Cartimandua's Representation By Tacitus
In his moralising narratives the Annals and the Histories, Tacitus presents Cartimandua in a negative light. Although he refers to her loyalty to Rome, he invites the reader to judge her "treacherous" role in the capture of Caratacus, who had sought her protection; her "self-indulgence" her sexual impropriety in rejecting her husband in favour of a common soldier; and her "cunning strategems" in taking Venutius' relatives hostage. However, he also consistently names her as a queen (regina), the only one such known in early Roman Britain. Boudica, the only other female British leader of the period, is not described in these terms.
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