‘Oh good.’ Smith looked puzzled, dropped the slipper back into his bag, and smiled at the class. Many secret smiles were directed back at him, except from the Captains, who were staring at him with a mixture of incredulity and distaste. ‘Now. Destruction, murder, people impaled on posts. All of these are a feature of Boudicca’s rebellion against the Romans, circa AD 62.’

Atkins put his hand up. ‘Please, sir, do you mean Boadicea?’

‘Yes. Boudicca was her real name. She was a Celtic queen, the Queen of the Iceni, who lived around here. She was the widow of Prasutagas. He was the old king. When he died, he left his land to his daughters and the Roman empire jointly. This is when the Romans ruled Britain. He thought that would work. But Roman agents came and tried to take over the place. Why?’

‘Because girls couldn’t rule a kingdom?’ suggested Merryweather.

‘That might be what they thought. We don’t know if they were acting officially. Paulinus, the Governor, was away fighting in Wales. That might have been the idea. If they’d failed, nobody could blame him. A lot of governments work like that.’

‘Not European ones, surely?’ Alton murmured, a sly smile on his face.

‘Perhaps. In Bosnia⁠ — but never mind that. The agents raped the daughters and molested Boudicca herself. So she⁠ — what? What’s the matter?’

A murmur had rippled round the classroom: ‘Sir, what did they do to the daughters again?’ asked Phipps.

‘Raped them. Had sex with them against their will. Isn’t that in the dictionary? Now…’ He ignored the murmurings and turned to the map. ‘Boudicca’s immediate reaction was to do⁠ — what to the agents? Hadleigh-Scott?’

Hadleigh-Scott looked up from nudging his deskmate and giggling. ‘To make them marry the girls, sir?’

‘What? No. Strange. No, she had the agents skinned alive and impaled on posts with their intestines⁠ — most texts say intestines⁠ — in their mouths. Very nasty. Then, because they’d given the impression they were working on Imperial orders, she called the Iceni to war, and declared that they were free. They didn’t have to do what the Governor said any more. The tribe attacked Colchester, St Albans and London, and burnt them all flat. There was so much destruction that archaeologists know when they’ve got down to AD 62 in those towns, because there’s a layer of broken things and ash. Finally, Paulinus returned, got his troops together and defeated the Iceni. Boudicca killed herself. The question is: was this great British heroine, a favourite of Queen Victoria, right to rebel? Hutchinson?’

‘Of course. She was fighting foreign tyranny.’

‘No she wasn’t. Paulinus was the mildest of governors. If she’d have reported the agents to him, he’d have dealt with them himself.’

‘But Britain was occupied by the Romans.’

‘The people she killed were Britons. Even the legions were mostly local recruits.’