Tacitus, Annales 14,35: The speech of queen Boudicca

When Prasugates, leader of the Iceti – a Celtic tribe living in Britain – died in 60 or 61 AD, he left his kingdom partly to his two young daughters and to the Romans, of whom he was an ally. The romans were not content with this but took the whole area, flogged his widow Boudicca and raped her two daughters. Boudicca was of course furious and with her tribe and confederates destroyed Londinium (London) and heavily defeated  the Legio IX Hispana.  After this initial success, she planned to kick out all Romans from Britain. For this she needed more confederates and in the following passage Tacitus describes what she is telling the tribes who she wanted to convince. She almost succeeded in her plan and Nero was already contemplating a withdrawal, but Boudicca was defeated by a Roman army under command of Gaius Suetonius Paulinus at the Battle of Watling Street

Tacitus mentions Boudicca both in his Argicola and in his Annales, from which this text is taken. Agricola was Tacitus father-in-law and he served as official in Britain. It is therefore likely that Tacitus had first-hand reports about the uprising of the Celts. It is unlikely however that Agricola ever watched Boudicca coming to other Celtic tribes, so the text is either what Tacitus thought Boudicca would have said or it was told by captured Celts. 

As for Boudica, she was forgotten during the Middle Ages, but when the works by Tacitus were rediscovered around 1500, she got the attention she deserved by the British. Indeed, she is a heroin in women’s history and for feminists!

Tacitus, Annales XIV, 35

Boudicca curru filias prae se vehens, ut quamque nationem accesserat, solitum quidem Britannis feminarum ductu bellare testabatur, sed tunc non ut tantis maioribus ortam regnum et opes, verum ut unam e vulgo libertatem amissam, confectum verberibus corpus, contrectatam filiarum pudicitiam ulcisci. eo provectas Romanorum cupidines, ut non corpora, ne senectam quidem aut virginitatem impollutam relinquant. adesse tamen deos iustae vindictae; cecidisse legionem, quae proelium ausa sit; ceteros castris occultari aut fugam circumspicere. ne strepitum quidem clamorem tot milium, nedum impetus et manus perlaturos. si copias armatorum, si causas belli secum expenderent, vincendum illa acie vel cadendum esse. id mulieri destinatum: viverent viri et servirent.

Boudicca…vehens: Of course to show her daughters as victims of Roman cruelty.

veho vexi vectum: to transport, carry (the word vector, which I remember from mathematics ages ago is derived from this, but it is also related to English `wagon’. This word is not a loanword from Latin, but from a common Indo-European root.)

natio, -onis (f): tribe

solitum quidem Britannis: (that) it was in fact usual for the Britanni. There are reasons to doubt this statement. The Romans might be misled by the fact the women supported and encouraged their men on the battlefield, as was also the use with some Germanic tribes.

ductus –us (m): command

sed tunc…ulcisci: The translation in the link below is inaccurate

testabatur: the remainder of this passage is depending on this verb

non ut tantis maioribus ortam regum et opes…ulcisci: and (testified) that she, as born from such nobility, was not taking revenge for the (loss of) her kingdom and wealth

confectum verberibus corpus: her body subdued to scourges

contrectatus: (here) violated

eo provectas Romanorum cupidines: that the lust of the Romans went so far

senectam (mulierem)

vindicta: vengeance

cado cecidi casum: to fall

legionem: the legio IX Hispana

audeo ausus sum: to dare

circumspicio –spexi –spectum: (here) to consider

strepitus –us (m): a confused noise, din, clash (The Celts used to yell when attacking)

tot milium: of so many thousands

nedum: not to speak of

impetus et manus: attacks and hand to hand fights

perfero –tuli –latus: to endure

copias armatorum: indeed, the Celts outnumbered by far the Romans, but they lost due the the far better tactics and training of the Romans

expendo –di –sum: to consider

acies es (f): battle

id mulieri destinatum: viverent viri et servirent:  a short and effective sentence, with which Tacitus brilliantly ends the speech of Boudicca.

destino: to decide, resolve (of course the English `to destine’ is derived from this word, but this meaning hardly fits most usages of this word in classical Latin)

Translation:

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0078%3Abook%3D14%3Achapter%3D35

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudica

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Watling_Street