HOARD OF BOADICEA’S GOLD FOUND IN BRITAIN

Gold Saters Minted about the Time of Boadicea

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In the past we’ve dealt with Queen Boudicca of the Iceni, or as the Romans called her, Boadicea. We looked at her rebellion, which nearly overthrew Roman rule in Britannia, in a post entitled Queen Boadicea, Warrior Queen of Britannia and also examined the consequences of that rebellion on the city of Camulodunum in Boadicea’s Legacy in the post ATale of Two Cities and the Arthurian Legend. Today, we want to take a look at a huge cache of gold coins discovered a few years ago in East Anglia, Britain. Interestingly enough, this hoard of Iceni coins circulated during the period of Boadicea’s reign. 

FORTUNE SMILES ON A TREASURE HUNTER

Here is a tale that will warm the heart of even the most discouraged treasure hunter. Michael, a 60-year-old mechanic who prefers that his full name not be used, had been metal detecting for 25 years and never discovered a gold coin. One spring day, he decided to explore a field which had been used as a pasture for almost 30 years. He found very little at first…a rusty nail here, an old bolt there. Then he stumbled upon his first gold coin. He checked the Internet and found that his find was known as a Freckenham gold stater, a coin used by the Iceni during the last century BC and the First Century AD. 

Freckenham gold staters are a somewhat unique coin known as base gold staters or what dealers call rose gold staters. They are made with an alloy mix of about 40 per cent copper, 20 per cent silver and 40 per cent gold. They continued to be minted up to and beyond Boadicea’s reign. Note the coppery color of the gold coins made during the Boadicean era. 

THE FIND OF A LIFETIME

It snowed the following weekend, but that didn’t dissuade Michael. He returned to the pasture on Easter Sunday and, under a light covering of snow, dug up eight more of the staters. Then, in his own words, “my machine suddenly went doolally and I knew for sure I was standing right on top of a crock of gold.” In an amazing display of self-control, he marked the spot and went home for a cup of tea. He returned to the field the following day, Easter Monday, and dug into clay soil which hadn’t been plowed since 1980. Six to eight inches beneath the sod he found a cache of 774 gold staters, many of them still in their original container, an earthenware pot. The top of the pot had been sheared off years before by a plowshare which scattered coins over a 30 foot area.  

All of but two of the 825 coins eventually recovered were minted by the Iceni, Queen Boadicea’s tribe. The coins were minted over a number of decades under several Kings and many predated Boadicea’s rule by a generation. Below is a coin minted by Prasutagus, Boadicea’s late husband.



What 774 Gold Staters Looks Like



 UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Who accumulated and buried these coins, now easily worth several million dollars? Such a huge accumulation of gold could not have been the savings of a rich merchant, a prosperous farmer, a skilled craftsman or a mercenary warrior. Their sheer quantity and extreme value of the original deposit indicates the coins most probably belonged to a wealthy king…or queen.  

What was the purpose of this hoard? A number of possibilities have been suggested. It might have been the life savings of a king who died without telling anyone where he stashed the family fortune. Or they could have been gathered to make a very specific and important payment of some kind. If so, to whom and to what end? The fact that the hoard consists solely of gold staters —no gold quarter staters, no silver coins, no gold jewelry, no gold or silver bullion— and that the coins were mostly minted within 20–30 years of deposition suggests they were hoarded very quickly to make a specific payment.  

THREE POSSIBILITIES FOR THEIR INTENDED USE

But what sort of payment? The hoard may have been a votive offering, made on behalf of the tribe during a period of anxiety.  The Wickham Market hoard, as it’s come to be called, was buried close to the boundary of a ditched enclosure close to the southern border of the Iceni’s realm. Several similar hoards have been found along the tribal borders, which seem to imply some sort of  religious significance…a gift to the gods, perhaps. Could the ditched structure have been a temple? However, the special nature of this group, all gold staters, implies it had some special purpose. We examined a similar situation in a cache collected for the Temple Tax buried on Mt. Carmel in the post A Lost Hoard of Shekels Tell Their Story.  

It also may have been a war chest, gathered in anticipation of an imminent military threat. The early years of the First Century seem to have been a time of political upheaval in Britannia and perhaps the Iceni felt threatened by the aggressively expansive Catuvellauni, and prudently accumulated hoards of gold staters in readiness for a military campaign. Almost the only monetary transaction for which there is documentary evidence is the purchase of military service. While coinage was undoubtedly used for other commercial purposes, its most common use appears to have been in governmental transactions. The historical record is replete with the monthly rates of military pay, various taxes and levies, etc.  

