohesion and discipline over extended periods. Damned Romans.

[@007JHS]

Infamous??? You say that as if it was a bad thing.

[@alistairbain6149]

Well ... not much lived up to the title, did it? You're better than that, mate: you don't need to use click bait titles. Also, avoiding the real causes of Boudicca's revolt is a bit disingenuous. She wasn't just a pissed-off noble who got out of bed on the wrong side and thought, Let's wreak havoc in Colchester, what?

[@007JHS]

Momentous...not infamous.

[@JustMe-ob3nw]

What if this story was different? The small ring also belonged to the woman. She kept it as a keepsake from when she was a child. She was not married, but the single daughter of a retired high rank Roman soldier. Their house was burned down but they were able to escape before it happened or before they could be harmed. Her father knew people who knew people, what made things easier for them. However they were not able to take anything with them. The slaves who worked on the household had to flee too and fend for themselves, but before that happened, two of them, a man and a woman, tried to bury some of the family’s jewelry, so they could come back later and retrieve it. However they never made it back. Both got killed by the hordes that invaded the city that day. The woman and her father went back to Rome, and lived both long lives. The woman eventually married and had two daughters. She commissioned two rings for both the girls, exactly like the one she left behind in Colchester. The end.

[@pheart2381]

Didnt realise Fenwicks dated from the Roman occupation🤔

[@amandaJ7449]

😂

[@winstonsmith935]

Early Apple Watch.

[@andrewsock1608]

Maybe those rings were all the mans and the smaller ones are from when he was a kid.

[@kubhlaikhan2015]

The first Roman capital of Britain - Camulo-denum. Camelot. Re-occupied by the last imperial ruler of Britain, who we remember as Arthur, for its powerful symbolic value. All to be forgotten, and replaced by nonsense.

[@sammycinnamon7300]

Theres no hyphen in camulodenum and it's named after the celtic god of war. Camelot and Arthur 😆 get a grip.

[@kubhlaikhan2015]

@@sammycinnamon7300 Denum is the Latin word for Fort, so it is Fort Camulo - which in medieval French would have been spelled Camulot or Camelot. By the way, precise spellings are a modern invention, names were phonetic. Even English didn't acquire fixed spellings until the late 17th century. The significance of "Camelot" to both Roman and Medieval people is also very clear for historical reasons, no matter how spelled and no matter the origin of its name. It represents Roman order itself and therefore it is both politically and poetically essential for Arthur to reassert Roman order in Camulodenum, the original base of the Roman order in Britain. Whether historical or symbolic, the meaning remains the same. And it isn't anything to do with "the Celts" - it is to do with order, unity, standards and the economy (like all politics).

[@sylviawingo9367]

You can't sack something that was yours in the first place, sir.

[@cymro6537]

Food for thought: 'Boudicca ' was the Latin version of her name ,it seems likely that her own Brythonic speaking people would have called her ' Bith- igg '

[@raypurchase801]

If the BBC made a TV series about Boudica today, she'd be played by Idris Elba.

[@nathanwright5543]

"Its a classic tale of history being written by the victors" Or, you know, the ones who can read and write

[@bryanmatthews2370]

They extended their dig? Wasn't time team lol

[@fxgarden3271]

The guy is not wearing ascot correctly :)

[@KarlAntMercer]

You are 100% correct and I am 100% mortified.

[@laurat7232]

I'm pro Boudica

[@adem6371]

I would say it’s not just a history written by the victors- but by men.

[@oubliette862]

Boo-dik-uh? how about bow-dee-sha sounds better to me. my phonetics may not be perfect but anyone that reads this should get the drift.

[@orhancan5787]

please add english subtitle.

[@ktb183]

You can add them by clicking the square icon at the bottom of the video, fifth from the right. (Hover over w the mouse.)

[@markwoodford1733]

I wonder if her name was unique eh ?

[@deborahfotopoulos916]

She was retaliating for the almost complete annihilation of her tribe, the assault on her young, daughters, physically, and a merciless beating in front of all of her people at the hands of cowardly Romans. So when she retaliated history hits needs to really put that in perspective instead of making it sound like Rome was the wonderful, part of the era they were not. They were vicious and brutal and power-hungry.

