0:00:09 > 0:00:11Britain may be peaceful today,
0:00:11 > 0:00:16but we live in a country forged by centuries of warfare.
0:00:18 > 0:00:23Over the past 2,000 years, Britain has been invaded and occupied.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28It has defeated superpowers.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32It's been ripped apart by internal conflict.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44And united by common cause.
0:00:46 > 0:00:52In this new series, my son Dan and I are going to be examining battles
0:00:52 > 0:00:55that have shaped the country we live in today.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02We'll take you from the Highlands of Scotland
0:01:02 > 0:01:04to the south coast of England.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10From the rivers of Ireland... to the mountains of Wales.
0:01:17 > 0:01:23I'll be following the fortunes of ordinary people, caught up in the chaos and terror of conflict.
0:01:23 > 0:01:29I saw some things that day that I don't think I ever want to see again in my lifetime.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31You didn't think them as humans.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36I thought, by God's hand, this day was my last.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39And I'll give a view from the front line.
0:01:39 > 0:01:45What it was like for the men and women who rode, marched, sailed and flew into battle.
0:01:47 > 0:01:54And I'll be analysing how the strategies of the best and the worst commanders
0:01:54 > 0:01:57determined the fate of the British Isles.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06These 2,000 years of conflict began
0:02:06 > 0:02:10with one of the most vicious wars in Britain's history.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14It's a tale of destruction, slaughter and revenge.
0:02:14 > 0:02:21And it was triggered by the wrath of one woman who rose up against Rome's occupation of Britain -
0:02:21 > 0:02:24Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni.
0:03:08 > 0:03:15In 60AD, much of Britain was in the hands of the greatest superpower the world had ever seen.
0:03:15 > 0:03:21The country had been invaded by the armies of the Roman Empire only 17 years earlier.
0:03:21 > 0:03:27Their vast military might had quashed the disparate British tribes,
0:03:27 > 0:03:32and despite pockets of resistance, most were now under Roman control.
0:03:37 > 0:03:42To enforce their rule, the Romans stationed four of their best legions in Britain.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44In the spring of AD60, we think
0:03:44 > 0:03:50one was based in Lincoln, one in Exeter and two near the Welsh border.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54These legions were disciplined, efficient fighting machines, second to none,
0:03:54 > 0:04:00and they were under the command of a new and ruthless governor - Suetonius Paullinus.
0:04:01 > 0:04:06No-one knows exactly what Paullinus looked like.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10But he had a reputation for being a fearsome military commander.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16He was probably in his fifties, with the short hair of a Roman aristocrat
0:04:16 > 0:04:21and the face of a soldier who'd spent 20 years at war.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25His mission in Britain was to crush any last resistance to Roman rule.
0:04:29 > 0:04:36What the Romans saw as civilising the barbarians looked to the Britons like total oppression.
0:04:36 > 0:04:41The Romans had seized their land, taken over their towns and forced them to pay heavy taxes
0:04:41 > 0:04:47to support the roads, forts and settlements which had a stranglehold on their country.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Our job was to beat civilisation into the Britons.
0:04:50 > 0:04:56They give us grain, we give them civilisation, like it or not.
0:04:59 > 0:05:05The people of Ancient Britain were second-class citizens in their own country.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09Paullinus and his oppressive regime controlled their land,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13their money, their weapons and their freedom.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18He's trying to change us - the way we live, the way we work, everything we do.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22They bled us dry, we'd nothing left. They took everything from us.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26But even this wasn't enough for the ambitious Paullinus.
0:05:26 > 0:05:33He was determined to wipe out any last remnants of dissent in every tribe in Britain.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36And to do this, he made a fateful decision -
0:05:36 > 0:05:40to strike at the very heart of British culture.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Paullinus took two of his best legions
0:05:48 > 0:05:55to wage war on the Britons' religious leaders on the Isle of Anglesey.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Known as the Isle of Mona, it was a sacred site,
0:06:14 > 0:06:18and last bastion of the country's most influential group.
0:06:18 > 0:06:23They were a group who gave some kind of spiritual unity to the British tribes
0:06:23 > 0:06:27and they were fiercely anti-Roman. They were the Druids.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37Even the kings had to bow their heads to the Druids.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40They could tell you everything, they knew everything.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45The Romans were scared of them. They knew they had to get rid of them.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48So that's what they did.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52In 60AD,
0:06:52 > 0:06:58Paullinus led his heavily armed troops across the water to Anglesey.
0:06:59 > 0:07:05The Roman infantry landed on this beach in a flotilla of flat-bottomed boats,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08whilst the cavalry rode or swam across the gap.
0:07:08 > 0:07:14Then, with thousands of troops, they were given the order to move forward and attack the Druids.
0:07:16 > 0:07:21The soldiers drove the Druids off the beach and stormed into their sacred groves
0:07:21 > 0:07:24where the Druids had tried to hide.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27We hunted them like the dogs they are.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32And we enjoyed it too.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39And we cut them down.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47We didn't leave a man alive.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51Every single Druid dead.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18The Druids were massacred
0:08:18 > 0:08:21and their sacred groves razed to the ground.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23The annihilation of their priesthood
0:08:23 > 0:08:28was an act of brutality that reverberated throughout the British tribes.
0:08:28 > 0:08:34Our whole essence centred around the Druids,
0:08:34 > 0:08:36and they killed them.
