Posted on 05/24/2006 8:59:01 PM PDT by blam
Boadicea may have had her chips on site of McDonald's
By Nick Britten
(Filed: 25/05/2006)
Archaeologists believe they may have found the final battle site for the warrior queen Boadicea - on the site of a McDonald's restaurant.
Having spent her life in fierce resistance to one empire - the Romans - her last stand is thought to have been overshadowed by another one, this time corporate.
Having found ancient artefacts where new houses and flats are due to be built, experts have now asked the local authority to allow a full excavation of the area.
Little is known about Boadicea's last fight, or the way in which she died, but it is widely believed to have taken place in the West Midlands. The site unearthed by experts, in Kings Norton, Birmingham, lies close to the line of a Roman road, and fits many of the few facts available.
The Queen of the Iceni tribe, the ancient native Britons, had a final showdown with Governor General Suetonius Paulinus in 61 AD. Her 200,000 soldiers were annihilated by just 10,000 legionaries, ending the British rebellion.
One of the most popular theories is that afterwards Boadicea killed herself by drinking from a poisoned chalice.
According to the Roman historian Tacitus, prior to battle Paulinus deliberately protected his legions by choosing a hilly area virtually surrounded by trees with a single opening.
Experts from Birmingham city council believe the Parsons Hill site matches this description with its landscape and mature woodland, and artefacts found in the dig indicate that Roman soldiers may have been there. The area of land next to the McDonald's is also near the Metchley Roman fort.
Cllr Peter Douglas Osborn, a conservationist, said: "I find it very exciting to think we may unearth something so intriguing right here in Birmingham. It would be bizarre if it is discovered Boadicea's last stand was next door to a McDonald's, but the site does fit the only descriptions we know of.
"It is on the route to Metchley, the Roman fort discovered in Birmingham and, if only because of this, it represents a real possibility.
"It is even more encouraging when you consider the evidence and well-preserved remains unearthed from trial trenches. The location itself matches previous historical descriptions of the battle site in that it is a hilly area surrounded by trees. It would be priceless if we found that this historic battle was fought outside a McDonald's fast food joint. I also hope the dig may unearth some evidence of what name the Romans gave Birmingham."
Dr Mike Hodder, Birmingham city council's senior archaeologist, added: "There's no doubt it's an important archaeological site. Whether it has anything to do with Boadicea is nearly impossible to prove, but there are certainly Roman remains found there."
A spokesman for McDonald's said: "Obviously if a site next to one of our restaurants is found to be where Boudica fought her last battle then we would be quite excited. However, we'll have to wait and see what the archaeologists find."
Boadicea was married to King Prasutagus, who ruled over the Iceni - the tribe occupying East Anglia - but under Roman authority. Despite the king, in a flawed attempt to curry favour with the Romans, making Emperor Nero a co-heir to his estates, Nero provoked Boadicea by forcing her people to endure conscription and pay heavy taxes.
The final outrage came when Prasutagus died in AD60 and the Romans annexed her dominions, flogging her in public and murdering and raping her family.
Boadicea vowed to take on Nero and his legions and other tribes from all over south-east Britain joined her. After the Roman towns of London, St Albans and Colchester were burned to the ground, troops were called down from Lincoln as Boadicea's warriors headed north and the armies clashed in the Midlands.
GGG Ping.
I lived in a village in Norfolk that produced and excellent ale called Iceni Ale. Boadicea was reputed to have lived in the area. I miss that stuff.
Don't mean to be crass but a McBoadicea burger would be sure to bring out the independence minded in all of us.
So what. This is just another example of how long grumpy, violent and hard headed Celtic women have been around.
It also helps explain the existence of the same characteristics in the males of this ethnic group. It's not so much from genetics, but due to having to live with these women.
Did Boadicea have bodacious buns?
Whoa! Not exactly a tactical genius.
Bouddica's revolt consisted of a large scale raid, the slaughter of large numbers of civilians, the destruction of a part of the IXth Legion "Hispania", her mistaken belief that her rather large band of thugs was an army, her arrogance believing that they could beat a Roman Army,and her stupidity in letting the Romans pick the battlefield. And, oh yeah, the result was delivering Britain to Rome on a plate for the next three centuries.
Crazy old white lady ping.
She should've been in the kitchen instead.
Joan of Arc would have wiped the floor with this lady.
Well put!
"murdering and raping her family", but not in that order.
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She had 200,000 "warriors" but they were defeated by 10,000 Romans?
No wonder she decided to kill herself.
Now, the factual grounds for this author's assertions are quite thin -- and of course this battle covered a lot more ground than one measly McD's. But he can't resist a silly reference to the fast food business as some kind of evil empire. Where do all these dweezly reporters come from?
On thew other hand. If people are going to believe that their franchise is associated with this Celtic heroine, McD's should take full advantage of it and commercialize the association
Maybe have a plastic statue of her sitting next to the one of Ronald McD!
I saw this when it first went up--which motivated me to research the warrior queen. Quite a story, no question. The consensus seems to be that she suffered from overconfidence (she and her army had destroyed towns and beaten Roman soldiers before) and poor battlefield strategic abilities. She no doubt was an effective and charismatic leader who underestimated the well-drilled, professional Roman Army.
Mead.
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