[@kevwhufc8640]

The Romans were enlarging their empire, whats cowardly about that ? Cowardly would be people who stayed away from fighting the Roman's when they were invading their land. That's cowardly don't you agree ?? Well that's exactly what the Iceni did , the Romans invaded 18 years earlier, and the Iceni made a deal with Rome promising they would stay on their own land and NOT join the other tribes who had united 18 years earlier to fight against Rome to try stopping the Romans invading their lands.. The Iceni were cowards and traitors and got what they deserved.

[@CaveWyatt]

Rumble?

[@JohnyG29]

Boadicea*

[@pinknylon1121]

That's a Victorian version.

[@thechampion1671]

Wow, the elites of England on the side of the people. Times have changed.

[@cleverusername9369]

Who's y'all's PM this week? Still Sunak?

[@RealOGfikey]

@@cleverusername9369 For now.

[@faeembrugh]

England? You're about 7 centuries out.

[@thechampion1671]

@@faeembrugh I wasn't prepared to look up the exact breakdown of the kingdoms of England at the time of Bodicca but I'm sure anyone reading will understand my point.

[@RealOGfikey]

Times certainly have changed. England didn't exist back then.

[@speakupriseup4549]

It's frustrating when ancient illiterate people don't leave written accounts from their perspective

[@kevwhufc8640]

Very frustrating, we will never know the full details. But we do know some things, and we do have the archaeological information. We know the Romans invaded around 42 ad , most tribes united and fought against them trying to stop them invading. We know the Iceni didn't fight, we know they remained at home, because they had made a deal with Rome promising not to join the other tribes fighting to stop the invasion. We do know the Iceni obviously didn't hate the Romans, otherwise they would have fought with the others. What we don't know are the details of what went wrong, what made them rebel 18 years after the invasion. We know the story the historians tell , but it doesn't make sense, nobody takes all of a tribes land , its not like a bag of gold ,,it can't be taken back to Rome. Whatever the real reason, the fact remains that the Iceni chose to make a deal with Rome , chose not to fight 18 years earlier with the other tribes. The trinovantes fought against the Roman's,, boudicca destroyed their capital colchester, the catuvellauni fought against the Roman's, boudicca destroyed the villages ( all London was at the time) and destroyed their capital Verulamium . But for the first 18 years the Iceni did f### all against the Roman's . When the decided to rebel they destroyed other Celts and Celtic city's, Celts that fought against the Roman's. ..karma

[@speakupriseup4549]

@kevwhufc8640 no doubt there were existing tensions between tribes over power, resources and land and the Iceni saw the Romans as an opportunity to gain more by standing aside and letting their enemies take the hit. It is only when they realise that they underestimated what they were getting by doing so, that they start fighting back, too little too late. Same scenario is repeated around the world with every invasion throughout history, and is still going on now.

[@kevwhufc8640]

