The Britains leauing the castels and fortresses vnassaulted, followed their game in spoiling of those places which were easie to get, and where great plentie of riches was to be found, vsing their victorie with such crueltie, that they slue (as the report went) to the number 80000, saith Dion. of 70 thousand Romans, and such as tooke their part in the said places by the Britains thus woon and conquered. For there was nothing with the Britains but slaughter, fire, gallowes, and such like, so earnestlie were they set on reuenge. They spared neither age nor sex: women of great nobilitie and woorthie fame they tooke and hanged vp naked, and cutting off their paps, sowed them to their mouthes, that they might séeme as if they sucked and fed on them, and some of their bodies they stretched out in length, and thrust them on sharpe stakes. All these things they did in great despite whilest they sacrificed in their temples, and made feasts, namelie in the wood consecrated to the honour of Andates, for so they called the goddesse of victorie whom they worshipped most reuerentlie.
P. Suetonius the Romane with a fresh power assalteth the Britains, whose armie consisted as well of women as men: queene Voadicia incourageth hir souldiers, so dooth Suetonius his warriors, both armies haue a sharpe conflict, the Britains are discomfited and miserablie slaine, the queene dieth, Penius Posthumus killeth himselfe, the Britains are persecuted with fire, swoord, and famine, the grudge betweene Cassicianus and Suetonius, whome Polycletus is sent to reconcile, of his traine, and how the Britains repined at him.
THE XIIJ. CHAPTER.
In this meane time there came ouer to the aid of Suetonius, the legion surnamed the 14, and other bands of souldiers and men of warre, to the number of ten thousand in the whole, wherevpon (chieflie bicause vittels began to faile him) he prepared to giue battell to his enimies, and chose out a plot of ground verie strong within straits, and backed with a wood, so that the enimies could not assault his campe but on the front: yet by reason of their great multitude and hope of victorie The Britains were at that time 230000 men, (as Dion writeth.) conceiued by their late prosperous successe, the Britains vnder the conduct of quéene Voadicia aduentured to giue battell, hauing their women there to be witnesses of the victorie, whome they placed in charrets at the vttermost side of their field.
Corn. Tacit. li. 15 Dion Cassius. Voadicia, or Boudicia (for so we find hir written by some copies, and Bonuica also by Dion) hauing hir daughters afore hir, being mounted into a charret, as she passed by the souldiers of ech sundrie countrie, told them "it was a thing accustomed among the Britains to go to the warres vnder the leading of women; but she was not now come foorth as one borne of such noble ancestors as she was descended from, to fight for hir kingdome and riches; but as one of the meaner sort, rather to defend hir lost libertie, and to reuenge hir selfe of the enimie, for their crueltie shewed in scourging hir like a vagabond, and shamefull deflouring of hir daughters: for the licentious lust of the Romans was so farre spred and increased, that they spared neither the bodies of old nor yoong, but were readie most shamefullie to abuse them, hauing whipped hir naked being an aged woman, and forced hir daughters to satisfie their filthie concupiscence: but (saith she) the gods are at hand readie to take iust reuenge.
"The legion that presumed to incounter with vs is slaine and beaten downe. The residue kéepe them close within their holds, or else séeke waies how to flée out of the countrie: they shall not be once able so much as to abide the noise and clamor of so manie thousands as we are héere assembled, much lesse the force of our great puissance and dreadfull hands. If ye therefore (said she) would wey and consider with your selues your huge numbers of men of warre, and the causes why ye haue mooued this warre, ye would surelie determine either in this battell to die with honour, or else to vanquish the enimie by plaine force, for so (quoth she) I being a woman am fullie resolued, as for you men ye maie (if ye list) liue and be brought into bondage."
"Neither did Suetonius ceasse to exhort his people: for though he trusted in their manhood, yet as he had diuided his armie into three battels, so did he make vnto ech of them a seuerall oration, willing them not to feare the shrill and vaine menacing threats of the Britains, sith there was among them more women than men, they hauing no skill in warrelike discipline, and heereto being naked without furniture of armour, would foorthwith giue place when they should féele the sharpe points of the Romans weapons, and the force of them by whom they had so often béene put to flight. In manie legions (saith he) the number is small of them that win the battell. Their glorie therefore should be the more, for that they being a small number should win the fame due to the whole armie, if they would (thronging togither) bestow their weapons fréelie, and with their swoords and targets preasse forward vpon their enimies, continuing the slaughter without regard to the spoile, they might assure themselues when the victorie was once atchiued to haue all at their pleasures."
Such forwardnesse in the souldiers followed vpon this exhortation of the couragious generall, that euerie one prepared himselfe so readilie to doo his dutie, and that with such a shew of skill and experience, that Suetonius hauing conceiued an assured hope of good lucke to follow, caused the trumpets to sound to the battell. The onset was giuen in the straits, greatlie to the aduantage of the Romans, being but a handfull in comparison to their enimies. The fight in the beginning was verie sharpe and cruell, but in the end the Britains being a let one to another (by reason of the narrownesse of the place) were not able to susteine the violent force of the Romans their enimies, so that they were constreind to giue backe, and so being disordered were put to flight, and vtterlie discomfited.
80000 Britains slaine. There were slaine of the Britains that day few lesse than 80000 [*sic] thousand *, as Tacitus writeth. For the straits being stopped with the charrets, staied the flight of the Britains, so as they could not easilie escape: and the Romans were so set on reuenge, that they spared neither man nor woman, so that manie were slaine in the battell, manie amongst the charrets, and a great number at the woods side, which way they made their flight, and manie were taken prisoners. Those that escaped, would haue fought a new battell, but in the meane time Voadicia, or Bonuica deceassed of a naturall infirmitie, as Dion Cassius writeth, but other say that she poisoned hir selfe, and so died, because she would not come into the hands of hir bloodthirstie enimies. There died of the Romans part in this most notable battell 400, and about the like number were grieuouslie hurt and most pitifullie wounded.