Today we celebrate the warrior queen Boudicca, who led a revolt of the Iceni, a Celtic people of ancient Britain, against the injustices of Roman imperial rule. After her husband’s death the Romans betrayed her people, subjecting her to flogging and her daughters to rape before her eyes. These crimes would not go unavenged. She personally led a campaign of vengeance across the erstwhile province, burning the fortress town of Colchester to the ground. So successful was she at the outset that the emperor Nero contemplated abandoning the island province that his predecessor Claudius had so recently conquered. Nevertheless, the general Suetonius Paulinus eventually suppressed the revolt and defeated Boudicca’s warriors in a pitched battle. According to some sources, she killed herself with poison rather than face yet another outrage, choosing to remain free and never again a slave.

In this song from their 2009 album “Forever Fight,” the Italian power metal band White Skull don’t let pride in their ancestry preclude sympathy and admiration for a mother who took a stand and fought for justice against imperialism and patriarchy. While Boudicca remains a national folk hero for modern day Britons, the power of her example inspires women all over to no longer remain silent, to no longer endure the oppression they suffer politically, socially, and economically. In this song, there is no suggestion that Boudicca’s rebellion ultimately failed, but rather it is a fight that is still being carried on to this day. Forever fight.

“In the ancient times a king was falling down 
His queen rose up to power with honour 
Boudicca her name, a striking looking woman 
The stare of eyes most fierce, she was a terrifying queen. 

Alliance betrayed by the avidity of Rome 
Lands and treasures were plundered with contempt and greed 
They couldn’t know her courage, warrior queen of Celts 
They really shouldn’t face her, Boudicca will avenge! 

So start the fire! 
The flames get higher 
She was ruler and 
War leader of the Celts rebellion 
Start the fire! 
The flames get higher 
A mother’s revenge 
Give no quarter, warrior queen! 

Then Romans came, no pity and no respect 
Boudicca was flogged and her daughters were raped 
So it was clear, it was time for revenge 
She led people in revolt and they slaughtered all Romans 

She took no prisoners, she wanted to kill them all in flames 
She was a woman fighting for her honour and her pride 
They couldn’t know her courage, warrior queen of Celts 
They really shouldn’t face her, Boudicca will avenge!”