And, finally, the coins might have been gathered as a tribute payment to a more powerful king. The proximity of Addedomaros, king of the Catuvellauni’s, to the Iceni may have necessitated a political alliance between the two tribes…an alliance of compliance, with the Iceni as the weaker partner. When Cunobelin invaded the Trinovantes sometime around AD 10 he may have scrapped this treaty and demanded a massive payment of tribute from the Iceni in exchange for not invading them too. This begs the question, if so, why weren’t they paid? 

Clearly, such caches of coins are the stuff of legend and they pose questions which can never be answered. Rather than making it less interesting, it piques the imagination to speculate on why someone buried that jar of gold coins, who they were, and why they did it. 

Until next time, we wish you Peace and Blessings. 

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BOADICEA’S LEGACY – THE TALE OF TWO CITIES & THE ARTHURIAN LEGEND

The Romans Set Fire to the Temple of Claudius, Killing all Inside

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A TALE OF TWO CITIES

Today we’re looking at two ancient cities in Roman Britannia, Camulodunum (present day Colchester) and Londinium (present day London). They shared a common fate; during Queen Boadicea’s revolt against the Romans both of them were destroyed. [If you missed the first post on Boadicea, you can find it HERE.]  

Both cities were rebuilt, of course, but the rebuilding process altered the relationship between them in interesting ways. Before we’re through we’ll also examine a possible origin for the Arthurian Legends and what some people have speculated may have given rise to them.

Cities seem to have a life of their own. They rise, fall, and sometimes rise again. And then, sometimes they don’t. We recently examined the slide of Antioch into near oblivion, a city once known as The Queen of the East, and compared it to the other two great cities of the Roman Empire: Rome and Alexandria. You can find the Antioch post HERE. 

Based on writings by Pliny the Elder, Cunobelinus (Colchester) is reputedly the oldest recorded town in Britain. Before the Roman conquest of Britain it was already a center of power for Cunobelin, king of the Celtic tribe, the Catuvellauni (5 BC - AD 40).  

IMORTALIZED BY SHAKESPEARE

Interestingly enough, Cunobelin appeared as Cymbeline in the Shakespearean play by the same name. In the play, Cymbeline, King of Britain, takes a new wife who has an arrogant son called Cloten. Cymbeline's lovely daughter Imogen is expected to marry Cloten. Instead Imogen marries the brave, but poor Posthumus Leonatus. Cymbeline is furious when he finds out about the marriage and banishes Posthumus. The couple have time to exchange love tokens and Imogen gives Posthumus a diamond ring and he gives her a bracelet. The villain of the plot is Iachimo who bets 10,000 ducats against Posthumus's diamond ring that he can seduce Imogen. 

RETURNING TO CAMULODUNUM

Cunobelinus is better known by its Celtic name, Camulodunum, meaning fortress of Camulos, the Celtic War god. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that the Romans retained the name after their conquest of Britain in AD 43 and established a legionary fortress there. Later, when the Roman frontier expanded and Legio XX moved to the west, Camulodunum became the provincial capital of Roman Britannia. A large, and elaborate, Temple to the Divine Claudius was built in the city. It was there that thousands of Romans took refugee when Boadicea’s troops attacked the city. They all died when the rebels set fire to the Temple. And that is when Camulodunum’s, or Colchester’s, fate was sealed.

Remnants of the Wall the Romans Built Around Their Fortress

Boadicea’s fires had the strange effect of baking the wattle-and-daub buildings of Camulodunum into a solid mass. You might say the fire became an impromptu kiln. Because of this, the lower two feet of the Roman fortress survived and eventually became the underpinnings of the rebuilt colony. The town might have remained the financial capitol of Britain had the Romans not chosen to build their Colonia Victricensis, City of Victory, on the foundations of a fortress alongside the Colne River. The river’s marshy upper reaches made it nearly impossible for large merchant ships to reach the Roman settlers. In order to meet the demand for imported goods, shipping moved to the deeper waters of the Thames. And Londinium, which had previously been an insignificant trading center, grew to become the island’s center of commerce. 

