Nicki Howarth

This is a book I was looking forward to reading. There are very few books about Cartimandua. I have discovered why - there is very little reliable information about her. Nicki Howarth does make use of all there is, Tacitus and Cassius Dio being the most obvious, but she is rather quick at drawing final conclusions with very little, if any, real evidence. There are two main examples of this. The first is the nationality of her second husband, Vellocatus. With no evidence whatsoever, just some show more swingeing assumptions, Howarth decides he is a Roman, and this is the reason for her final problems. No weight is given to the fact that Tacitus at least would have made great play of this if it was true. The second is what happened to Cartimandua. Howarth does say quite clearly that she disappears from the sources, but then 'surmises' that she lived out her days as an honoured guest in Rome. No evidence at all, but it becomes a given. Howarth's writing style is light weight, and she uses examples from popular culture, as well as the more obvious comparisons with Boudica and Cleopatra. The book is easy to read, but not to take too seriously. show less