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The Battle of Watling Street took place in Roman-occupied Britain in AD 60 or 61 between an alliance of indigenous British peoples led by Boudica and a Roman army led by Gaius Suetonius Paulinus. Although heavily outnumbered, the Romans decisively defeated the allied tribes, inflicting heavy losses on them. The battle marked the end of resistance to Roman rule in Britain in the southern half of the island, a period that lasted until 410 AD.〔Graham Webster, ''Boudica: the British Revolt Against Rome, AD 60'' (Routledge 1978)〕 Historians are dependent on Roman sources for accounts of the battle.〔Christoph M. Bulst, "The Revolt of Queen Boudicca in A.D. 60", ''Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte'', Vol. 10, No. 4 (Oct., 1961), p. 508.〕 The precise location is not known, but most historians place it between Londinium and Viroconium (Wroxeter in Shropshire), on the Roman Road now known as Watling Street. This name for the road originated in Anglo-Saxon times, thus the modern name of the battle is anachronistic as well as being somewhat speculative. ==Background== In AD 43, Rome invaded south-eastern Britain.〔Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'' (19-22 )〕 The conquest was gradual. While some kingdoms were defeated militarily and occupied, others remained nominally independent as allies of the Roman empire.〔Tacitus, ''Agricola'' 14〕 One such people was the Iceni in what is now Norfolk. Their king, Prasutagus, secured his independence by leaving his lands jointly to his daughters and to the Roman emperor, Nero, in his will. But when he died, in 61 or shortly before, his will was ignored. The Romans seized his lands and violently humiliated his family: his widow, Boudica, was flogged and their daughters raped.〔Tacitus ''Annals'' (14.31 )〕 Roman financiers called in their loans, which must have placed an increased burden of taxation on the Iceni.〔Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'' (62.2 )〕 When the Roman Governor of Britain, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, was campaigning on the island of Mona (Anglesey, north Wales), the Iceni, led by Boudica, revolted.〔Tacitus, ''Annals'' (14.29-39 ), ''Agricola'' 14-16; Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'' (62.1-12 )〕 The Iceni allied with their neighbours the Trinovantes, whose former capital, Camulodunum (Colchester), was now a colony for Roman veterans. To add insult to injury, the Romans had erected a temple to the former emperor Claudius in the city, built at local expense. The rebels descended on Camulodunum and destroyed it, killing all those who could not escape.〔Tacitus, ''Annals'' (14.31-32 )〕 Boudica and her army headed for Londinium (London). So did Suetonius and a small portion of his army, but, arriving ahead of the rebels, concluded he did not have the numbers to defend the city and ordered it evacuated before it was attacked. It, too, was burnt to the ground and the Roman historian Tacitus claims every inhabitant who could not get away was killed.〔Tacitus, ''Annals'' (14.33 )〕 While Boudica's army continued their assault in Verulamium (St. Albans), Suetonius regrouped his forces. According to Tacitus, he amassed a force including his own Legio XIV ''Gemina'', parts of the XX ''Valeria Victrix'', and any available auxiliaries, a total of 10,000 men.〔Tacitus, ''Annals'' (14.34 )〕 A third legion, II ''Augusta'', near Exeter, failed to join him;〔Tacitus, ''Annals'' (14.37 )〕 a fourth, IX ''Hispana'', had been routed trying to relieve Camulodunum.〔Tacitus, ''Annals'' (14.32 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Watling Street」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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