Colchester Castle Dates to the 11th Century

ABOUT THOSE ARTHURIAN LEGENDS

Dr. John Morris (1913-1977) an English historian who specialized in the study of the institutions of the Roman Empire and the history of Roman Britain, suggested in his book The Age of Arthur that as the descendants of Romanized Britons looked back to a golden age of peace and prosperity under Rome the name Camelot of the Arthurian legends was probably a reference to Camulodunum, the city of the Iceni god Camulos and capital of Britannia in Roman times.

Boadicea Window in Colchester City Hall

 Studies say that Colchester (Camulodunum) was abandoned as a settlement after the sixth century. Sometime over the next three hundred years it underwent a revival. When and how is unclear. However, the ninth-century Historia Brittonum, mentions the town, which it calls Cair Colun, in a list of the thirty most important cities in Britain.  The tenth-century Saxons called the town Colneceastre, which eventually became Colchester.  

Two thousand years ago, Camulodunum was the center of everything and Londinium was a backwater trading outpost. The current population of Colchester is 160,000, which is dwarfed by London’s 7.6 million. How far the mighty have fallen. 

On Thursday, we’ll visit the myth and facts surrounding King Solomon's Mines. Look out Allan Quatermain, here we come!

Until then, we wish you Peace and Blessings. 

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BOADICEA — WARRIOR QUEEN OF BRITANNIA

Thomas Thornycroft Statue of Queen Boadicea in Westminster, London

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NOT A MONOLITHIC POWER

Movies often portray the Romans as an invincible power with absolute control that subjected the peoples of their empire with an iron hand. This, of course, is far from the truth. Revolts and uprisings where constantly breaking out from East to West. One of the greatest, and most successful, was lead by a woman named Boadicea.

BOADICEA IN HISTORY

That was the name given to her by the Roman historian Tacitus, although to Dio Cassius she was Buduica. Whether Boudicca, Boadicea, or Buduica; it would have been the Latinized version of her Brythonic Celtic name, and would probably have been something similar to the name under which she is known in present day Welsh Byddyg, Victory, or a variant of Boudigga, the Celtic Goddess of Victory.

Written histories of Boadicea, and of early Britain in general, are found in two classical manuscripts, which were most likely derived from the same original source. The historian Tacitus wrote his history only fifty years after the events of A.D. 60, and it was said that his father-in-law Agricola was able to give an eyewitness account of the rebellion. Dio Cassius also gave his account of the events. Although both are biased accounts, they provide the basic chronological framework of early Roman Britain. Attempts to turn to archaeological discoveries to help pinpoint the exact events has been unsuccessful, since much of the data was destroyed during pillaging and a significant amount of the land has never been excavated.

THE CELTIC TRIBE KNOWN AS THE ICENI

The Iceni were a Celtic tribe located in an area of southern Britain known as East Anglia. Geographically they were isolated; to the north and east the boundary was the sea and the remainder was covered in dense forest, making invasion from foreigners nearly impossible. The people were of mixed origins. There had been an influx of people from the Hallstat culture, bringing with them a knowledge of iron and pottery, which merged with the skills of those already present from the late Bronze Age.

Sometime between A.D. 43 and A.D. 45, Boadicea was married to Prasutagus, King of the Iceni. It has been said that Boadicea was not of Iceni origin since outside marriages were quite common among the ruling class. It was not unusual for women held positions of prestige and power, in the upper levels of Celtic society. Many took prominent roles in political, religious, and artistic life. Women also owned land, could choose their spouses and initiate divorce.

PRASUTAGUS, THE CLIENT KING

The Iceni had remained passive and watched while the Roman Emperor Claudius and his army conquered large parts of Britain in A.D. 43. Since Claudius was founding strong military colonies all over the island, the Iceni must have realized that they couldn't remain independent of Roman domination forever. In an attempt to avoid conflict, King Prasutagus went to the city of Camulodunum and agreed to become a client-king of Rome. This required him to submit to the Roman ruling class, but it also enabled his tribe and their culture to remain relatively unfettered.

This system worked well for Prasutagus and his subjects until his death. In his last testament, Prasutagus left his kingdom to be shared equally by his two daughters and the new Roman emperor, Nero. He apparently believed that this would buy off the Roman Emperor and thereby ensure tranquility for his family and kingdom. The Romans, however, did not grant right of succession to all client kings. What, if any, promises made to the leader of the Iceni are lost to history. The situation was further complicated by the fact that Roman law did not allow royal inheritance to be passed to daughters, and co-ownership of a kingdom with a woman was unacceptable according to Roman standards.

