Page "Boudica" Paragraph 9

Her husband, Prasutagus, was the king of Iceni, people who inhabited roughly what is now Norfolk.

They initially were not part of the territory under direct Roman control, having voluntarily allied themselves to Rome following Claudius ' conquest of AD 43.

They were proud of their independence and had revolted in AD 47 when the then-governor Publius Ostorius Scapula threatened to disarm them.

Prasutagus had lived a long life of conspicuous wealth and, hoping to preserve his line, made the Roman emperor co-heir to his kingdom, along with his wife and two daughters.

It was normal Roman practice to allow allied kingdoms their independence only for the lifetime of their client king, who would agree to leave his kingdom to Rome in his will — the provinces of Bithynia and Galatia, for example, were incorporated into the Empire in just this way.

Roman law also allowed inheritance only through the male line, so when Prasutagus died his attempts to preserve his line were ignored and his kingdom was annexed as if it had been conquered ; lands and property were confiscated and nobles treated like slaves.

According to Tacitus, Boudica was flogged and her daughters were raped.

Cassius Dio says that Roman financiers, including Seneca the Younger, chose this time to call in their loans.

Tacitus does not mention this, but does single out the procurator, Catus Decianus, for criticism for his " avarice ".

Prasutagus, it seems, had lived well on borrowed Roman money, and on his death his subjects had become liable for the debt.