>Sadly, due to a lack of documentation or other evidence (the Roman
>writings are just a teensy bit biased), we'll probably never know what
>a "normal Iceni wife and mother" was in terms of fighting ability, nor
>to what extent she differed from the Iceni norm.
Well, to be fair, Boudicca was presumably from the higher nobility, since her husband was king of the tribe, so had more opportunity to learn unusual skills...
But note that Tacitus, in his Annales, claims that the British were often led in war by women:
solitum quidem Britannis feminarum ductu bellare testabatur "she bore witness that the Britons were indeed accustomed to the leadership of women in war"
...and that over half of Boudicca's army were women:
plus illic feminarum quam iuventutis adspici "over there you see more women than young men"
...and:
et miles nec mulierum quidem neci temparabat "the [Roman] soldier did not even spare the lives of the women"
Stephen
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