Her followers defeated a Roman army. She torched Londinium, leaving a charred layer a half-meter thick. According to the Roman historian Tacitus, her troops slaughtered 70 thousand civilians in Londinium, Verulamium, and Camulodunum, rushing to “cut throats, hang, burn and crucify.” So who was she? And why was she so bloody angry?

The first thing to know about Boudica (also Boudicca, Boadicea, Buddug and such) is how little is known about her. What is known comes from the works of two Roman historians (Tacitus and Cassius Dio). It seems Boudica’s husband Prasutagus ruled the Iceni tribe in Britannia as a nominally independent ally of mighty Rome around 60 AD, and left his kingdom to his daughters and the emperor Nero to rule jointly in the event of his death. He died, and the Romans promptly ignored the terms, claiming Prasutagus had defaulted on his debts. When Queen Boudica objected, she was flogged and her daughters raped. And Rome felt her wrath…

Some 100 thousand barbarians rallied to Boudica’s call for revenge, and marched on Camulodunum, a colonia – a settlement for retired Roman soldiers and their families – in Iceni territory. The garrison, about 200 men, thought the “rebels” would scatter when confronted; it was a mistake. Having won the “battle,” the barbarians proceeded to slaughter everyone in the town … women, children, the infirm and elderly, and infants.

The Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paulius – away campaigning in Wales – upon hearing of the mess, dispatched the IX Legion Hispania to protect Londinium. Boudica’s force overran the legion and descended upon the city. Suetonius, meanwhile, regrouped his remaining legions in the West Midlands. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Suetonius decisively defeated Boudica’s horde on the Roman road known as Watling Street. With her followers dead or scattered, Boudica either killed herself or fell ill and died.