In front of me lies an unopened copy of Rosemary Sutcliff’s  The Silver Branch, the second book in The Eagle of the Ninth sequence. I’m just about to start the story and thought I’d do a little research about the period in which the book is set.

The year is 284 AD, 150 years later than the first book, The Eagle of the Ninth. Britain has been occupied by Rome since AD 43, but has now been declared a sovereign state by the military commander Marcus  Carausius, now turned renegade emperor of Britain.

Carausius is a very interesting character in Roman history.  Here’s what www.roman-emperors.org has to say about him.

Although he had initially earned his living at sea as a helmsman, he served with honor in the military against the Bagauda e under the Emperor Maximianus Herculius. Because of his naval background, he was commissioned by the emperor to build a fleet and clear the seas of Saxon and Frankish pirates in the autumn of 286; he operated from out of Boulogne (Bononia). Although he carried out his commission with speed, for one reason or another he did not turn over to imperial treasury all of the loot that he obtained. Due to these financial irregularities, Herculius ordered his arrest and execution. Rather than submitting to the emperor’s will, Carausius fled to Britain with his fleet and declared himself emperor. His realm included Britain and perhaps the area around Bononia (Boulogne).

So it looks like Carausius was a bit of a crook, possibly in cahoots with Saxon pirates, stealing enough loot and aquiring enough boats and crew (possibly the same Saxon Pirates) to become a significant power himself, enough indeed to create an enemy of the emperor of Rome, and then become self appointed ruler of Rome for 7 years. Wow, I can’t wait to read the book!

I’ve just finished Rosemary Sutcliff’s Song for a Dark Queen. It was fantastic! It describes the life and last battle of Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni.

Blogger Anne posted a great comment to my last post, with a link to a fascinating article about the historical knowledge of Boudicca, written by Margaret Donsbach. Here’s the link to the full article – http://www.historynet.com/boudica-celtic-war-queen-who-challenged-rome.htm

And here is some of the article –

Boudica – Celtic War Queen Who Challenged Rome

She slaughtered a Roman army. She torched Londinium, leaving a charred layer almost half a meter thick that can still be traced under modern London. According to the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus, her army killed as many as 70,000 civilians in Londinium, Verulamium and Camulodunum, rushing ‘to cut throats, hang, burn, and crucify. Who was she? Why was she so angry?

Most of Boudica’s life is shrouded in mystery. She was born around AD 25 to a royal family in Celtic Britain, and as a young woman she married Prasutagus, who later became king (a term adopted by the Celts, but as practiced by them, more of an elected chief) of the Iceni tribe. They had two daughters, probably born during the few years immediately after the Roman conquest in ad 43. She may have been Iceni herself, a cousin of Prasutagus, and she may have had druidic training. Even the color of her hair is mysterious. Another Roman historian, Cassius Dio — who wrote long after she died — described it with a word translators have rendered as fair, tawny, and even flaming red, though Dio probably intended his audience to picture it as golden-blonde with perhaps a reddish tinge. Her name meant victory.

 

Rosemary Sutcliff was absolutely passionate about ancient Britain. In her classic children’s novel Song for a Dark Queen, she writes about Queen Boudicca, the leader of a British tribe called the Iceni, who famously led a revolt against the invading Roman army in 47 AD.

I’m reading Song for a Dark Queen at the moment and as always, Rosemary Sutcliff’s storytelling is impeccable. She captures the time and the people so vividly that you really feel she was there .

The story is told by Boudicca’s harpist, Cadwan. Cadwan is the bard of the Iceni, he witnesses the battles and decisions of the tribe and writes songs, that will be passed down through the ages. Being a musician myself, I’m fascinated by how songs could be used as a form of record for a pre-literate culture. It makes me wonder if any ancient songs from this time might exist in a folk song, somewhere in Britain.

I’m early on in the book, but am intrigued about the historical evidence of Queen Boudicca and the Iceni. In preliminary research, I’ve discovered that the Iceni occupied Norfolk and North West Suffolk. Roman-Britain.org describes the tribe as “a monarchic society state, geographically separated from their western neighbours the Coritani by uninhabitable fenland. They were bordered to the south by the Atrebates.”

Archaelogical evidence has been found in the form of large gold coins, which are believed to have been worn round the necks of the Iceni. Sheshen-eceni.co.uk has some fascinating information on the coins of the Eceni.

The Iceni minted their coins from about  50 BC until the Roman conquest in 43 AD. These were usually silver coins with a patterned face on one side (obverse), with a horse on the reverse. The Icenian hoard of coins found at Eriswell in Suffolk also included a number of clay moulds which the Iceni used to mint their coins. Several of the coins found have legends such as ECE, ED, EDN and ‘ECEN’ (possibly the tribal name, or a personal name, or perhaps these were the names of mint sites), and also ‘ANTED’ believed to be an abbreviation of (king) Antedios ruler of the Iceni AD 25 – 48…..

This is just the beginning of my research and as I write this, I’m discovering incredible facts about the Iceni, Queen Boudicca and The Celtic people. More posts are to follow, and any information is greatly appreciated!

Channing Tatum was interviewed earlier in the year by ITN about the filming of  The Eagle, an adaptation of Rosemary Sutcliff’s children’s novel The Eagle of the Ninth.
Channing Tatum: I’ll never film in Scotland again!
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