0:08:36 > 0:08:42We had nothing left. Our contact with the gods was gone.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47Rome hadn't just defeated the Ancient Britons, it had humiliated them and abused their gods.
0:08:47 > 0:08:52Paullinus must have thought he had them on their knees.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54He was wrong.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59One woman was about to challenge Roman supremacy in Britain.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04For centuries, she was known as Queen "Boadicea".
0:09:04 > 0:09:09Despite her iconic status, surprisingly little is known about her.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13She appears in the writings of just two Roman historians.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17Even the name "Boadicea" is wrong.
0:09:17 > 0:09:23The mistake dates back to when the manuscript was incorrectly copied by hand 500 years ago.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27In the original text, her name is Boudicca.
0:09:31 > 0:09:37The other text describes her as a tall, terrifying redhead
0:09:37 > 0:09:42and says that she was unusually clever...for a woman.
0:09:46 > 0:09:52We know that Boudicca was married to Prasutagus, king of the Iceni tribe.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56Their kingdom was here, in Norfolk and Suffolk,
0:09:56 > 0:10:02bounded to the south by the tribal lands of the Trinovantes in today's Essex.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06Whereas the Trinovantes were completely subjugated by Rome,
0:10:06 > 0:10:10Prasutagus and Boudicca managed to hold onto their kingdom
0:10:10 > 0:10:12by agreeing a treaty with Rome.
0:10:12 > 0:10:19It means Boudicca didn't start off as the barbarian warrior-queen of popular mythology.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22She was in fact a Roman collaborator.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26Boudicca's capital, the centre of the Iceni kingdom,
0:10:26 > 0:10:29is thought to have been in the Norfolk town of Thetford.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39These fortifications are all that remains of her capital today.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47The people who lived here 2,000 years ago were warriors.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51Fighting prowess was prized above anything else.
0:10:51 > 0:10:57But with their king and queen in league with the Romans, the people endured an uneasy peace,
0:10:57 > 0:11:02until, in the spring of AD60, events gave them the chance to show their true feelings.
0:11:05 > 0:11:10That spring, Boudicca's husband, King Prasutagus, fell seriously ill.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13For years, he'd been Rome's ally,
0:11:13 > 0:11:19but he was worried that when he died, the Romans would seize his kingdom.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23In a bid to buy his way out of this, he made a will
0:11:23 > 0:11:27that left half his entire wealth to Rome and half to his family
0:11:27 > 0:11:31in the hope that Boudicca would be allowed to stay queen.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Prasutagus was right to be worried.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38When he died, his will was brutally ignored.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43The Roman soldiers were ordered to move in and seize his throne.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06And then we heard the hooves.
0:12:12 > 0:12:18I didn't think too much about it. I thought they'd just come to get some more taxes.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26But this time, it was very different.
0:12:48 > 0:12:53They came in our village and they didn't behave like they did before.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55They started pushing people around.
0:13:06 > 0:13:13They took everything they could lay their hands on - grain, money, slaves, even fodder.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18But that wasn't all they were after. They were after the girls and women.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30They took Queen Boudicca to one side, took two girls with them too.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35They whipped her. Tied her to a post in the middle of the village
0:13:35 > 0:13:38and whipped her till the blood run down her back.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43And then...they got her daughters,
0:13:43 > 0:13:47one aged 10 and one aged 12...
0:13:49 > 0:13:52..and they raped them.
0:13:52 > 0:13:59It's bad enough seeing your queen dishonoured in that way, but to see those two girls hurt in that way...
0:13:59 > 0:14:01it's disgusting.
0:14:03 > 0:14:09For Romans, barbarian women and girls were mere chattels to be freely abused.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14For the Roman soldiers, this sickening act would have meant very little,
0:14:14 > 0:14:19but for the Britons and Boudicca, it was an obscene insult
0:14:19 > 0:14:23against both innocent children and against the British royal family.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27Boudicca's reaction was like any parent's would be.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29She wanted revenge.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32She wasn't the only one.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39After 17 years of taxes, land appropriations and enforced slavery,
0:14:39 > 0:14:44the people were desperate for revenge too. A council of war was held.
0:14:44 > 0:14:50The elders of the Iceni tribe and their neighbours, the Trinovantes, gathered to plan their attack.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53It was a good meeting.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55I've never seen us so close together.
0:14:56 > 0:15:01And Boudicca... well, she was transformed.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04Her blood was up.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09We knew she was going to lead us then.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16Boudicca was elected to lead both tribes.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20Overnight, she was transformed from Roman collaborator
0:15:20 > 0:15:23to Rome's bitterest enemy.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27Boudicca's plan for retaliation was ambitious.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31She would devastate Roman Britain
0:15:31 > 0:15:33and drive out the occupiers.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38With half the Roman army finishing off the Druids in Anglesey,
0:15:38 > 0:15:42it was the perfect time for Boudicca to launch her attack.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45And she went straight for the jugular.
0:15:45 > 0:15:50Just 50 miles south of here was the hated symbol of Roman rule,
0:15:50 > 0:15:54their capital Camulodunum, today's Colchester.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10Beneath modern Colchester lies the Roman capital of Britain.
0:16:13 > 0:16:182,000 years ago, Camulodunum was the showpiece of Roman occupation.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24Built on land they had seized from the Trinovantes,
0:16:24 > 0:16:29it was now home to thousands of retired Roman soldiers and their families.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36At the heart of the city was the great Temple of Claudius,
0:16:36 > 0:16:42being built by British slaves for the worship of the Roman emperor who'd occupied their country.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48Today, a Norman keep stands in its place,
0:16:48 > 0:16:50built on the Roman foundations.
