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The Battle of Watling Street (sometimes called the Battle of Paulerspury
Paulerspury

Paulerspury is a small village approximately south of Towcester and north of Milton Keynes along the A5 road which follows the course of the Roman Road of Watling Street, in South Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom....
) took place in Roman-occupied Britain
Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
 in AD 60
60

Year 60 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar....
 or 61
61

Year 61 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar....
 between an alliance of indigenous Brython
Brython

Historically, the Britons were the P-Celtic indigenous peoples inhabiting the island of Great Britain south of the river Forth. They were speakers of the Brythonic languages and shared common cultural traditions; the surviving P-Celtic languages are Welsh language, Cornish language and Breton....
ic tribes, led by Boudica
Boudica

Boudica was a queen of the Iceni tribe of what is now known as East Anglia in England, who led an uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire....
, and the Roman
Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
s led by Gaius Suetonius Paulinus
Gaius Suetonius Paulinus

Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, also spelled Paullinus, was a Roman Empire general best known as the commander who defeated the rebellion of Boudica....
. Although outnumbered by more than 20 to 1, the Romans held their ground against the British hordes and gained victory in this final battle of a protracted opposition to their rule. 80,000 Britons are said to have died in the decisive battle.

The formidable revolt had shaken Rome's hold on its new province, but victory secured Roman rule in Britain
Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
, a period that lasted until 410.






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The Battle of Watling Street (sometimes called the Battle of Paulerspury
Paulerspury

Paulerspury is a small village approximately south of Towcester and north of Milton Keynes along the A5 road which follows the course of the Roman Road of Watling Street, in South Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom....
) took place in Roman-occupied Britain
Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
 in AD 60
60

Year 60 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar....
 or 61
61

Year 61 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar....
 between an alliance of indigenous Brython
Brython

Historically, the Britons were the P-Celtic indigenous peoples inhabiting the island of Great Britain south of the river Forth. They were speakers of the Brythonic languages and shared common cultural traditions; the surviving P-Celtic languages are Welsh language, Cornish language and Breton....
ic tribes, led by Boudica
Boudica

Boudica was a queen of the Iceni tribe of what is now known as East Anglia in England, who led an uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire....
, and the Roman
Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
s led by Gaius Suetonius Paulinus
Gaius Suetonius Paulinus

Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, also spelled Paullinus, was a Roman Empire general best known as the commander who defeated the rebellion of Boudica....
. Although outnumbered by more than 20 to 1, the Romans held their ground against the British hordes and gained victory in this final battle of a protracted opposition to their rule. 80,000 Britons are said to have died in the decisive battle.

The formidable revolt had shaken Rome's hold on its new province, but victory secured Roman rule in Britain
Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
, a period that lasted until 410. The precise location of the battle is not known, but most historians place it between Londinium and Viroconium (Wroxeter
Wroxeter

Wroxeter is a village in the county of Shropshire, England, on the east bank of the River Severn, at . It is located on the site of the Roman Empire city of Viroconium Cornoviorum, known in Old Welsh language as Caer Guricon....
 in Shropshire
Shropshire

Shropshire , alternatively known as Salop or abbreviated, in print only, Shrops, is a Counties of England in the West Midlands of England....
), on the Roman Road now known as Watling Street
Watling Street

Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Celts mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans....
. This name for the road originated in Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading tribes in the south and east of Great Britain starting from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, lasting until the Norman conquest of England of 1066....
 times, thus the modern name of the battle is anachronistic as well as being somewhat speculative.

Background

In AD 43, Rome invaded
Roman conquest of Britain

By AD 43, the time of the main Roman invasion of Britain, Great Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire....
 south-eastern Britain. The conquest was gradual. While some kingdoms were defeated militarily and occupied, others were for the time being allowed to remain nominally independent as allies of the Roman empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
.

One such tribe was the Iceni
Iceni

The Iceni or Eceni were a Brythonic tribe who inhabited an area of Roman Britain corresponding roughly to the modern-day county of Norfolk between the 1st century BC and 1st century AD....
 in what is now Norfolk
Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying Counties of England in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and with Suffolk to the south....
. Their king, Prasutagus
Prasutagus

Prasutagus was king of a Brython tribe called the Iceni, who inhabited roughly what is now Norfolk, in the 1st century AD. He is best known as the husband of Boudica....
, secured his independence by leaving his lands jointly to his daughters and to the Roman emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 in his will. But when he died, in 61 or shortly before, his will was ignored. The Romans seized his lands and violently humiliated his family: his widow, Boudica
Boudica

Boudica was a queen of the Iceni tribe of what is now known as East Anglia in England, who led an uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire....
, was flogged and their daughters raped. Roman financiers called in their loans, which must have placed an increased burden of taxation on the Iceni.

