Notices by CatSoc :nv: (catlord@poa.st), page 3

Thinking of Boudica right now. Boudica was the wife of the Iceni king Prasutagus. Prasutagus had ensured that when he died, his daughters would rule as his heirs but upon his death, the Romans betrayed him: stealing his land and posessions, flogging his wife, and raping his daughters -that's according to Tacitus. Cassius Dio writes that it was Roman debt slavery that the Celts revolted against, and he makes the point that they knew they fared better materially under the Romans but nonetheless preferred freedom to subjugation, which is actually more compelling, in my opinion. It doesn't matter which is true. Boudica gathered an army and the Celts revolted.

In Colchester, the Romans had set up a retirement colony for their military veterans, who abused the locals, and made them build a FOREIGN RELIGIOUS BUILDING temple to the Roman emperor, Claudius. The Celts marched on the city, besieged it, defeated the legion sent to relieve it, exterminated the Romans, and destroyed the entire city.

They then marched on London, which had been abandoned by the Roman army. The Celts tortured and killed everyone and burned the entire city down. They are estimated to have culled 70-80 thousand people in their revolt.

They were defeated after that, it's true. But Boudica is remembered 2000 years later as a hero of history, in spite of her ultimate defeat. The moral of the story is twofold: Don't abuse the people. Get the fuck out.