by Griff Hosker
Quintus Cerialis was the Legate who tried to relieve Camulodunum but, as I say in the novel, he only took 2,500 men and all but 500 of the cavalry, including the First Cohort of the Ninth were massacred. The procurator did behave as suggested in the novel. He sent a mere 200 auxiliaries to face Boudicca and he did flee to Gaul. Boudicca was flogged and her daughters raped by Roman soldiers. In reality Cerialis is not implicated but it suited my novel to make him seem corrupt. Nor was it auxiliaries who raped the queen’s daughters, it was legionaries; again it suited my novel. The reasons for the rape are confused but it appears that the Romans were victims of their own sense of order. Virgins could not be executed and therefore the rape would facilitate that sentence. As they were the joint heirs with Nero this would seem a logical precursor to their death. All of which begs the question, why, having committed such an outrageous act did the Romans not execute them? There was a time gap which Boudicca used to ignite the rebellion. I used the escape from the settlement as a means of explaining that.
The lines spoken by the Governor and Boudicca at the Battle of Watling Street are taken from Tacitus. I put them in italics to show what a lazy author I am. They may be fiction (he was writing many years after the event) but if you are going to steal lines then why not from a Roman. In terms of the numbers at the actions they are fairly accurate. It is estimated that Boudicca slaughtered almost 80000 at the three colonia. Paulinus, who emerges as the real hero of the uprising, did only have ten thousand men to face an army estimated to be 100,000 in number. He is reported to have only lost 400 hundred men whilst the rebels were slaughtered. The wagons and their placement, with the families watching on, was an action which had occurred in other conflicts. It cost the rebels their lives as it prevented their escape. The Prefect of the Second Augusta did fail to respond to an order to join Paulinus and, after the Governor’s victory, he did kill himself. Apparently his men were a little miffed to have missed a great victory!
Quintus Cerialis did become Governor of Britannia when Vespasian became Emperor after the year of four Emperors in 69 A.D. He was not as good as Paulinus who was, probably, the reason why Britannia remained a colony for another four hundred years. His battle plans suited the Romans but even so the defeat of Boudicca by such a small number of men beggars belief.
The roads were not called Watling Street, Dere Street etc until Saxon times. The roads were named after the Emperor in whose reign they were constructed. As most of them were constructed during the reign of Claudius this must have been confusing although as the action in this book is centred mainly along the A1 it is not such a problem.
Griff Hosker October 2013
People and places in the book.
Fictitious characters and places are in italics.
Name
Description
Abad
Pannonian Chief
Aulus Didius Gallus
Governor of Britannia 52-57 AD
Aulus Murgus
Cavalryman 9th Legion
Bucco
A name meaning fool
Capsarius
Medical orderly
Caesius Nasica
Legate who first defeated Venutius
Cava
Pannonian warrior
Cavta
Pannonian village
Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium
Cologne Legionary Fortress
cornicen
The trooper with the cornu.
Durobrivae
Peterborough
Dunum
River Tees
cornu
Roman horn for signalling in battle
Decius Spurius
Prefect 1st Gallic Cohort
Darvas
Pannonian warrior
Decimus Livius Bucco
Corbulo’s aide
Decurion Spurius Ocella
Cavalryman 9th Legion
Durocobrivis
Luton
Flavius Bellatoris
Cavalryman 9th Legion
Fossa Lindum
Ermine Street (A1)
Gerjen
Pannonian warrior and aquilifer
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo
Legate- Germania Inferior
Ituna Est
River Solway, Cumbria
Gnaeus Marcius Celsus
Tribune 9th Hispana
Herrmann
Chauci chief
Julius Salvius Labeo
Legate 5th Alaude
Kadarcs
Pannonian warrior
Marcomanni
German tribe
Marcus Bulbus
Legate Ninth Hispana
Marcus Sextus Maro
First Spear of the Ninth
Marius Ulpius Proculus
Prefect of 1st Pannonian Ala
Navarchus
In charge of ten ships
Numerius Buteo
Cavalryman 9th Legion
oppidum
Hill fort
Nundinal cycle
A Roman week; it changed from 8 days to 7 in the 1st Century
Panyvadi
Pannonian warrior
Publius Tullus
Cavalryman 9th Legion
Quintus Atinus
Cavalryman 9th Legion
Quintus Petillius Cerialis
Legate of the Ninth and later Governor
Quaestor
Roman official or tax collector
sesquiplicarius
Corporal
Sextus Vatia
Cavalryman 9th Legion
signifier
The soldier who carries the standard
Spurius Ocella
Decurion 9th Legion
Sura
Pannonian warrior and deserter
tonsor
Roman barber
Tuathal
Iceni warrior
Trierarch
Captain of a Roman warship
Via Claudia
Watling Street (A5)
Via Nero
Dere Street (Al)-Eboracum North
Via Hades
Road to Hell (A1)
Venta Icenorum
Castor St Edmunds near Norwich
Vicus pl vici
Roman settlement close to a fort
Vindonissa,
Roman legionary fortress on Swiss border
Wolf (Lupus Ulpius Felix)
Pannonian
Other books by Griff Hosker
If you enjoyed reading this book then why not read another one by the author?