0:16:50 > 0:16:55To the Britons, the temple was the embodiment of oppression.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58To the Romans, it was a monument to their conquest,
0:16:58 > 0:17:04a conquest that felt so secure that their capital city had no defences of any kind.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08This overconfidence would prove to be fatal.
0:17:14 > 0:17:20By now, Boudicca and her entire force were bearing down on the city.
0:17:23 > 0:17:30Including the Trinovantes, there must have been about 100,000 men, women and children
0:17:30 > 0:17:33desperate to wreak revenge.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42We'd had 17 years of their rule.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46Now it was our turn, we were going to have THEM.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52Boudicca's army was not as well organised as the Romans',
0:17:52 > 0:17:54but they had one thing the Romans didn't -
0:17:54 > 0:17:57war chariots.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03The Romans used chariots only for sport,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06but Britons used them for lightning raids.
0:18:10 > 0:18:16Today, this ancient chariot tradition is continued in the form of carriage driving.
0:18:16 > 0:18:22To get a feel of how manoeuvrable and fast the chariot could be, we went to have a go.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Our war horses weren't quite what we were expecting.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42But Psycho and Rambo were perfect to learn the basics of rein control.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45- Whoa, Psycho!- Very good.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49- D'you feel confident? Can you handle this?- I'm all right with Psycho.
0:18:49 > 0:18:55- You're OK with Psycho? - He's a cheeky little one.- Shall we try the real thing?- Yeah.- Excellent.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58Back now. Trot, Rambo, trot.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00Want to tell him to trot again?
0:19:00 > 0:19:03These are hardly iron-age chariots,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06but the basic principles are the same.
0:19:06 > 0:19:11Today, there's a driver and a passenger, or back-stepper.
0:19:11 > 0:19:162,000 years ago, the person on the back would have been a warrior.
0:19:16 > 0:19:23The chariot was like an armoured personnel carrier to take warriors into the thick of battle.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27- Peter the warrior. - I'm keeping balance on the back.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33To get across country, charioteers had to be both quick and agile,
0:19:33 > 0:19:39adept at negotiating the most complex obstacle at speed.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42We weren't quite up to scratch.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44Whoa! Whoops!
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Oh, my God!
0:19:47 > 0:19:50- Push on.- Never mind, keep going, Dan. Keep going.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55- Drive on.- Straight up the first one.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58How did you feel? Did you get a buzz out of that?
0:19:58 > 0:20:04- Going around fast is exciting. If you were really galloping, it would be fantastic.- Peter?
0:20:04 > 0:20:10The guy on the back trying to balance, with a spear in one hand and a sword in the other,
0:20:10 > 0:20:14trying to balance and hold on, must have been an acrobat.
0:20:14 > 0:20:20- It would be a tremendous exhibition exercise, wouldn't it? - Oh, definitely, absolutely.
0:20:23 > 0:20:28Chariots made the Britons fast, flexible and mobile.
0:20:33 > 0:20:39And now thousands of them, and the rest of Boudicca's army, were advancing on the Roman capital.
0:20:43 > 0:20:49In Camulodunum, rumours of barbarian unrest were rife.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52There were reports of disturbing omens.
0:20:52 > 0:20:58The river was said to run red with blood, and disembodied voices echoed through the senate house.
0:20:58 > 0:21:05But the residents must have thought they could deal with whatever the barbarians threw at them,
0:21:05 > 0:21:11because no defensive measures were taken. No-one was evacuated, no walls were built, nothing.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15They didn't think they needed defences.
0:21:15 > 0:21:20I mean, it was the capital city. No-one imagined they'd attack the capital city.
0:21:20 > 0:21:25A few families, I believe, fled before it was too late.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28The majority stayed...
0:21:30 > 0:21:36..little knowing a massive army of Britons
0:21:36 > 0:21:39were coming over from the west.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43I'm standing just to the west of the old Roman city of Colchester,
0:21:43 > 0:21:47which puts me about here, with Colchester over there.
0:21:47 > 0:21:52We believe that 2,000 years ago, Boudicca and her army were massing over here,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54to the north-west of the city.
0:21:54 > 0:22:01This allowed them to join up with the Trinovantes, who were moving in from the south here.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07Leading the charge would have been the chariots and men on horseback.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11Boudicca and her army took the city by storm.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19Along the line of this very street,
0:22:19 > 0:22:24the Ancient Britons burst into Colchester, looting, ransacking and torching the city.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26It was time to get their own back.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29It was incredible!
0:22:29 > 0:22:31We just took 'em!
0:22:33 > 0:22:39My son said they didn't have to fight because the Romans ran like sheep.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53The Britons attacked everything that represented Rome
0:22:53 > 0:22:56and set fire to the city.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06They even desecrated the Roman cemetery
0:23:06 > 0:23:12and smashed this tombstone depicting a Roman soldier beating his British slave.
0:23:14 > 0:23:19In the orgy of destruction, thousands were killed.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29The surviving Romans fled to the one place they thought they'd be safe...
0:23:29 > 0:23:31the temple.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39These are the actual vaults of the Temple of Claudius.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43The temple above was 32 metres long and 23 metres wide.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47It had massive walls three metres thick.
