"Queen Boudicea's Chariot" is an original song, written and performed by Mike Culligan, copyright 2014. mp3 download available on songstall.com/MichaelCulligan and routenote.com. Also called "Boudica" from the native Celtic languages meaning "Victorious". The Queen of the Iceni tribe was a powerful figure in Romano- British History. After the death of her Prasutagus the king and ruler of the Iceni territories ( now in the Norfolk region of England) allied to Rome, Boudica found that his will was not honored and all of the properties and lands were confiscated instead of being shared with the Roman emperor. People were put into slavery and her daughters were raped and Boudica was flogged. Boudica took revenge with other aggrieved indigenous tribes like the Trinovantes. Having burnt the Roman settlements at what we call Colchester and London and St Albans down, her tribal army were slaughtered by the Romans in a final battle. Total deaths in the burning and slaughtering by the tribes were said to run to nearly 80,000 and the Romans claimed to have killed 80,000 of the tribal warriors in the final battle somewhere off Watling Street ( a Roman road). Some Roman historians say that Boudica then took poison or fell ill and died. The exact site of the legion's military defeat of the tribes who were in revolt is of great interest to British archaeologists. It is thought that the Romans adopted their classic throwing of spears called Pila to kill thousands of the tribal warriors before they even reached Roman lines. The Romans also used a saw-tooth formation with shields and stabbing swords which they used to attack between their shield gaps rather than slash. This formation trapped their enemy and confined them, the Roman swords were used to stab rather than slash. This disciplined Roman fighting method was effective if combat was given in an open field with no element of surprise. Set piece battles were exactly what the Roman legions trained for against a hoard of angry tribal warriors (even if on chariots) but we admire Queen Boudica because she took her revenge and had no remorse. I use "Boadicea" after a usage common in England in the 18th and 19th centuries. One Roman legion from Exeter ignored the call to arms and their leader Pasutagus fell on his sword after Boudica's defeat by Suetonius and 10,000 called up Roman soldiers. The tribes were said to have been trapped by their own wagons behind so they couldn't escape the Roman javelins (Pila).

• published: 17 Feb 2014
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