When the Roman Governor
Roman governor

A Roman governor was an official either elected or appointed to be the chief administrator of Roman law throughout one or more of the many Roman province constituting the Roman Empire....
 of Britain, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus
Gaius Suetonius Paulinus

Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, also spelled Paullinus, was a Roman Empire general best known as the commander who defeated the rebellion of Boudica....
, was campaigning on the island of Mona (Anglesey
Anglesey

Anglesey is an island and principal areas of Wales off the northwest coast of Wales, with a predominantly Welsh language-speaking population. It is connected to the mainland by two bridges spanning the Menai Strait: the original Menai Suspension Bridge , designed by Thomas Telford in 1826; and the newer reconstructed Britannia Bridge ; which...
, north Wales), the Iceni, led by Boudica, revolted.

The Iceni allied with their neighbors the Trinovantes
Trinovantes

The Trinovantes or Trinobantes were one of the Celtic tribes that lived in pre-Roman Britain. Their territory was on the north side of the Thames estuary in current Essex, England and Suffolk, and included lands now located in Greater London....
, whose former capital, Camulodunum (Colchester
Colchester

Colchester is a town, and the largest settlement within the Colchester , in Essex, England.It has a population of List of English cities by population....
), was now a colony for Roman veterans. To add insult to injury, the Romans had erected a temple to the former emperor Claudius
Claudius

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I was the fourth Roman Emperor, a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from January 24, AD 41 to his death in AD 54....
 in the city, built at local expense. The rebels descended on Camulodunum and destroyed it, killing all those who could not escape.

Boudica and her army headed for Londinium
Londinium

This article covers the history of London during the Roman Britain from around 47 AD when the Roman city of Londinium was founded, to its abandonment during the 5th century....
 (London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
). So did Suetonius and a small portion of his army, but, arriving ahead of the rebels, concluded he did not have the numbers to defend the city and ordered it evacuated before it was attacked. It, too, was burnt to the ground and every inhabitant who could not get away was killed.

While Boudica's army continued their assault in Verulamium
Verulamium

Verulamium was the third-largest city in Roman Britain. It was sited in the southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon ....
 (St. Albans
St Albans

Saint Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans....
), Suetonius regrouped his forces. According to Tacitus, he amassed a force including his own Legio XIV Gemina
Legio XIV Gemina

Legio decima quarta Gemina was a Roman legion of the Roman Empire, levied by Augustus after 41 BC. The cognomen Gemina suggests that the legion resulted from fusion of two previous ones, one of them possibly being the Fourteenth legion that fought in the Battle of Alesia....
, parts of the XX Valeria Victrix
Legio XX Valeria Victrix

Legio vigesima Valeria Victrix was a Roman legion, probably raised by Augustus some time after 31 BC. It served in Hispania, Illyricum, and Germania before participating in the invasion of Britannia in 43 AD, where it remained and was active until at least the beginning of the 4th century....
, and any available auxiliaries, a total of 10,000 men. A third legion, II Augusta, near Exeter
Exeter

Exeter Exeter was the most south-westerly Roman fortified settlement in Roman Britain and has existed since time immemorial. Exeter Cathedral, founded in 1050 is Anglicanism....
, failed to join him; a fourth, IX Hispana
Legio IX Hispana

Legio nona Hispana , sometimes known as Legio IX Hispana was a Roman legion. The legion's symbol is unknown, likely a Taurus , as other legions created by Caesar....
, had been routed trying to relieve Camulodunum. The size of Boudica's army is given at almost a quarter of a million.

Battle

Heavily outnumbered, Suetonius chose his battleground carefully. He selected a narrow gorge with a forest behind him, opening out into a wide plain. The gorge protected the Roman flanks from attack, whilst the forest would impede approach from the rear. This removed Boudica's advantage of numbers by preventing her from bringing large numbers into close combat, and the open plain in front made ambushes impossible. Suetonius placed his legionaries in close order, with lightly-armed auxiliaries on the flanks and cavalry on the wings.

Boudiccastatue
As their armies arranged, the commanders sought to motivate their soldiers. The Roman historian Tacitus
Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman Senate and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories —examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those that reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors....
, who wrote of the battle no more than fifty years later, recorded Boudica's speech to her followers: "Nothing is safe from Roman pride and arrogance. They will deface the sacred and will deflower our virgins. Win the battle or perish, that is what I, a woman, will do."

