ANCIENT WORLD
Where is Boudica’s final resting place?
Boudica, the celebrated queen of the Iceni tribe who lived in what is now Norfolk, spearheaded a revolt against Britain’s Roman occupiers around AD 60. Her initial campaigns were successful, resulting in the devastation of London, Colchester and St Albans. However, the Iceni eventually met defeat in a battle believed to have been fought at a location northwest of London. Roman chronicles estimate that a staggering 200,000 Britons were killed in the clash.
The Roman historian Dio Cassius, who penned his accounts more than 100 years after the battle, hinted that Boudica then “fell ill and died,” after which her loyal followers gave her a lavish burial. However, considering the retaliations that followed the rebellion, such a claim by Dio Cassius seems dubious at best, especially because he doesn’t cite any direct sources.
The precise site of the decisive battle remains a mystery. In his 1937 book Boadicea: Warrior Queen of the Britons, Lewis Spence hypothesised — albeit without substantial evidence — that the opposing forces clashed on grounds now occupied by King’s Cross and St Pancras railway stations. And the allure of finding the warrior queen’s burial site persists today. A prevailing legend, likely fuelled by Spence’s narrative, suggests that Boudica’s resting place might lie beneath platforms 9 and 10 of King’s Cross station. Perhaps by magical coincidence, JK Rowling placed the departure point of the Hogwarts Express — the train that ferries Harry Potter and his companions to their school of witchcraft and wizardry— at platform 9¾, King’s Cross station, above Boudica’s legendary grave.
How many people were sacrificed by the Aztecs?
When Europeans first arrived in the Americas, the Aztec empire was the most powerful state in the region. In the early 16th century, Spanish Conquistadors were shocked to discover that the Aztecs made huge numbers of human sacrifices at their temples – though how many, exactly, is disputed. The invaders may have inflat