A Wintery View of the Thornycroft Statue

FORCED TO BECOME A REVOLUTIONARY
Kinsmen of the royal house were enslaved. Boadicea was whipped and forced to witness the public rape and torture of her two daughters, who were believed to have been roughly 12 years old at the time. The Romans clearly sought to break the proud Iceni spirit; however, rather than breaking their spirits, their excesses rallied the people behind their Queen.

Meanwhile, the Romans were experiencing difficulty in the northeast attempting to take the headquarters of Druidism on the Isle of Mona. They feared the Druids because they were apparently the force behind previous rebellions against Caesar. This territory had become the geographical center for anti-Roman and pro-Briton activities.

Though by Roman law Boadicea had no real claim to succession after her husband's death, her people regarded her as their natural leader, and neighboring tribes willingly supported any anti-Roman uprising. The indigenous people had suffered under Roman taxation for years and many were also driven off their own land and enslaved. Sometime before 60 AD, the Temple of Claudius was erected in Colchester to commemorate the life of the Roman emperor who had destroyed the Celtic culture. It immediately became an object of strong hatred by the British tribes and a rallying point. Neighboring tribes quickly joined Boadicea's rebellion. She's said to have gathered between 100,000 and 200,000 people against the Romans. They captured and destroyed the Roman cities of Camulodunum and Colchester then marched on the growing trade center of Londinium, which they also sacked and burned.

A Stained Glass Rendering of Boudicea at the
Colchester Town Hall

The written accounts portray Boadicea and her followers in battle in savage terms, a typical ploy of Roman military writing which portrays the enemy as uncivilized animals as opposed to Roman law, order, and civilization. Regardless, the three principle cities of the province had been captured and their inhabitants brutally massacred. However, Boadicea had an increasingly difficult time keeping order among her troops after these victories with their accompanying looting and burning.

THE REVOLUTION COMES TO AN END

No one is sure exactly when and where the final confrontation took place. This is how Tacitus describes the final battle: The Britons were used to the leadership of women, but she came  before them not as a queen of a distinguished line, but as an ordinary woman, her body cut by the lash avenging the loss of her liberty, and the outrages imposed on her daughters.

He quotes Boadicea as rallying the troops by saying, “The gods were on our side in our quest for vengeance, one legion had already perished, the others are cowering in their forts to escape. They could never face the roar of our thousands, least of all our charge and hand to hand fighting. When the Romans realize their small force and the justice of our cause, they will know it is victory or death. This is my resolve, as a woman: follow me or submit to the Roman yoke.”

The rebel army was immense, but the Romans were at an advantage for the first time with more armor and shorter swords. The Celts had longer slashing swords and little or no armor. Not intimidated by the barbaric chaos, the Roman army advanced rapidly into the Celtic mass. The Roman swords proved to be deadly at close quarters, while the Celts were crushed so close together their longer weapons were rendered useless. Under the command of Seutonius, the Romans massacred the Celts. A few months later fire and the Roman sword ravaged the previously untouched Iceni territory.

LOST TO HISTORY

It was reported that Boadicea survived the battle. Tacitus wrote that she took poison and thus died by her own hand, Cassius Dio tells us she fell sick and died. Sickness caused by poison? No matter, it stands to reason that she did not want to fall into the hands of the Romans again. Did her daughters die with her? They were never mentioned again. Their names, as well as their fate, are another one of the mysteries of history.

Boadicea's story appears to have ended with her death and burial in an unknown grave. Her name faded from memory, her heroic deeds were forgotten until the 14th Century, when Tacitus' manuscripts were discovered in a monastery library. Since then, Boadicea's rebellion has had an established and monumental place in British history. Over time she has come to be seen not so much as a queen, but a mother, wife, and warrior defending her country.

Alex Kingston as Boadicea in the movie Warrior Queen

Boadicea has been the subject of two feature films, the 1928 film Boadicea, where she was portrayed by Phyllis Neilson-Terry, and 2003's Boudica — released as Warrior Queen in the US, a UK TV film starring Alex Kingston as Boudica. She has also been the subject of a 1978 British TV series, Warrior Queen, starring Siân Phillips as Boudica.

Until next time, we wish you Peace and Blessings.