The Sword of Cartimandua Series (Germania and Britannia 50A.D. – 128 A.D.)
Ulpius Felix- Roman Warrior
Book 1 The Sword of Cartimandua
Book 2 The Horse Warriors
Book 3 Invasion Caledonia
Book 4 Roman Retreat
Book 5 Revolt of the Red Witch
Book 6 Druid’s Gold
Book 7 Trajan’s Hunters
Book 8 The Last Frontier
Book 9 Hero of Rome
Book 10 Roman Hawk
Book 11 Roman Treachery
They are all available in the Kindle format.
The Aelfraed Series (Britain and Byzantium 1050 A.D.- 1085 A.D.)
Book 1 Housecarl
Book 2 Outlaw
Book 3 Varangian
These are available in the Kindle format.
The Wolf Warrior series (Britain in the late 6th Century)
Book 1 Saxon Dawn
Book 2Saxon Revenge
Book 3Saxon England
Book 4 Saxon Blood
Book 5 Saxon Slayer
Also available in paperback and Kindle is the book aimed at 12-15 years olds, Great Granny’s Ghost
Carnage at Cannes is a modern thriller and is available in the Kindle format.
Travel
Adventure at 63-Backpacking to Istanbul
The Lucky Jack Civil War series
Book 1 Rebel Raider
The Napoleonic Horseman Series
Book 1 Chasseur a Cheval
For more information on all of the books then please visit the author’s web site at http://www.griffhosker.com where there is a link to contact him.
Prologue
AD 50 Stanwyck
Claudius might have been Emperor of the largest Empire the world had ever seen but he still hated the rain. This outpost of the Empire was a foul, wet, disease ridden cesspit. In addition he had a wicked and persistent cold; he never had a cold in Rome. He sneezed noisily and glowered angrily at the slave by his side. “Well? Why are we still waiting?” His famous stammer disappeared when he addressed servants or was angry and on this wet and dismal morning he was not at his best.
“I was assured, divine one, that she would be here presently.”
He shuddered at the title; like his Uncle Tiberius and his father Germanicus he despised the very notion that a mortal could become a living god. He had hoped that both the horrendous journey across the interminable land of Gaul, the ferocious ocean leading to this end of the world and the barbaric people he had so far met would make the journey worthwhile. The kings and queens who had been presented to him were all barbarians and the not so divine Claudius was glad that his Praetorians were on hand for he did not trust one of them.
Claudius was about to make some barbed comment about divinity when he heard the three blasts on the buccina which heralded the arrival of Queen Cartimandua, leader of the Brigantes. Even Claudius was impressed by the striking young woman who confidently manoeuvred her chariot between the waiting lines of legionaries. He had heard stories of her beauty but he was not prepared for both her presence and power; she seemed to dwarf her surroundings. Her jet black hair framed an incredibly white face. Her deep set violet eyes seemed to leap out from her face and her lips, obviously coloured by the crushed body of a scarab beetle, surrounded by remarkably white teeth looked like luscious plums. The Queen was, Claudius realised, everything he had heard and more. He found it hard to countenance that a young woman who looked as though she had only seen a handful of summers as a woman should rule the most powerful tribe in Northern Britannia and had done so, successfully, for over seven years. The way she handled a chariot showed that she was a warrior as did the skulls adorning the outside of the chariot. He could make out, just behind the chariot, the wretch who was being dragged in chains. Although he had never seen him, the Emperor knew it was Caractacus the leader of the Britons in their fight against Rome. Caractacus was the charismatic leader who had sought refuge with the most powerful ruler in the North of these islands, Cartimandua. Caractactus he was also the ex-lover of the rapacious young Queen and had been used and then discarded. If there was one thing that Claudius admired it was someone who could scheme, plot and survive as well as he had. She certainly had been a confident young queen who took over the rule of her land, Brigantia when her father was murdered. She ruled the largest tribal lands in Britannia; spanning the country from coast to coast. Claudius realised that she was wise beyond her years; she had seen the power of the Roman war machine and come to an accommodation rather than conflict. Perhaps that was why she ruled this enormous land of wild men and even wilder places. The Emperor of Rome himself would need to be careful about the promises he made.
“Welcome Queen.”
