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No One Should Be Surprised That Celtic Britain Was Women-Centric
The clues have been there all along
Diodorus of Sicily described Celtic women as ‘not only like the men in their great stature but (..) a match for them in courage as well.’
The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus painted an even more vivid picture:
In a fight any one of them [Gauls] can resist several strangers at a time, with no other help than his wife’s, who is even more formidable. You should see these viragos, neck veins swollen with rage, swinging their robust and snow-white arms, using their feet and their fists and landing blows that seem triggered off by a catapult.
Many other ancient Roman writers, including the politician Julius Caesar, were similarly fascinated — or terrified — by the women they encountered among the Celts. They were said to be able to take multiple husbands, divorce, inherit property, hold positions of power and fight in battles. Actually, two of the earliest recorded British rulers were women: Cartimandua and Boudica. Cartimandua was the warrior-queen of the Brigantes, a tribe covering much of northern England, and Boudicca (sometimes written as Boadicea) of the eastern England Iceni tribe. Boudicca also famously led a rebellion against Roman forces around 60–61 CE.