0:23:49 > 0:23:55Within these walls, the Roman veterans and their families were forced to take refuge,
0:23:55 > 0:23:59literally barricading themselves in above our heads.
0:23:59 > 0:24:04With thousands of Britons outside, their only hope of rescue was the Roman army.
0:24:04 > 0:24:10But with half the army in Wales, the 2nd Legion in Exeter, the only chance for survival
0:24:10 > 0:24:15rested on the only other legion in the country, 150 miles away to the north.
0:24:21 > 0:24:27The legion, the 9th Hispana, headed south to try to save Colchester.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32The column of heavily armed and well-equipped professional soldiers
0:24:32 > 0:24:35would have stretched for over a mile.
0:24:39 > 0:24:46We had an entire legion. That's 5,000 disciplined soldiers, enough to do the job three times over.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49But the legion would never get there.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01They'd marched for days - cold, hungry, tired.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21I mean, they were the best,
0:25:21 > 0:25:24but they were caught completely unawares.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46They were on us in a second.
0:25:46 > 0:25:53From both sides of the road, the Britons' chariots and foot soldiers overran the Roman column.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57They came through on chariots, just picking us off.
0:26:06 > 0:26:11They couldn't get their shields up, their swords out, their armour on.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23They butchered them.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Cut them down as they marched.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33The Britons annihilated the exposed Roman legion
0:26:33 > 0:26:37and then darted back to safety on their chariots.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46It was a tragedy for the Roman army
0:26:46 > 0:26:52and an even bigger tragedy for the people relying on them to come and save them.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55Of the 5,000 men of the 9th Legion
0:26:55 > 0:26:59only the commander and a few cavalry men survived.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02But nobody made it to Colchester.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05The citizens there were on their own.
0:27:08 > 0:27:14The Roman citizens under siege in the temple now had no hope of being rescued.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22Imagine it - no food, no water, the oil lamps going out,
0:27:22 > 0:27:27listening to that baying crowd outside, that bunch of dogs,
0:27:27 > 0:27:32baying for their blood. Men, women, children, young and old...
0:27:32 > 0:27:36waiting for us to come and save them.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39But we never came.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49The terrified Romans held out in the temple above for two days.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54It's likely that the Britons used battering rams to knock down the big wooden doors
0:27:54 > 0:27:58or clamber onto the roof and lever off the tiles.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03Imagine the Romans' terror as they heard the banging and scraping above them
0:28:03 > 0:28:07and then looked up to see the first shaft of light pour in.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11We'd had to pay for that temple with our own blood.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14Now it was their turn to pay for it.
0:28:14 > 0:28:22That temple symbolised everything... that we hated about the Romans.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24And now it was ours.
0:28:30 > 0:28:35It was the focus of Boudicca's fury, and now she took her revenge.
0:28:35 > 0:28:41She ordered her army to set fire to the temple and everyone in it.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51Everyone inside was burned alive.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58The Britons burnt Colchester to the ground,
0:28:58 > 0:29:03and today, whenever you dig, there's a thick layer of ash.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11With the capital of Roman Britain in flames,
0:29:11 > 0:29:13the Britons seemed unstoppable.
0:29:13 > 0:29:19Fired up by her conquest, Boudicca now set her sights on the commercial heart of the country,
0:29:19 > 0:29:23the new town of Londinium, today's London.
0:29:23 > 0:29:29Her road was clear, and her only real opponent, Suetonius Paullinus, the Roman governor,
0:29:29 > 0:29:32was 250 miles away
0:29:32 > 0:29:34in Anglesey.
0:29:47 > 0:29:52While his army waged their campaign of destruction against the Druids,
0:29:52 > 0:29:56Paullinus received news of Boudicca's uprising.
0:29:56 > 0:30:01The Roman governor learnt his capital was in flames
0:30:01 > 0:30:04and the Britons were now marching on London.
0:30:04 > 0:30:09He and his army were at least 12 days' march away in Anglesey.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13Paullinus couldn't have been in a worse position.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17To crush Boudicca and win back control of the country,
0:30:17 > 0:30:21he needed to mobilise every soldier at his disposal.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24With the legion from Lincoln destroyed,
0:30:24 > 0:30:29he had 10,000 men up here in Wales and 5,000 down here in Exeter.
0:30:29 > 0:30:35He ordered the legion from Wales to strike camp and head down Watling Street to London.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39And he sent word to the 2nd Legion in Exeter to join them
0:30:39 > 0:30:43by marching up the Fosse Way or Akeman Street here.
0:30:43 > 0:30:48He hoped that this combined force of 15,000 experienced and disciplined troops
0:30:48 > 0:30:53would stop Boudicca's massive army of 100,000 disorganised rebels.
0:30:53 > 0:30:58Whilst his Roman foot soldiers started the long slow march,
0:30:58 > 0:31:04Paullinus himself raced off with an advance cavalry troop to prepare London for Boudicca's attack.
0:31:17 > 0:31:212,000 years ago, London was a Roman boomtown.
0:31:21 > 0:31:27It was centred right here in the financial district of today's City of London.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31It sprang from nothing to become Britain's busiest commercial centre.
0:31:31 > 0:31:37It grew so quickly, no-one bothered building defences. The Roman wall of London was built years later.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40London had no garrison,
0:31:40 > 0:31:45no soldiers, no means to defend itself against the Britons.