“All Hail Claudius.” Claudius was impressed that her Latin was flawless, this was an educated woman. “I bring you a gift. “She gestured with her arm and her bodyguards brought out Caractacus, the putative King of the Britons, and his face displayed just how much he hated the woman who had betrayed him. The queen to whom he had turned in the hope that, united, they could defeat the monster that was Rome. Instead she had ensured the safety of Brigantia and her high place in the Emperor’s favour. “It is Caractacus. He was your enemy and now he is mine.” Her guards dragged the bound warrior to be symbolically thrown at the feet of the Emperor. Before Claudius could speak, he always gathered his thoughts before uttering anything important, Cartimandua drew from a scabbard in her chariot, the most magnificent sword Claudius had ever seen. Although a cerebral rather than military man Claudius admired beauty and functionality and this magnificent weapon fulfilled both as well as anything he had seen before. Its steel blade was so highly polished it was almost silver, with a line of gold trickling sinuously along its length. It was half as long as the tall Queen’s body and looked as though it needed two hands to hold it, although the warrior queen held it in one. The handle was adorned with a red jewel, the size of a grape and Claudius surmised that it must be a ruby, an incredibly rare ruby. The black ebony hilt was engraved with what appeared to be pure gold. “Would it please the Emperor for me to despatch this rebel and part his sorry head from his body?”
“N-n-no Queen. I wish to take him back to Rome so that the whole Empire can see the power of the Emperor and the Brigante.” Her cold callous attitude to execution impressed the Emperor. She had no problem with carrying out the act herself, something the Emperor knew he could not do. He could order a murder or an execution as easily as he ordered supper but he could not soil his hands. Claudius turned to a grizzled centurion who stood at his side. “Gerantium, untie the prisoner and have your men take him away then join the Queen and myself inside my tent for we have much business to discuss.”
As they entered the pavilion especially erected for the occasion Claudius began to wonder if this island was as wild as he had thought. Although the buildings were primitive and some of the actions of its people somewhat barbaric he could see a sophisticated level of politics which made him think it might become civilised one day. In this young queen he had seen someone who could have held her own with the senate. She was confident, she was cruel, she was calculating and she was charming. The old Emperor shook his head to free himself from the spell he was falling under. He felt happier now with this island for the northern part would be secure with an ally. He had no doubt that Queen Cartimandua would remain in power and the Emperor determined to support her in that. He was glad that she did not live in Rome for if she did he would fear for his throne.
The next book in the series
The Sword of Cartimandua
Prologue
AD 50 Stanwyck
Claudius might have been Emperor of the largest Empire the world had ever seen but he still hated the rain and this outpost of the Empire was a foul, wet, disease ridden cesspit added to which he had a cold; he never had a cold in Rome. He sneezed noisily and glowered angrily at the slave by his side. “Well? Why are we still waiting?” His famous stammer disappeared when he addressed servants or was angry and on this wet and dismal morning he was not at his best.
“I was assured, divine one, that she would be here presently.”
He shuddered at the title; like his Uncle Tiberius and his father Germanicus he despised the very notion that a mortal could become a living god. He had hoped that both the horrendous journey across the interminable land of Gaul, the ferocious ocean leading to this end of the world and the barbaric people he had so far met would make the journey worthwhile. The kings and queens who had been presented to him were all barbarians and the not so divine Claudius was glad that his Praetorians were on hand for he did not trust one of them.
Claudius was about to make some barbed comment about divinity when he heard the three blasts on the buccina which heralded the arrival of Queen Cartimandua, leader of the Brigantes. Even Claudius was impressed by the striking young woman who confidently manoeuvred her chariot between the waiting lines of legionaries. He had heard stories of her beauty but he was not prepared for both her presence and power; she seemed o dwarf her surroundings. Her jet black hair framed an incredibly white face. Her deep set violet eyes seemed to leap out from her face and her lips, obviously coloured by the crushed body of a scarab beetle, surrounded by remarkably white teeth. The Queen was, Claudius realised, everything he had heard and more. He found it hard to countenance that a you
ng woman who looked as though she had only seen a handful of summers should rule the most powerful tribe in Northern Britannia and had done so, successfully, for over seven years. The way she handled a chariot showed that she was a warrior as did the skulls adorning the outside of the chariot. He could make out, just behind the chariot the wretch who was being dragged in chains. Although he had never seen him, the Emperor knew it was Caractacus the leader of the Britons in their fight against Rome; Caractacus the leader who had sought refuge with the most powerful ruler in the North of these islands, Cartimandua. Caractactus who was the ex-lover of the rapacious young Queen had been discarded and then discarded. If there was one thing that Claudius admired it was someone who could scheme, plot and survive as well as he had. She certainly had been a confident young queen who took over the rule of her land, Brigantia when her father was murdered. She ruled the largest tribal lands in Britannia; spanning the country from coast to coast and Claudius realised that she was wise beyond her years; she had seen the power of the Roman war machine and come to an accommodation rather than conflict. Perhaps that was why she ruled this enormous land of wild men and wilder places. Even the Emperor of Rome would need to be careful about the promises he made.