@@speakupriseup4549 true , dealing with the devil is always risky, The Iceni weren't the only tribe to side with Rome, but the main southern tribe ruled over large territories and had plenty of people, so whatever deal they made the Romans obviously kept, they wouldn't want to risk anything that would end the peace with a large powerful tribe. I forget the tribe, but I've been to the ruins of the Palace the ruler lived in, a place called fishbourne on the south coast, one of the largest most extravagant palaces of all the Celtic chieftains in Britain who sided with the Romans. The Iceni were a small tribe, their lands mostly flat wet boggy marshland, barely above sea levels. Rubbish for farming, rubbish for keeping animals, they gathered water creatures and fish, and different types of duck geese ,birds that thrive in wet marshlands. Even a thousand years later when workers began draining, diverting small canals into larger and then rivers , it was always prone to flooding, even today there's only two proper towns Norwich and Ipswich.. In Roman times , the population estimated by archaeologists who work that area , claim the Iceni had around 900/1100 people. Archaeologists agree the historical claims that a rebel army of 100.000 people is completely unrealistic and impossible. But archaeologists are not historians. Those who do talk about boudicca always follow the outdated narrative , the glamourised story and don't go into archaeological details. They know the realistic population of the tribes and the sizes of settlements like colchester, London and verulamium, at the time of the rebellion, but they don't want facts to ruin a good fantasy story . They make out the trinovantes joined the Iceni, but they don't talk about why they think that would happen. The Iceni crossed the border onto trinovante territory and destroyed the whole city of colchester, and killed as many people as they could, mostly Celtic people. They talk about the attack on the roman temple, as if it was a planned attack by the two tribes, but it wasn't, thr arch evidence shows that burning has been found in all areas of the trinovantes capital, it was focused on the temple and Roman farms . Why would anyone want to join people who have destroyed their city and killed their own people. They wouldn't, its like me joining a mob who destroyed my home and killed my family.. The uprising was 18 years after the Romans invaded, the trinovantes fought lost and had been enjoying the peace , farming and looking after cattle, archaeology shows the farms and land were larger and producing more because of the latest Roman techniques. They were building new homes, they were not being oppressed by the Romans, their ruling families were given important jobs and places to live, to their people life seemed good, they continued paying taxes to their former rulers ( who obviously paid Rome) but the advantages were showing. They had no reason or anything to gain by joining foreign rebels, Yet historians ignore the facts, they just make out the trinovantes joined the Iceni.. If they wanted to destroy the Roman temple they had more men warriors than the Iceni and were more than capable of doing it themselves. They didn't need help from foreigners crossing their border destroying and killing their people.. Historians ignore the facts about it making no sense. Whatever reason the Iceni rebelled, the facts remain they were a small tribe, even if the trinovantes joined the Iceni, their population of between 2-3000 with maybe 1000 able to fight And the Iceni warriors and others old enough to fight, still nowhere near 100.000 . Then leaving trinovante territory ( Essex) into land formerly ruled by the catuvellauni, destroying the people and small villages along the rivers colne and the fleet and those along the Thames, before turning north towards the catuvellauni capital verulamium, and a few miles beyond defeated by seutonius. None of those villages or people belonging to the catuvellauni Would have any reason to join the rebels. Even if they did, the rebel army would be under 3000. But parts of London and verulamium have layers of burning, so they wouldn't join the rebels. It wouldn't need an army larger than 5/600 to do the same amount of damage as happened. In Viking times a 1000 warriors took almost half of England in a very short time. Imagine if the iceni really had 100.000 ,and if half that amount could fight, they would have rolled over seutonius and continued up north easily. Nobody could defeat an army, even a disorganised army of 50.000 or more. Nobody. But historians don't do explanations...

[@JamesTaylor-yh9rl]

beudica was a hero

[@montedaestrada3563]

Thats 15 minutes of my life ill never recover.

[@donnalayton6876]

Dux feminia describes her to a T.

[@cyankirkpatrick5194]

I'm surprised that a comment from the person who berating me about another ancient person I'm sure he will since he's an armchair genealogist

[@kevwhufc8640]

1.08 "boudicca wanted to drive the new rulers out of Britannia " #wrong The 'new rulers had been in Britain for 18 years at the time of the Iceni uprising. If you don't want new rulers you join the other tribes and fight against them when they're invading, you don't wait 18 years. But the Iceni didn't try stopping the new rulers, because they had already made a deal with Rome to stay on their own land and not fight against the Roman invasion. An agreement like that has to be supported by the king queen and the ruling families. So they were ok with the Romans 18 years earlier, they weren't against the Roman's invading, they didn't hate the Romans, they didn't stand up for their island, and Celtic peoples. Nope , it was the catuvellauni king & people of verulamium united with the other tribes ( inc the trinovantes) who tried stopping the Romans. The Iceni only kicked off because something else happened, nobody knows the real truth or reason. But the fact is they stayed at home, they did nothing 18 years earlier when the first Roman's invaded Britain .

[@markiliff]

soft voice + intrusive music ≠ appealing doco

[@colinjames2346]

We may take it then that Boudicca and the Iceni did not believe in diversity and inclusivity.

[@vatsmith8759]

But surely, as was common at the time, Boudicca would have had slaves and therefore should be cancelled?

[@russellplatt1106]

Have to pull down her statue now😂😂

[@raypurchase801]

I demand reparations from the Italian government. Ancient British Druid Lives Matter.

[@unbreakable7633]

History is always written by the victors. Ask the American South.

