Study argues Iron Age ruler Verica, central to Rome's invasion of Britain, was a woman

A ruler long assumed to be a man

Archaeologists at Bournemouth University, led by Miles Russell, argue that Verica, the Iron Age ruler of the Atrebates, was a woman. Verica held power over a territory covering much of present-day Hampshire and West Sussex and played a central role in the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43. The argument is laid out in the book Caratacus: Great King of Britain, published by Bloomsbury, and in the latest edition of Current Archaeology. Around AD 40 Verica was overthrown and fled to Rome, where Emperor Claudius gave refuge. According to Russell, the assumption that Verica was male rests on the patriarchal outlook of 19th-century classical historians.

“Verica was not only critical to the special relationship between Britain and Rome in the early first century AD but was indisputably female.”

Three clues in the name and the coins

The first clue is the name, which ends in 'a', a pattern Russell says was common among women's names of the period. He points to Cartimandua of the Brigantes in Yorkshire and Boudica of the Iceni in Norfolk, both of whom lived in the same era. Boudica is far better known for leading a revolt against the Romans in AD 60, but Russell argues Verica was in fact the more powerful and influential ruler.

A second clue lies in the Latin word 'rex' on the coins, a term usually read as meaning a male king. Russell says rex is a non-gender-specific title and notes that Rome recognised both male and female rulers, with Cleopatra of Egypt the best known example.

“The use of the Latin title rex on coins shows that Verica ruled with the full authorisation of the emperor.”

The third clue is the image on the coins. Russell's team says other British Iron Age leaders who struck coins are shown as clearly male warriors, while Verica appears as a slender, feminine, bare-breasted figure riding on horseback. The researchers treat this depiction as strengthening the case that the ruler was a woman.

Reframing the Roman invasion

The study also reshapes the account of Claudius. Roman writers depicted the emperor as weak and ineffective, with his decisions supposedly dictated by women and freed slaves. Cassius Dio, a Roman historian, credited the invasion of Britain to Verica persuading Claudius to cross the Channel. Russell argues that a story of an emperor acting only because a woman urged him on fits the portrait of Claudius as submissive and henpecked. He also contends that Verica's role in the British expedition was rather more central than the classical accounts allow.

Key dates in the coverage

The timeline below lists the dates the coverage places around the ruler: the overthrow, the invasion and Boudica's revolt. The overthrow came around AD 40, when Verica was ousted and fled to Claudius in Rome. The Roman invasion of Britain followed in AD 43, an event Cassius Dio linked to Verica's persuasion of the emperor. The revolt led by Boudica of the Iceni came in AD 60, the comparison point Russell uses for Verica's standing.