Editing Boudica (section)

== Historical sources ==
{{multiple image |direction = horizontal |total_width= 300 |header = |footer = |image1 = Dio Cassius.jpg |alt1 = engraving of Cassius Dio |caption1 =[[Cassius Dio]] |image2 =Wien- Parlament-Tacitus.jpg |alt2 =Photograph of statue of Tacitus |caption2 = [[Tacitus]]}}
The [[Boudican revolt]] against the [[Roman Empire]] is referred to in four works from [[classical antiquity]] written by three [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] historians: the ''[[Agricola (book)|Agricola]]'' ({{circa|98}}) and ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]]'' ({{circa|110s}}) by [[Tacitus]];<ref name="Hingley Unwin 2006 pp. 42–43">{{harvnb |Hingley |Unwin |2006 |pp=[https://archive.org/details/boudicaironagewa0000hing/page/42/mode/2up 42–43]}}</ref> a mention of the uprising by [[Suetonius]] in his ''[[The Twelve Caesars|Lives of the Caesars]]'' (121);<ref name="Suetonius 1914">{{cite book |last=Suetonius |author-link=Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus |translator-last=Rolfe |translator-first=John Carew |translator-link=John Carew Rolfe |title=Suetonius |volume=2 |chapter=Lives of the Caesars, Book VI: Nero |publication-place=Cambridge, Massaschsetts |publisher=Harvard University Press |date=1914 |oclc=647029284 |page=[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.32106005389009?urlappend=%3Bseq=169%3Bownerid=9007199263401368-175 157] |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/12031250.html |via=HathiTrust |quote="... a disaster in Britain where two important towns were sacked and great numbers of citizens and allies were butchered; ... |language=la, en}}</ref> and the longest account, a detailed description of the revolt contained within [[Cassius Dio]]'s history of the Empire ({{Circa|202|235}}).<ref name="Hingley Unwin 2006 p. 52–53">{{harvnb |Hingley |Unwin |2006 |pp=[https://archive.org/details/boudicaironagewa0000hing/page/52/mode/2up 52–53]}}</ref>

Tacitus wrote some years after the rebellion, but his father-in-law [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola]] was an eyewitness to the events, having served in Britain as a [[tribune]] under [[Gaius Suetonius Paulinus|Suetonius Paulinus]] during this period.<ref name="Hingley Unwin 2006 pp. 42–43"/>

Cassius Dio began his history of Rome and its empire about 140 years after Boudica's death. Much is lost and his account of Boudica survives only in the [[epitome]] of an 11th-century [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] monk, [[John Xiphilinus (historian)|John Xiphilinus]]. He provides greater and more lurid detail than Tacitus, but in general his details are often fictitious.{{sfn |Vandrei |2018 |p=4}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grant |first=Michael |title=Greek and Roman Historians: Information and Misinformation |publisher=Routledge |year=1995 |isbn=0415117704 |location=London |pages=104–105}}</ref>

Both Tacitus and Dio give an account of battle-speeches given by Boudica, though it is thought that her words were never recorded during her life.<ref name="Hingley Unwin 2006 pp. 42–43"/><ref name="Hingley Unwin 2006 p. 52–53"/><ref name="Adl">{{cite journal |last1=Adler |first1=Eric |title=Boudica's Speeches in Tacitus and Dio |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25471937 |journal=The Classical World |date=2008 |volume=101 |issue=2 |pages=173{{ndash}}195 |doi=10.1353/clw.2008.0006 |jstor=25471937 |s2cid=162404957 |access-date= |issn=0009-8418}}</ref> Although imaginary, these speeches, designed to provide a comparison for readers of the antagonists' demands and approaches to war, and to portray the Romans as morally superior to their enemy, helped create an image of [[patriotism]] that turned Boudica into a legendary figure.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hoffman |first1=Birgitta |title=The Roman Invasion of Britain: archaeology versus history |date=2019 |publisher=Pen & Sword Books Limited |location=Barnsley, UK |isbn=978-15267-5-663-3 |page=12}}</ref><ref name="New86">{{cite book |last1=Newark |first1=Timothy |title=Women Warlords: an illustrated military history of female warriors |date=1989 |publisher=Blandford |location=London |isbn=978-07137-1-965-9 |page=86 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/womenwarlordsill0000newa/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater}}</ref>

Whilst the vast majority of historians accept Boudica as a historical figure, a small minority have questioned whether she existed based on the lack of contemporary sources and archaeological evidence.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://vridar.org/2018/05/07/doing-history-how-do-we-know-queen-boadicea-boudicca-existed/ | title=Doing History: How do We Know Queen Boadicea/Boudicca Existed? | date=7 May 2018 }}</ref>