The Britons placed their wagon train in a crescent at the large end of the field, from which point their families could watch what they expected to be an overwhelming victory. Two German leaders, Boiorix
Boiorix

Boiorix was a king of the Cimbri tribe. His most notable achievement was a spectacular victory against the Ancient Rome at the Battle of Arausio in 105 BC. He was later defeated and slain at the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC....
 of the Cimbri
Cimbri

The Cimbri were a Celtic or Germanic peoples tribe who together with the Teutones and the Ambrones threatened the Roman Republic in the late 2nd century BC....
 and Ariovistus
Ariovistus

Ariovistus was a leader of the Suebi and other allied Germanic peoples in the second quarter of the 1st century BC. He and his followers took part in a war in Gaul, assisting the Arverni and Sequani to defeat their rivals the Aedui, and settled in large numbers in conquered Gallic territory in the Alsace region, but were defeated in the Battl...
 of the Suebi
Suebi

The Suebi or Suevi were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c....
, are reported to have done the same thing in their battles against Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius

Gaius Marius was a Roman Republic general and politician elected consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his dramatic Marian Reforms of Roman legion, authorizing recruitment of landless citizens and reorganizing the structure of the legions into separate Cohort ....
 and Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
 respectively.

Tacitus also wrote of Suetonius addressing his legionaries: "Ignore the racket made by these savages. There are more women than men in their ranks. They are not soldiers - they're not even properly equipped. We've beaten them before and when they see our weapons and feel our spirit, they'll crack. Stick together. Throw the javelins, then push forward: knock them down with your shields and finish them off with your swords. Forget about booty. Just win and you'll have the lot." Although Tacitus, like many historians of his day, was given to invent stirring speeches for such occasions, Suetonius's speech here is unusually blunt and practical. Tacitus's father-in-law, the future governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola
Gnaeus Julius Agricola

Gnaeus Julius Agricola was a Roman Empire general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Roman Britain. His biography, the Agricola , was the first published work of his son-in-law, the historian Tacitus, and is the source for most of what is known about him....
, was on Suetonius's staff at the time and may have reported it fairly accurately.

Boudica led her army forward across the plain and into the narrowing field in a massive frontal attack. As they advanced, they were channeled into a tightly packed mass. At approximately forty yards, their advance was staggered by a volley of Roman pila
Pilum

The pilum was a heavy javelin commonly used by the Military history of ancient Rome#Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about two meters long overall, consisting of an iron shank about 7 mm in diameter and 60 cm long with pyramidal head....
, the Roman javelin. The pilum was designed to bend when it hit a shield, making it impossible to pull out; the enemy would either be encumbered with a heavy iron spear weighing down his shield, or have to discard it and fight unprotected; very few if any of the Britons would have had any armour. A second volley followed, as each Roman legionary carried two pila. This tactic destroyed any organised advance by the Britons.

With the Britons in disarray, Suetonius ordered his legionaries and auxiliaries to push forward in the standard Roman wedge formation
Flying wedge

A flying wedge, flying V or simply a wedge is a charging formation in which troops or riot police are arrayed to form a V-shaped wedge formation, sometimes called a "boar's head", or ??????? in Greek....
, creating a front line that took the appearance of the teeth of a handsaw. With their superior discipline, the Romans were able to continue fighting as fiercely as ever. With a clear advantage in armour, weapons, and discipline, this gave them a decisive edge in the close quarters fighting against the tightly packed Britons. The cavalry, lances extended, then entered the fray. As their losses mounted, the Britons tried to retreat, but their flight was blocked by the ring of wagons and they were massacred. The cavalry also attacked the Britons from the flanks as the Roman infantry advanced. The Romans killed not only the warriors but also the women, children, and even pack animals. Tacitus says that according to one estimate, 80,000 Britons fell compared to only 400 Romans.

Boudica is said by Tacitus to have poisoned herself; Cassius Dio says Boudica fell ill and died and was given a lavish burial. Poenius Postumus
Poenius Postumus

Poenius Postumus was prefect of the Roman Empire Roman legion Legio II Augusta, stationed in Roman Britain during the rebellion of Boudica in 61 CE....
, prefect of the 2nd legion, which had failed to join the battle, having robbed his men of a share of the glory, committed suicide by falling on his sword.

