How are you doing? I'm doing fine. Thanks for asking. But before we can continue with this show, I have to give you the fair dues warning. And here it is. This is an adult podcast book by adults told to adults about adulty things covering a range of adult subjects, and you should be in adult too.

And if you can't take every

single one of those boxes, get out now, run away while you still can't, and for the rest of

you, let's do this.

Please, not be from the beginning of this session. Love you, Shrek. Oh, hello, betwixters. You are

probably wondering why I have asked you to meet me here on Platform 10 at Kings Cross. No, no, no, no. We're not here to queue for the Harry Potter photo opportunity. We're here because rumour has it that the first-century warrior queen

who stood up to a Roman army

is buried right here below our feet in Central London. She was a formidable figure by all accounts, and while there's plenty of myth around her life for us to unpick, including where she might be buried, Budica is someone who inspires us to this very day, which is absolutely something for you to consider while you're sat in Pretamondja waiting for your train. What

do you look

for in a

man? Oh, money of course. You're supposed to rise when an adult speaks to you. I make perfect copies of whatever my body means by just turning it up and pushing the body.

Yes, social courtesy does make a difference.

Goodness, my beautiful dad. Goodness, there's nothing to do with the dairies. MUSIC

Hello, and welcome back to Patricks the Sheets, the history of sex-scandalin society with me, Kaitlister.

Whether you know her as Budica or Baudessia, whether she's buried under Kings Cross Station or Chex Notes Stonehenge, her legacy is

a powerful one. How much do

we actually know about this incredible woman's life? What does it tell us about

how we

view women throughout history,

and why has there been so much fuss around how you pronounce her name?

Well, today I am joined once again by the glorious Emma Southern, author of History of the Roman Empire in 21 Women to find out more. Chariots at the ready, Bautwixters, let's do this. MUSIC

Hello, and

welcome back to Bautwixt the Sheets. It's one of our most favourite, it's only Emma Southern, how are you doing? I am delighted because I'm back, it's a new year, I'm back on Bautwixt the Sheets, what, how better could I start 2024? Well, talking

about Boudica, that's what we're doing, that's a pretty epic start. MUSIC

Did 2020

is, and

anytime I'm talking about Boudica I'm happy. MUSIC

No, I used to think that until, because I told my dad that I was talking to you about Boudica, and he went, have you watched that new Boudica film? And so I was like, there's a new Boudica film? And he went, yeah, you should definitely watch it, it's on Netflix, Kate, it's dead good. And I duly watched it, and then I texted him, I was like, what the shit was that? And he's like, ah, it was wank. MUSIC

Trolls by her own father. Sorry, my own dad who deliberately set me up,

because I was thinking, oh my god, there's like a new Boudica biopic, I should watch this. And then I no hate to anyone involved, so they all work very, very hard on it. But yeah, I wasn't, I don't think Boudica herself would have been particularly chuffed with that one.

I haven't been waiting to have the courage to watch it yet, and you're

not selling that. MUSIC Eventually I

will. Give it a swerve, I think. But you know what's kind of weird about that, is that you

would think that

Boudica's life, or at least the myth that's around her, somebody would have made an absolutely knockout film by now.

And there

just isn't one really.

No, she gets stuck in all these myths is the problem. I mean, most of what we know about her is quite mythic, because we know loads about approximately a two year period, and absolutely nothing about the before and after that two year period. But you could make a good one just about that, that period. But she gets, there's so many kind of myths and misconceptions about what early Roman Britain looked like, and what the, I see anywhere that most attempts to tell her story get kind of lost in those, as and imagining them as kind of terrible, much people who could barely tie shoelaces, let alone leader organized rebellion against the great empire.

All right, so we should probably start with the, with the absolute basic page one introduction to Boudica. Who was she? Who is this person?

So Boudica is generally called a queen, a kind of high level leading elite woman in the Icyny people who are a people that live in her of East Anglia area, Norfolk, basically. Norfolk, yeah. And she's Norfolk. So you can imagine her with a Norfolk accent, which is fun. And she basically

on that kind of fen edge

area, and they are a client kingship of the Roman Empire at the beginning of the Roman colonization of Britain. So they are one of the peoples that they don't fight the Romans when the Romans turn up. So the Romans have turned up officially in 43 CE with Claudius and have subjugated everybody with the sheer overwhelming power of their terrifying army. And the Icyny at first are like, okay, fine. We'll do you a client kingship deal, which is that we promise not to rebel against you, and we will pay taxes and tribute and you promise not to murder us all and we'll all be happy. And that seems to be going all right for about 15 years. Like during the bit, we assume that Boudica is growing up because we don't know how old she is. She could do anything between like 18 and 65, but she grows up in a period where she's basically leaving the Romans alone. The Romans are 98% leaving the Icyny alone and they're living relatively happy life, making bronzes and being really obsessed with horses. Nice.