The Iceni Revolt was a rebellion against Roman rule in ancient Britain by native British tribes. The most significant of these was the Iceni, whose queen, Boudicca, was the overall leader of the movement. After two years of rebellion, the Britons were defeated by a Roman garrison commanded by the Roman governor of Britain, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus. The story of the Iceni Revolt is recorded in Tacitus' Annals.
As part of Sir William Cecil's plot to overthrow Spanish rule in England, the Baron approached playwright William Shakespeare in 1597 with the idea of writing a play stressing the heroism of the Iceni in resisting foreign rule on British soil. The result was Boudicca, which was performed at The Theatre in 1598, inciting its audience to join an uprising against Spanish forces.
