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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
(03-20-2017, 12:26 PM)Robert Vermaat Wrote: Was Boudicca expected to hand it al over, both power and posessions?

I think that's probably exactly what she was expected to do!

While I don't know of any direct evidence, I believe that the lands and property of Roman client kings who died without obvious successors was generally held to default to Rome. Cogidubnus's kingdom seems to have been absorbed by the Roman province on his death, while the Brigantes kingdom required more of a hostile takeover: we don't hear anything more about Cartimandua, so perhaps with her death the clientship had been formally wrapped up. But we see from various client states in the east (the Herodian kingdom, Commagene, Nabatea) that the Romans were quite willing to seize client territories whose rulers were no longer playing the game. And they would have wanted to move fast, before a rival claimant had a chance to make a bid for power.

In the case of Prasutagus, he seems to have tried to make a sort of posthumous bargain with Rome, giving Nero half his kingdom whle trying to keep the other half out of Roman hands, as a bequest to his daughters. Clearly the Romans were not having any of that. Maybe it was Boudica herself who tried to argue for the terms of her husband's will, which is why Roman punishment fell so hard upon her.

It is curious that the Roman authorities didn't seem to forsee any problems with this situation, though - until it was too late. Although perhaps Cerialis and his Ninth Legion were intended to stand ready for any disturbances in Iceni country? If so, he would seem rather more tardy than reckless...

Boudica herself doesn't seem to have had any claim to rule over the Iceni. Tacitus describes her as Prasutagus's wife, and one of the royal house, but he doesn't call her a queen. The speech he gives her (albeit probably his own work) seems to say that although Britons have been led in war by women in the past, she is not taking a leadership role; so she's putting herself forward as a sort of figurehead. This might have been a clever way around problems in the chain of command in the disparate rebel army.

In Dio's version of the speech she does call herself Queen. But I suspect Dio's version is even less authentic. In fact, I suspect the whole thing might be a joke about the reign of Elagabalus...
Nathan Ross
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Messages In This Thread
Re: Calling all armchair generals! - by Ensifer - 03-11-2010, 03:13 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-18-2012, 06:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 12:02 AM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 02:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 05:40 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 11:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 05:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 09:42 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 10:10 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:25 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 08:36 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-26-2012, 02:57 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-27-2012, 01:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 08-05-2012, 02:24 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-07-2014, 02:18 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-08-2014, 01:50 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-11-2014, 02:03 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-18-2014, 07:54 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-20-2014, 02:37 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-25-2014, 08:29 AM
RE: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand. - by Nathan Ross - 03-23-2017, 10:03 PM

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