0:31:45 > 0:31:52The city's only hope was from Paullinus and his small troop of cavalry.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54After three days of hard riding,
0:31:54 > 0:32:01Paullinus came racing down Watling Street, today the Edgware Road, and headed into the city.
0:32:01 > 0:32:07There, he made a quick assessment of the situation and decided it was hopeless.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09Boudicca was just a few miles away,
0:32:09 > 0:32:14the ranks of her army swelling with new volunteers all the time.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18He had only a handful of men and the city had no defences.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20London could not be saved.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32With Boudicca's formidable army bearing down on London,
0:32:32 > 0:32:36the Roman governor made an agonising decision.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40He and his soldiers withdrew,
0:32:40 > 0:32:44leaving London wide open to the Britons.
0:32:48 > 0:32:53It was a great day, the gods were with us, and we thanked them for it.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59In a frenzy, the Britons ransacked the city.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02Their vengeance was brutal.
0:33:03 > 0:33:10The bloodthirsty horde set fire to the buildings and butchered everyone they found.
0:33:12 > 0:33:18I saw some things that day I don't think I ever want to see again in my lifetime.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22But we had to do it, we had to do it.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28The Roman men and women left behind were hideously massacred.
0:33:28 > 0:33:34According to one Roman historian, the women had their breasts cut off and sewn into their mouths
0:33:34 > 0:33:37and were then impaled on wooden stakes.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39Though probably just propaganda,
0:33:39 > 0:33:46we do know that the Britons would have cut off heads and kept them as religious offerings or trophies.
0:33:48 > 0:33:53First Colchester, now London was burnt to the ground.
0:33:58 > 0:34:03Boudicca's ruthless strategy had so far delivered her wholesale success.
0:34:03 > 0:34:08But the real test of her leadership was to come.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12London had been an easy victory.
0:34:12 > 0:34:18She'd smashed Roman power in southern Britain and the Roman governor was on the run.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21Determined to track him down,
0:34:21 > 0:34:24Boudicca swung her army northward.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29If she could destroy the remaining legions, Britain would once again be free.
0:34:46 > 0:34:51With the Britons hot on his heels, Paullinus fled back north,
0:34:51 > 0:34:56along what is today the A5, the old Roman Watling Street,
0:34:56 > 0:34:58hoping to meet up with his army.
0:34:58 > 0:35:03He had two legions marching down from Anglesey to join him,
0:35:03 > 0:35:08but after two weeks on the road, they must have been exhausted.
0:35:11 > 0:35:16Each man carried about 30 kilos on his back and wore flimsy sandals.
0:35:16 > 0:35:22Every night, they'd build a camp, then break it up again before setting off in the morning.
0:35:22 > 0:35:28They'd been tired, hungry, and with news of the revolt coming in, morale would have been very low.
0:35:28 > 0:35:33The Roman army was in a desperate situation.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37But things were to get even worse for Paullinus.
0:35:39 > 0:35:44To his horror, one third of his army, the legion from Exeter,
0:35:44 > 0:35:47simply failed to show up.
0:35:48 > 0:35:52This left him with only 10,000 exhausted men
0:35:52 > 0:35:56against Boudicca's massive horde,
0:35:56 > 0:36:00growing in confidence and numbers by the day.
0:36:00 > 0:36:06If Paullinus was to hold onto his province, he had to turn and fight.
0:36:06 > 0:36:10He decided his only chance was to find a battle site
0:36:10 > 0:36:12that gave HIM the advantage.
0:36:13 > 0:36:20He would need an open plain to fight on, but with protection to the rear to avoid being encircled.
0:36:20 > 0:36:26The Roman historian Tacitus gives us a precise description of the spot Paullinus chose.
0:36:26 > 0:36:32It was a narrow valley with woods behind it and the open plain in front.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36But the one thing Tacitus omitted to tell us was where the valley was.
0:36:36 > 0:36:41And that's still a matter of debate today.
0:36:41 > 0:36:45We know Boudicca ransacked St Albans on her way northwards,
0:36:45 > 0:36:48so the battle site must be further north than that.
0:36:48 > 0:36:53Now, we also know that Paullinus was met by his legions from Anglesey,
0:36:53 > 0:36:57so they must have marched down Watling Street here.
0:36:57 > 0:37:01If his legion from Exeter also joined him, as it was supposed to,
0:37:01 > 0:37:08then it would have reached Watling Street by the Fosse Way here or by Akeman Street here.
0:37:08 > 0:37:13So it's likely the valley Paullinus chose was somewhere on Watling Street
0:37:13 > 0:37:15between the Fosse Way and St Albans.
0:37:17 > 0:37:24No-one knows exactly where the battlefield is, but we're going to look at the most recent suggestion.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26I'll check it out from the air...
0:37:26 > 0:37:29..while I drive up Watling Street, the A5.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41The A5 runs over there, following exactly the route we think Boudicca would have gone on.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45We're following Watling Street dead straight from London, north-west.
0:37:45 > 0:37:51It's amazing how it's foxed the experts for ages exactly where this battle was fought.
0:37:56 > 0:38:02This is very flat countryside. It's hard to see anything that matches Tacitus's description
0:38:02 > 0:38:06of a narrow throat, a narrow defile, with wooded sides.
0:38:06 > 0:38:11There have been many suggestions, like Mansetter near Birmingham,
0:38:11 > 0:38:15although some historians think that's too far north.
