A widowed queen at the head of a massive army, burning a Roman commercial hub to ash and pushing the unstoppable Roman Empire to the brink of abandoning Britain entirely. This is the story of Boudica, told almost entirely by the people who crushed her.

This deep dive excavates the historical reality of the Iceni queen from centuries of myth-making, weighing the accounts of Tacitus and Cassius Dio. We explore how the Roman victors turned their worst nightmare into a legend, and how every era since has reshaped her to fit its own agenda.

• How her husband Prasutagus tried to appease Rome by leaving his kingdom jointly to his daughters and Emperor Nero, only for Rome to seize everything
• The conflicting catalysts: Tacitus describes her flogging and her daughters' rape, while Cassius Dio cites recalled loans from Seneca
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