All we know of Boudicca is what a few Romans wrote about her. Unfortunately, as is often the case with invasions, only the victor’s side of the story is told. Boudicca’s story at least the Roman’s version of it, was re-discovered in 1360 in the work of the Roman Tacitus titled “Annals.” Once the story was rediscovered, the British took her to heart and she is considered a revered folk heroine by them.
According to Annals, Boudicca was the Queen of a British Celt tribe called the Iceni. Her tribe through her husband had a guarded relationship with the Romans. At this time the Romans had invaded Britain and subjugated most of the Celtic tribes living there. However, they allowed some autonomy to Boudicca’s husband Prasutagus and he was allowed to continue to rule over his people and keep most of his land. He was even given a grant by the Romans. However, later the Romans claimed the grant was a loan. Because of this Prasutagus in his will left half his kingdom to the Romans and the other half to his wife and daughters. Unfortunately, the Romans showed up to collect and decided that they should get the entire kingdom and went out about doing what they could to humiliate Boudicca, her daughters and the rest of the royal family. When Boudicca protested she was flogged, her daughters were raped, and most of the royal family was sold into slavery by the Romans.
Boudicca’s and her daughter’s treatment by the Romans in particular enraged her. Instead of subjugating her and teaching her place as I’m sure the Romans thought such behavior would do, it had the opposite effect. Boudicca raised an army comprised of Iceni and other Celtic tribes that numbered 100,000 warriors. She then took that army and attacked the Roman city of Camulodunum and burned it to the ground, leaving only the temple still standing. Boudicca then turned her sights on Londinium and its inhabitants. Just as she and her army had with Camulodunum, they burned it to the ground and killed the 25,000 people who had not fled when news of her army coming had reached them. The third city they attacked was Verulamium. The interesting thing about this city was that it was mostly comprised of Brittons. But, because these Brittons had cooperated with the Romans, Boudicca killed the inhabitants and destroyed their city.
However, as is often the case with wars someone has to lose, and according to the Annals, that was Boudicca and her army. The Iceni and their allies had left their fields fallow in order to attack the Romans, and Boudicca had thought to take Roman food stores to feed her army and her people. Unfortunately, the Romans got there first and burned their own food stores in order to keep it out of the hands of Boudicca and her army. Without food, Boudicca and her people weakened and though they kept fighting in spite of this, they were easily overcome by the Romans in a final battle. 80,000 of Boudicca’s warriors were killed, leaving only 20,000 alive.
Not much is known about what happened to Boudicca after she and her army were defeated by the Romans. There are some accounts that claim that she returned to her lands and took poison so as not to be captured by the Romans.

In my book Roman Seduction, Trespassing Series #1, I imagined a different ending to her, as you can read in the excerpt below. A different name. A different ending. Still, it’s my personal account of Boudicca’s tale. Pure fantasy, of course. But you know me–I love mixing history with fantasy LOL
Happy reading!

PG EXCERPT
Stretching his powerful muscles, Attilio wondered if he ought to leave, feeling again uncomfortable at spending the whole night with a woman. In fact, he had not ever since Curia’s incidents.
Curia Raetorum was a bustling Roman stronghold in the Rheine valley, nestled among lakes. The name came from the Celtic kora or koria, meaning clan or tribe. It had been his first experiencewith the Celts and not a very pleasant one at that. Fascinated by their culture, Attilio had set out to study its every facet, soon learning the basics of their tongue. Keitha had helped him at first, her supple body keeping him warm while her mouth spoke the new words…when he let it free. And it seemed just like so many other assignments, Attilio recalled regretfully, the story still burning inside.
Exactly when he began to have some doubts, he could not tell later. The centurion only knew that at one point, Keitha did not seem so attractive. He smelled something he did not like at all so, before the feeling grew worse, he ended the affair. But the stink hid darker secrets. Head of a faction set against Rome, Keitha sparked a full-scale revolt, trying to conquer back her territory from the invaders. Skirmishes soon turned into battles until the Romans had to kill all the rebels, Keitha included.
When Attilio had seen her body in the dust, he had not known whether to cry or laugh for having survived the dangerous trap. There was no doubt in his mind she had played him, trying to steal precious information. Of course, the centurion had never revealed anything of importance, but it did not make him feel any better. Implicitly, he had trusted Keitha as he did all women over men in general. After the incident, he asked himself if he allowed sex to cloud his judgment and the answer was not to his liking. So Attilio had taken a long vacation from women altogether, hoping to restore the inner balance Keitha had destroyed. An impossible task, he realized after much soul searching, feeling his body’s hungry craving for soft flesh and round curves. Maybe that’s the only balance I need, he had hoped, resuming the physical activity while keeping emotionally detached. Mostly, he needed some strong injection of…Trust? Faith? Positive energy? He had no clue, but Keitha had irremediably broken something very precious to him and he had to fix it before the warm, exciting female universe slipped forever from his grasp. Exactly who or what could mend the aching hole was still up for debate.