0:38:15 > 0:38:21This new site is much further south, near the village of Paulerspury,
0:38:21 > 0:38:27only a few miles from St Albans, which is the last place we know Boudicca attacked.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33So let's take a closer look at it.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39Dan, Dan are you there?
0:38:39 > 0:38:41Hello, Dan, come in.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43We're up here, Dad, I can see you.
0:38:43 > 0:38:49What do you think of this place, Dan? This is Paulerspury. What's it look like to you?
0:38:49 > 0:38:54It's a perfectly possible spot because, if you look at the road,
0:38:54 > 0:38:57it goes steeply up and down, quite a valley,
0:38:57 > 0:39:02and trees on either side would have exaggerated the effect of the valley
0:39:02 > 0:39:07and made quite a nice bottleneck for Paullinus to stand his men in
0:39:07 > 0:39:10and deal with Boudicca's overwhelming force.
0:39:10 > 0:39:16Can you see a plain beyond the mouth of the valley? What does it look like down there?
0:39:16 > 0:39:19There's plenty of space for Boudicca's army here.
0:39:19 > 0:39:25Plenty of forage and water for the troops, and then they get funnelled up into this valley,
0:39:25 > 0:39:29which would've had more woods on it. There's not that many woods now.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33I think this is is a pretty good bet, Dad, a pretty good bet.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36OK, well done. Thanks.
0:39:39 > 0:39:43As Paullinus positioned his men in the valley,
0:39:43 > 0:39:47Boudicca was on the road, heading his way.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51If Boudicca was heading north-west from St Albans,
0:39:51 > 0:39:57Watling Street would have offered a convenient highway for her chariots and wagons.
0:39:57 > 0:40:02But just here, the road entered the great Whittlewood Forest.
0:40:03 > 0:40:08Boudicca would have been aware of the risk of being ambushed in the woods ahead.
0:40:08 > 0:40:13To the right was a river plain, ideal for her chariots,
0:40:13 > 0:40:17and with plenty of food and water for her troops.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25It's likely that she decided to avoid the forest
0:40:25 > 0:40:29and wheel her army off along the river.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32Just what Paullinus wanted.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35He'd have been in the valley up ahead,
0:40:35 > 0:40:41his legions across its mouth and his flanks protected by the wooded hills on either side,
0:40:41 > 0:40:44just as Tacitus described it.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47His position WAS advantageous,
0:40:47 > 0:40:52but, by now, Boudicca's army was said to have swollen to 230,000.
0:40:52 > 0:40:58Heavily outnumbered, the Romans would have to rely on their superior weaponry.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09These infantry had the best available weapons.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13Each Roman legionary had two javelins to hurl at the enemy.
0:41:19 > 0:41:26These javelins had barbed tips, so once stuck in a man or shield, they can't be removed very easily.
0:41:26 > 0:41:31So they'd take out the man or make the shield so unwieldy that they'd throw it away.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35But the Romans also brought mechanical firepower.
0:41:35 > 0:41:41This is a scorpio - field artillery. It can throw one of these bolts 200-300 metres into enemy ranks.
0:41:41 > 0:41:46What you do is... you drag back this bowstring here,
0:41:46 > 0:41:52put the ratchet on, put the rope under as much tension as possible
0:41:52 > 0:41:55and fire that bolt as far as you could.
0:41:55 > 0:42:00Pull it back as far as it will come.
0:42:03 > 0:42:04OK.
0:42:06 > 0:42:07Bolt on.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15And...aiming up...
0:42:15 > 0:42:17OK, ready?
0:42:17 > 0:42:19And...
0:42:19 > 0:42:21fire!
0:42:23 > 0:42:28Aha! Romans could fire three or four of these a minute, they reckon.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31Fire!
0:42:34 > 0:42:40But no matter how well armed the Romans were, they were still at a huge disadvantage.
0:42:40 > 0:42:45The Britons chasing them outnumbered them by up to 20 to 1.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50We were a sea,
0:42:50 > 0:42:53a great host of people.
0:42:54 > 0:43:00We thought we couldn't lose. It was our chance to beat the Roman army.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06But Paullinus had one other thing he could draw upon -
0:43:06 > 0:43:11the cohesion and discipline of his legionaries.
0:43:11 > 0:43:17Their training gave them the unique ability to work together in close-knit formation
0:43:17 > 0:43:21and the most effective of these was the wedge formation.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25The first few rows of each cohort would march forward
0:43:25 > 0:43:28to create a wedge-shaped shield wall.
0:43:28 > 0:43:34This tightly-packed arrowhead of men would then march forward,
0:43:34 > 0:43:38so that the tip of each wedge broke up the other side's front line,
0:43:38 > 0:43:43smashing through a massed enemy with devastating effect.
0:43:45 > 0:43:51It's a tactic so effective that it was used by rugby players
0:43:51 > 0:43:54to smash through opposition.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56It's called the flying wedge.
0:43:56 > 0:44:00- OK, show us.- OK. We've got Dan with the ball here.- I'm tip of the wedge.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05'At the tip of the wedge, I'd have to punch through
0:44:05 > 0:44:09'some of the country's best rugby players from Wasps Rugby Club.'
0:44:09 > 0:44:14Right, now we're going to go for it towards the opposition try line.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17OK, here we go. Flying wedge coming up.
0:44:19 > 0:44:25The flying wedge shows how easily an arrowhead formation can smash through opposition.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28Although it didn't feel that easy on the day.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31Get it down! Yeah!
