He accuses her of pride, duplicity, savagery, adultery, and lust, but… she, too, is a powerful leader.
Women of power
Tacitus, in his book on the life and character of his father-in-law Julius Agricola, the Roman Governor of Britain from c.AD 77 to 84, makes the often-quoted observation that ‘Britons make no distinction of sex in their leaders’. In his Annals (XIV.35), the same author depicts Boudica (AD 30-61) rallying her supporters with the cry: ‘we British are used to women commanders in war’. In his Annals and Histories, Tacitus gives a less flattering portrait of Cartimandua (c.AD 43-69), whom he accuses of pride, duplicity, savagery, adultery, and lust, but the fact
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