The Iceni Rebellion

It would take the Romans quite a long time to make sure that there was peace in an area that they had conquered. Local people often didn’t like their new rulers and most of them hated paying taxes to Rome. The Romans used the army to make the locals pay taxes and often a lot of people were killed. In most of the provinces the people gradually accepted Roman rule. Sometimes though the Romans did things that made locals mad. If this happened there was often a rebellion. An example of this is the rebellion of Boudicca, an English Queen. She rebelled in AD 60 after the Romans refused to let her have the powers that her husband had always been allowed.

A Roman Historian, Dio Cassius, wrote that Boudicca started the rebellion when she said:

"Listen to me. You know the difference between freedom and slavery. Before the Romans came, we were free. Now we are slaves. When the Romans invaded us they robbed us of our riches. Now they continue to rob us by making us pay taxes. Every year we work on our land- and for what? So that they can take away all that we earn. I would rather die in battle than have to pay taxes. But why do I mention death? Even death isn’t free anymore. We even have to pay the Romans before we can bury our dead! They look down on us and trample us underfoot. All Romans care about is making money out of us.

Written by Dio Cassius in the year AD 210." (taken from The Roman Empire' textbook by Steve Lancaster)

The Rebellion shocked the Romans who lost a few battles before gathering their troops and finally beating Boudicca's army in London. The Queen is believed to have poisoned herself to stop the Romans finding her alive.