0:44:31 > 0:44:37As I found out, the flying wedge is so dangerous, the move is now illegal.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39Ooh!
0:44:48 > 0:44:52Made it - try. Whether he's still alive after that, I've no idea.
0:44:52 > 0:44:54Oh, great!
0:44:54 > 0:44:56Ah!
0:44:56 > 0:44:59That's the flying wedge. Lethal, I'd say.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02Point proved?
0:45:02 > 0:45:06The wedge was a classic Roman tactic,
0:45:06 > 0:45:12which the legions used time and again to overcome barbarian hordes throughout the empire.
0:45:12 > 0:45:17But could it work against such an enormous and confident opponent?
0:45:20 > 0:45:24As the Roman soldiers made camp the night before the battle,
0:45:24 > 0:45:30they knew their general would plan the next day down to the finest detail.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34In Boudicca's camp, it was a very different story.
0:45:34 > 0:45:38Before battle, the Britons would work themselves into a frenzy.
0:45:38 > 0:45:42They'd drink heavily and psyche each other up.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46They loved fighting and didn't fear death, as they believed in reincarnation.
0:45:46 > 0:45:52If you lived and died as a hero, you'd come back much better in your next life.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05The following morning, both sides awoke,
0:46:05 > 0:46:10knowing that the final battle for control of the country was upon them.
0:46:18 > 0:46:22As dawn broke, the disciplined Roman soldiers took up their positions
0:46:22 > 0:46:29in the formations they'd spent years training in, then they waited for the Britons to attack.
0:46:36 > 0:46:42The scene was set for the battle that would decide the fate of Britain.
0:46:53 > 0:46:59Boudicca had her enormous army spread out across the plain here.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03Tens of thousands of men and women ready for battle,
0:47:03 > 0:47:07armed with swords, spears, knives, rocks, on horseback
0:47:07 > 0:47:09and on chariots and on foot.
0:47:09 > 0:47:13Behind them, their families had pulled up their supply wagons
0:47:13 > 0:47:16in a semi-circle to watch the fight.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19Ahead of them was Paullinus's army.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22He had less than two legions of foot soldiers,
0:47:22 > 0:47:26perhaps 15 cohorts of 500 men each.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29They would have neatly spanned the mouth of the valley,
0:47:29 > 0:47:34the cavalry securing the flanks and the infantry in the middle.
0:47:39 > 0:47:46At last, the disciplined Roman legionaries were face to face with Boudicca's overwhelming force.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56There was a writhing mass of barbarians in front of us.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59I was scared, I'm not frightened to admit that.
0:48:01 > 0:48:03The sheer number of them.
0:48:03 > 0:48:08But that's where you rely upon your discipline and your training,
0:48:08 > 0:48:12all moving as one, relying on each other.
0:48:21 > 0:48:26So if this IS where the battle was fought 2,000 years ago,
0:48:26 > 0:48:30the front line of Roman legionaries would have stretched for half a mile
0:48:30 > 0:48:36from this side of the valley, across the flat ground in the centre to the other side.
0:48:36 > 0:48:42Down there, where the valley opens out into a big plain, would have been Boudicca's massive force,
0:48:42 > 0:48:49fired by its lust for revenge and buoyed up by its obvious superiority in numbers.
0:48:49 > 0:48:51We were a sea of people.
0:48:51 > 0:48:55And they were just stuck there in the mouth of this valley.
0:48:55 > 0:48:59We thought it was going to be easy.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01The first move came from Boudicca.
0:49:01 > 0:49:06With a long blast on the traditional British horns, the attack began.
0:49:24 > 0:49:29Imagine the ground shake as hundreds of chariots charged over this field,
0:49:29 > 0:49:35each charioteer racing his neighbour to get to the Romans and spill the first blood.
0:49:35 > 0:49:41On the back, the British warriors roaring, hurling spears and challenging Romans to single combat.
0:49:41 > 0:49:43The noise would have been deafening.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47The wind was rushing through my hair, the blood flowing through my veins.
0:49:47 > 0:49:52I could see Romans in the distance. I thought, "I'm coming for you!"
0:49:52 > 0:49:56Everybody charged, chariots went up and down in front of the Romans
0:49:56 > 0:49:59who just stood there behind their shields.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14I mean, can you imagine... 200,000 people...
0:50:14 > 0:50:20..hurtling down towards you? That gets your blood pumping, I can assure you.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25Then Paullinus made his move.
0:50:25 > 0:50:30First came the scorpios, firing deadly bolts hundreds of metres into the British.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36Next came the javelins in two volleys.
0:50:36 > 0:50:40The first travelling some 25 to 30 metres.
0:50:40 > 0:50:44The second, the heavier javelins, just 15 metres.
0:50:45 > 0:50:50We took down the front line, but they kept swarming and coming at us.
0:50:51 > 0:50:56Many of those who survived would now have javelins impaled in their shields,
0:50:56 > 0:51:03making them so unwieldy they'd have to drop them and rush on unprotected into the Roman front line.
0:51:06 > 0:51:10Paullinus now played his last card.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16Then they started to come forward...
0:51:18 > 0:51:23..in a wedge shape, a series of wedges, like the side of a sword.
0:51:26 > 0:51:30And as they came forward, our boys were piling into them.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42They just stabbed from behind the shields.
0:51:44 > 0:51:49In the wedge formation, you just keep going forward, you never stop.