The site of the battle is not given by either historian, although Tacitus gives a brief description. A wide variety of sites, all consistent with an army attacking from the area of London toward the Roman forces concentrating from the direction of Cornwall and Wales, has been suggested. One legend places it at Battle Bridge Road in King's Cross, London, although from reading Tacitus it is unlikely Suetonius returned to the city.

Most historians favour a site in the West Midlands, probably along the Roman road of Watling Street between Londinium and Viroconium (Wroxeter
Wroxeter

Wroxeter is a village in the county of Shropshire, England, on the east bank of the River Severn, at . It is located on the site of the Roman Empire city of Viroconium Cornoviorum, known in Old Welsh language as Caer Guricon....
 in Shropshire
Shropshire

Shropshire , alternatively known as Salop or abbreviated, in print only, Shrops, is a Counties of England in the West Midlands of England....
), now the A5. Plausible suggestions include Manduessedum
Manduessedum

Manduessedum was a Roman Britain castra and later a civilian small town in the Roman Province of Britannia. Today it is known as Mancetter, located in the England county of Warwickshire....
 (Mancetter
Mancetter

Mancetter is a village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. In 2001, it had a population of 2,449.Mancetter is joined with the town of Atherstone, with which it forms a single urban area....
), near Atherstone
Atherstone

Atherstone is a town in Warwickshire, England. The town is located near the northernmost tip of Warwickshire, close to the border with Staffordshire and Leicestershire, and is the administrative headquarters of the borough of North Warwickshire....
 in Warwickshire
Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton in the far north of the county....
, a site close to High Cross
High Cross, Leicestershire

High Cross is the name given to the former crossroads of the Roman Roads of Watling Street and Fosse Way in Leicestershire, England. It is located about a mile west of the village of Claybrooke Magna and was located in the Hundred of Guthlaxton....
 in Leicestershire
Leicestershire

Leicestershire County Hall, situated in Glenfield, Leicestershire, about 3 miles northwest of Leicester city centre, is the seat of Leicestershire County Council and the headquarters of the county authority....
, a small dip at Cuttle Mill, two miles south-east of Lactodorum (Towcester
Towcester

Towcester , the Roman Britain of Lactodorum, is a small town in south Northamptonshire, England. The English name is derived from the Latin for "Camp on the River Tove"....
) in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a landlocked Counties of England in the England East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the United Kingdom Census 2001....
, or a site at Kings Norton
Kings Norton

Kings Norton is an area of Birmingham, England. It is also a Birmingham City Council ward within the Government of Birmingham, England#Districts of Northfield, Birmingham....
 close to Metchley Camp
Birmingham military history

The city of Birmingham, in England, has a long military history and has been for several centuries a major manufacturer of weapons....
 in Birmingham
Birmingham

Birmingham is a city status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. Birmingham is the most populous of England's English Core Cities Group, and is the List of United Kingdom cities by population British city after London, with a population of 1,010,200 ....
.

Aftermath

It is said that the emperor Nero
Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
 was so shaken by these events that he considered withdrawing from Britain altogether, but with the revolt brought to a decisive end, the occupation of Britain continued.

Fearing Suetonius' punitive policies would provoke further rebellion, Nero replaced the governor with the more conciliatory Publius Petronius Turpilianus
Publius Petronius Turpilianus

Publius Petronius Turpilianus was a Roman Empire politician and general.He was consul in AD 61, but in the second half of that year he laid down that office and was appointed governor of Roman Britain, replacing Gaius Suetonius Paulinus who had been removed from office in the wake of the rebellion of Boudica....
.

This, however, was not the end of resistance to Roman rule: Venutius
Venutius

Venutius was a 1st century king of the Brigantes in northern Roman Britain at the time of the Roman invasion of Britain. Some have suggested he may have belonged to the Carvetii, a tribe which probably formed part of the Brigantes confederation....
 of the Brigantes
Brigantes

The Brigantes were a List of Celtic tribes who in British Iron Age times controlled the largest section of Northern England and a significant part of the Midlands#The English Midlands....
 would lead another less well documented, but possibly more successful, revolt in AD 69.

See also

  • Battle of Towton
    Battle of Towton

    The Battle of Towton in the Wars of the Roses was the largest and bloodiest ever fought on united kingdom soil, with casualties believed to have been about 28,000 men; only the Battle of Watling Street in AD 60 or 61 was reputed to have more casualties, with 80,000 Britons reported killed....
  • First day on the Somme
    First day on the Somme

    The first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, was the opening day of the Battle of Albert , which was the first phase of the British Empire and France offensive that became known as the Battle of the Somme ....