[@fellspoint9364]

Ask the damned Yankees who defile the memory of Robert E. Lee

[@stelladonaconfredobutler9459]

Can you blame Boudica? her two daughters were gang raped and killed by the Romans. Her title of Queen of the Iceni destroyed by Them. She fought for her daughters and for her culture which was being erased by Rome and all this video talks about is Roman remains. Yes the jewelry hoard is lovely and your sensitivity to the Roman family... a military man... a child was uncomfortable. Boudica had every right to fight and eradicate the Romans who invaded her lands and violated the treaty they had with her husband and wouldn't compromise with her because of their well documented misogynist beliefs. Boudica was not chatel, her own people were angry at the Romans. they supported her, she was their Quen. You bring up Boudica, you tell her story, all of it. She and fellow Iceni rebelled to take back her lands, her title and culture. Perhaps you shouldn't had used her name as click bait when you maybe talked about the revolt for 5 minutes. I usually enjoy your docs especially the long form but this one was not presented with historical honesty.

[@dirtchamber878]

No, she butchered innocent families women and kids.

[@borismuller86]

I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone claim Boudicca was out of line.

[@superdupersubby]

There's already hundreds of videos about her rebellion. The video title clearly puts emphasis on the 'incredible physical remains', so it's going to be about artifacts and archaeology. If anything, they should make a video about Suetonius Paulinus, the general who ended the rebellion since there is very few videos about him.

[@francisjones174]

Since when do 2 wrongs = one right?

[@skepticalbadger]

This a clip from a much longer documentary.

[@highhorse8008]

Perhaps the ones who buried it stole these items from the Romans. Maybe buring it afraid of getting caught.

[@keiraferrari7764]

Thumbs down for the obnoxious subscribe button.

[@trojanette8345]

Is it safe to say, then that physical evidence of Boudicca herself or her daughters may still exist? OR, Is it still generally assumed that physical evidence of Boudicca herself doesn't exist at all?

[@michaelpyro87]

Had the privilege of touching an SE30 VT Right hand drive. Couldn't sit in it as the front end was caved in. Always wondered what happened to it. This was 17 years ago in Hythe Kent at Supercars for me.

[@cerritouruguay4836]

What a bunch of speculation.. Why would the Romans decapitate someone? Well.. many reasons, but here is speculated that those were poor Celtic Britons. At that point I just stopped watching, I was hoping for a serious and unbiased report, but this is just British propaganda.

[@andrewsock1608]

I was a bit let down when he said decapitation gone wrong, because the cut was delivered down on the head of a standing man just like the pommel strike. So actually it’s a attempted head bifurcation gone wrong

[@JackieWelles]

Yes its speculation, but also do you expect Sources from 2000 years ago about some probably random person being decapitated?

[@graemer3657]

They were killed with Roman weapons and dumped in a ditch. If they were Roman dead they would have been properly buried when the Romans returned, like after the battle of the Teutoberger forest. I don’t see how this can be propoganda when it happened 2,000 years ago and neither the Roman Empire or Celtic Britain have existed for the last 1,500 years.

[@JackieWelles]

@@graemer3657 Well actually... Celtic Britain DO exist, its Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, and Brittany. They are celtic nations of old Britain later Saxon invaders invaded Britain around AD380 and mixed with Celtic people living there. Still i get what you are trying to say.

[@graemer3657]

@@JackieWelles well, I am Welsh by birth and identity so Celtic by your definition. I don’t know any Celtic political identities because the Isca Siluries haven’t existed for 2,000 years. Genetics? I have my family tree going back 250 years, and it seems people didn’t t die in the same town they were born in. Some came from other places. My god - some were English, French, Scottish, German, Swedish, Irish. It seems that in the past people went where the work was and in an era without a welfare state, border controls or passports no one cared.

[@gemellodipriapo]

Boudica's lot had the choice between Roman sewers and a decent road system ... and access to culture and literacy or to remain painted in wode, reeking and living in a mud hut. Thankfully Suetonius Paulinus defeated her ... interestingly after the Romans left Britain everything fell into disrepair and London didn't have a proper sewage system again until the 1870s. What did the Romans ever do for us eh? Lol

[@latsnojokelee6434]

Yeah but that’s 2020 hindsight. All she knew at the time was these people with their fancy clothes and extensive military were standing on the backs of the locals.

[@gemellodipriapo]

@@latsnojokelee6434 Lee all she new was that she liked living in a mud hut knee deep in her own excrement and ignorant of what an apple or a daffodil were and indeed what the alphabet was for. Plus ca change as the French say.

[@leejames1792]

Uh, Celtic Britons had "culture" you basically are making every invasion and slaughter of natives a legitimate act, you need to give your head a real good shake.