0:51:49 > 0:51:54Between the gaps of the shields, you stab whatever's in front of you.
0:51:54 > 0:51:58You stay close together, any enemy underfoot you trample on them,
0:51:58 > 0:52:01you crush their skulls, but keep going forward.
0:52:01 > 0:52:06It was a tactic that would change the course of the battle,
0:52:06 > 0:52:10as the Britons' advantage in numbers was turned against them.
0:52:11 > 0:52:17The sheer weight of numbers was their downfall - crushed from the back by their own men,
0:52:17 > 0:52:23from the front by our boys, any bit of flesh that could be seen by our men was hacked to pieces.
0:52:23 > 0:52:30They never stood a chance. They couldn't raise their hands, wield their swords, wield their daggers,
0:52:30 > 0:52:32they were completely hemmed in.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36As the Romans ploughed into Boudicca's warriors,
0:52:36 > 0:52:41the Britons were funnelled into the wedges and trapped.
0:52:41 > 0:52:45There, the legionaries could stab at them from both sides.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53There was nothing we could do to stop them.
0:52:53 > 0:52:58They didn't come fast... but they came steady.
0:53:00 > 0:53:05The Britons were no match for this heavily armed steamroller,
0:53:05 > 0:53:08and they started to pull back.
0:53:09 > 0:53:12As the Britons turned tail,
0:53:12 > 0:53:15the Roman cavalry came in from the flank,
0:53:15 > 0:53:19cutting down stragglers at the edge of the field.
0:53:19 > 0:53:24They were hacking and killing and cutting and...
0:53:25 > 0:53:27Oh!
0:53:27 > 0:53:30There was blood everywhere.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35The Britons' retreat turned into a chaotic rout.
0:53:35 > 0:53:39Pushed back, trampled by the infantry juggernaut,
0:53:39 > 0:53:44and in terror of attack from the Roman cavalry,
0:53:44 > 0:53:46the Britons ran for their lives.
0:53:49 > 0:53:53We was all running and saw the Romans coming on horseback from the sides.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57I realised we'd get trapped by our own carts.
0:54:01 > 0:54:07The Roman wedge formation and their cavalry drove the Britons towards their own wagons.
0:54:09 > 0:54:16The great circle of wagons, where families had gathered to watch the battle, had now become a ring fence.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19The British warriors and their followers were trapped.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23The Roman front line and cavalry finished off the last fighters,
0:54:23 > 0:54:29then turned on the women and children. The slaughter that followed was unimaginable.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32It was a vision from hell that day.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37Them pigs didn't just kill the soldiers,
0:54:37 > 0:54:41they killed the women and the children...
0:54:41 > 0:54:43and the babies.
0:54:43 > 0:54:45It was terrible.
0:54:45 > 0:54:50People were being butchered around me, everyone was panicking,
0:54:50 > 0:54:54it was carnage, absolute carnage.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58I should have died that day too.
0:55:16 > 0:55:20Boudicca's battle for Britain was lost.
0:55:20 > 0:55:25Tacitus tells us that only 400 Romans were killed
0:55:25 > 0:55:28against 80,000 British dead.
0:55:28 > 0:55:35The Romans would have left their bodies to rot here as a deterrent against future uprisings.
0:55:35 > 0:55:39It may have been a spectacular Roman victory,
0:55:39 > 0:55:44but it is still one of the greatest human tragedies in British history.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47There were thousands of bodies...
0:55:47 > 0:55:50laid out like rotten dogs.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54Men, women, children,
0:55:54 > 0:55:57hacked up like meat.
0:55:58 > 0:56:01I looked for my husband...
0:56:01 > 0:56:04but I never found him.
0:56:07 > 0:56:11No-one knows what happened to Boudicca.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15Legend has it that she took poison that same day.
0:56:15 > 0:56:17She'd made one fatal mistake -
0:56:17 > 0:56:22engaging the Romans in pitched battle at a place of THEIR choosing.
0:56:22 > 0:56:26After the battle, life became even worse for the Britons.
0:56:26 > 0:56:33The Roman army carried out vicious reprisals to make sure such an uprising could never happen again.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35Boudicca's kingdom was destroyed
0:56:35 > 0:56:40and what remained of her tribe were forcibly resettled in a Romanised town.
0:56:46 > 0:56:49We were a proud people once.
0:56:53 > 0:56:55Not any more.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00All those dead...
0:57:01 > 0:57:04..what was it for?
0:57:04 > 0:57:06They got everything they deserved.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10They won't try that again, will they?
0:57:10 > 0:57:13Roman rule here was never challenged again,
0:57:13 > 0:57:18and the Ancient Britons were pushed back to the extremities of the British Isles,
0:57:18 > 0:57:22where remnants of their language, like Welsh, can still be heard.
0:57:22 > 0:57:28But over most of Britain, it was the Romans who ruled for the next 400 years
0:57:28 > 0:57:32and their language, their roads and their culture
0:57:32 > 0:57:37are still an inescapable part of our heritage today.
0:57:42 > 0:57:46Nearly 1,000 years after Boudicca's revolt against the Romans,
0:57:46 > 0:57:49a new wave of invaders hit British shores.
0:57:49 > 0:57:54Next time, we find out how 15,000 soldiers fought to the death
0:57:54 > 0:57:59for the greatest prize in Europe - the throne of England.
0:57:59 > 0:58:03The year was 1066 and it was the Battle of Hastings.