Saturday, April 2, 2016

B is for Boadicea



My theme this year is the ABCEDARIA of Women who have inspired me.

Boadicea! The very name stirs me. If you don't know this fabulous woman and her story - hold on to your chariot - this will be quite a ride.



Between AD 61 and AD 63 Boadicea led her Iceni people to a glorious war against the Romans. The Iceni Celts had submitted their kingdom in East Anglia to the conquering Romans and the rule of Emperor Claudius in AD 43. In AD 61, Prasutagus, Boadicea's husband and King of the Iceni died. A dispute followed during which Boadicea, was publicly beaten by the soldiers of the emperor, and her two daughters raped. The Iceni were insulted and rose in revolt led by their queen Boadicea. So successful was the uprising that the Romans were almost defeated. Unfortunately for the Iceni and their allies, the military skill of the Roman army finally led to the crushing of the rebellion.After the revolt, Roman rule was re-established. For almost two glorious years, Boadicea pillaged the Roman settlements; she remains to this day, the greatest of the heroines of Britain.  Link to this page

So - how does she inspire me? Because she never gave up on what she believed - against all odds she fought and was nearly successful. If you think that is not enough - that she failed - please read your Roman history to see how amazing it was that anyone even tried against the Romans. She was fierce, political, a wife and mother - and a leader. What is not to love?

Other Inspiring B's - Elizabeth Bishop - a truly inspiring poet who spent her childhood in Great Village, NS.  Louise Bourgeois - one of my favorite artists

Do you have any ancient heroines (or heroes) that lift you up when you think on them?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, I've always thought she was such a strong, powerful woman, Jan! So glad you mentioned her. What guts, to stand up to the Roman Empire like that!

Susan Scott said...

She has my undying respect and admiration for standing up for what she believed in and in her attempt to right the wrong perpetrated on her and her daughters by those insulting Romans.

Thank you for reminding us. I will check out the link in due course thank you ..

Pat Garcia said...

I like this woman. She may have ruled only two years, but the fact is that she ruled. Having a good background of Roman history, I am very proud of her. Thank you for presenting her and I look forward to more.
Shalom,
Patricia @ EverythingMustChange

Jan Morrison said...

Hello dear gals! Just thought I'd mention an older book - The Eagle and The Raven by Pauline Gedge which did a fair job of representing Boadicea. Think she is also a Canadian (bonus points!) and wrote some historical novels about Egypt as well. I also want to say to you three that Elizabeth Bishop, if you don't know her, is a fantastic poet. She was very good friends with Robert Lowell and they exchanged letters for years.

Unknown said...

I was always fascinated by tutankhamun when I was a kid, especially after going to the exhibition at the British museum.

A Joyful Chaos said...

I don't think I had ever heard of her before, but how interesting! Thanks for sharing.

Miss Andi said...

I love learning about that part of history from different perspectives, thank you for sharing!
I don't think I've a specific hero/ine but I like learning about them either way 😉

Random Musings said...

Great choice for B, what a woman she was. I loved learning about her in school and this post reminded about her story
Debbie

Amy Morris-Jones said...

We have so many strong women in our world--yet young girls today never hear about them. I wish we'd do a better job incorporating these women into history classes alongside their male counterparts. I can see what she is an inspiration to you!