Episode 74. Boudicca and the British Revolt

Works Cited Primary Sources Archaeology. The destruction layers at the three burned cities—Camulodunum, Londinium, and Verulamium—constitute the most substantially preserved single-event archaeological horizon in Roman provincial Britain. The Boudican destruction horizon is dated to 60 or 61 CE, and is one of the clearest archaeological confirmations we have of any event in early imperial history.Cassius Dio. Roman History, Book 62.1 through 62.12. The alternative narrative source. Includes the physical description of Boudicca at 62.2 that has shaped the iconographic tradition, and the alternative version of her death by illness rather than suicide.Tacitus. Agricola, chapters 14 through 16. Tacitus's later treatment of the British background, written approximately 98 CE.Tacitus. Annals, Book 14.29 through 14.39. The principal narrative source. Includes the Mona campaign, the Iceni provocation, the destruction of the three cities, the battle, the aftermath conflict between Suetonius Paulinus and Classicianus, and the recall of Suetonius Paulinus. Tacitus's father-in-law Agricola served in Britain during the conquest period and is one of his sources, which gives this section a particular quality—it is the part of the Annals where Tacitus is closest to a participant's testimony.Secondary Sources Aldhouse-Green, Miranda. Boudica Britannia. Pearson, 2006. Focused biography incorporating both literary and archaeological evidence.Barrett, Anthony A. Rome Is Burning. Princeton University Press, 2020. Substantial treatment of the Boudican revolt in its broader Neronian context.Frere, Sheppard. Britannia: A History of Roman Britain. Fourth edition, Routledge, 1999. The standard scholarly history of the Roman province. The chapter on the revolt provides the broader provincial context.Webster, Graham. Boudica: The British Revolt Against Rome AD 60. Routledge, 1978; revised edition, 2004. The standard focused study of the revolt.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/real-roman-history/donations