Rally Against the Roman Invaders
Recorded by Tacitus, Queen Boudicca addressed her army before the Battle of Watling Street (61 CE) after leading a fierce rebellion against Roman subjugation in ancient Britain.
Full Transcript
It is not as a woman descended from noble ancestry, but as one of the people that I am avenging lost freedom, my scourged body, the outraged chastity of my daughters. Roman lust has gone so far that not our very persons, nor even age or virginity, are left unpolluted.
But heaven is on the side of a righteous vengeance; a legion which dared to fight has perished; the rest are hiding themselves in their camp, or are anxiously seeking flight. They will not sustain even the din and the shout of so many thousands, much less our rush and our blows.
If you weigh well the strength of the armies, and the causes of the war, you will see that in this battle you must conquer or die. This is a woman’s resolve; as for men, they may live and be slaves.
Defining Key Excerpts
"I am not fighting for empire or wealth, but as an ordinary woman who has lost her freedom, whose body has been tortured, and whose daughters have been outraged."
"If you weigh well the strength of the armies, and the causes of the war, you will see that in this battle you must conquer or die."
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