BOADICEA

boadicea, strictly boudicca, a british queen in the time of the emperor nero. her husband prasutagus ruled the iceni (in what is now norfolk) as an autonomous prince under roman suzerainty. on his death (a.d. 61) without male heir, his dominions were annexed, and the annexation was carried out brutally. he had by his will divided his private wealth between his two daughters and nero, trusting thereby to win imperial favour for his family. instead, his wife was scourged (doubtless for resisting the annexation), his daughters outraged, his chief tribesmen plundered. the proud, fierce queen and her people rose, and not alone. with them rose half britain, enraged, for other causes, at roman rule. roman taxation and conscription lay heavy on the province; in addition, the roman government had just revoked financial concessions made a few years earlier, and l. annaeus seneca, who combined the parts of a moralist and a money-lender, had abruptly recalled large loans made from his private wealth to british chiefs. a favourable chance for revolt was provided by the absence of the governor-general, suetonius paulinus, and most of his troops in north wales and anglesey. all south-east britain joined the movement. paulinus rushed back without waiting for his troops, but he could do nothing alone. the britons burnt the roman municipalities of verulam and colchester, the mart of london, and several military posts, massacred "over 70,000" romans and britons friendly to rome, and almost annihilated the ninth legion marching from lincoln to the rescue. at last paulinus, who seems to have rejoined his army, met the britons in the field. the site of the battle is unknown. one writer has put it at chester; others at london, where king's cross had once a narrow escape of being christened boadicea's cross, and actually for many years bore the name of battle bridge, in supposed reference to this battle. probably, however, it was on watling street, between london and chester. in a desperate soldiers' battle rome regained the province. boadicea took poison; thousands of britons fell in the fight or were hunted down in the ensuing guerrilla. finally, rome adopted a kindlier policy, and britain became quiet. but the scantiness of romano-british remains in norfolk may be due to the severity with which the iceni were crushed. see tacitus, _annals_, xiv.; _agric_. xv.; dio lxii. the name boudicca seems to mean in celtic much the same as victoria. (f. j. h.) boar (o. eng. _bar_; the word is found only in w. ger. languages, cf. dutch _beer_, ger. _eber_), the name given to the un-castrated male of the domestic pig (q.v.), and to some wild species of the family _suidae_ (see swine). the european wild boar (_sus scrofa_) is distributed over europe, northern africa, and central and northern asia. it has long been extinct in the british isles, where it once abounded, but traces have been found of its survival in chartley forest, staffordshire, in an entry of 1683 in an account-book of the steward of the manor, and it possibly remained till much later in the more remote parts of scotland and ireland (j.e. harting, _extinct british animals_, 1880). the wild boar is still found in europe, in marshy woodland districts where there is plenty of cover, and it is fairly plentiful in spain, austria, russia and germany, particularly in the black forest. from the earliest times, owing to its great strength, speed, and ferocity when at bay, the boar has been one of the favourite beasts of the chase. under the old forest laws of england it was one of the "beasts of the forest," and, as such, under the norman kings the unprivileged killing of it was punishable by death or the loss of a member. it was hunted in england and in europe on foot and on horseback with dogs, while the weapon of attack was always the spear. in europe the wild boar is still hunted with dogs, but the spear, except when used in emergencies and for giving the _coup de grace_, has been given up for the gun. it is also shot in great forest drives in austria, germany and russia. the indian wild boar (_sus cristatus_) is slightly taller than _sus scrofa_, standing some 30 to 40 in. at the shoulder. it is found throughout india, ceylon and burma. here the horse and spear are still used, and the sport is one of the most popular in india. (see pig-sticking.) the boar is one of the four heraldic beasts of venery, and was the cognizance of richard iii., king of england. as an article of food the boar's head was long considered a special delicacy, and its serving was attended with much ceremonial. at queen's college, oxford, the dish is still brought on christmas day in procession to the high-table, accompanied by the singing of a carol. board (o. eng. _bord_), a plank or long narrow piece of timber. the word comes into various compounds to describe boards used for special purposes, or objects like boards (drawing-board, ironing-board, sounding-board, chess-board, cardboard, back-board, notice-board, scoring-board). the phrase "to keep one's name on the boards," at cambridge university, signifies to remain a member of a college; at oxford it is "on the books." in bookbinding, pasteboard covers are called boards. board was early used of a table, hence such phrases as "bed and board," "board and lodging"; or of a gaming-table, as in the phrase "to sweep the board," meaning to pocket all the stakes, hence, figuratively, to carry all before one. the same meaning leads to "board of trade," "local government board," &c. from the meaning of border or side, and especially ship's side, comes "sea-board," meaning sea-coast, and the phrases "aboard" (fr. _abord_), "over-board," "by the board"; similarly "weather-board," the side of a ship which is to windward; "larboard and starboard" (the former of uncertain origin, mid. eng. _laddeboard_ or _latheboard_; the latter meaning "steering side," o. eng. _steorbord_, the rudder of early ships working over the steering side), signifying (to one standing at the stern and looking forward) the left and right sides of the ship respectively.