Archaeologist argues Verica, linked to Rome’s invasion, was a woman

Archaeologist Miles Russell argues that Verica, an Iron Age ruler whose appeal to Rome was linked to the invasion of Britain in AD 43, was a woman rather than a man. His interpretation draws on the ruler’s name, images and inscriptions on coins, and Roman historical accounts. Specialists cited in one report have questioned whether those clues establish Verica’s sex. Verica ruled the Atrebates, whose territory included parts of what are now Hampshire and West Sussex. The ruler was driven from power around AD 40 and appealed to the Roman emperor Claudius for support. The Roman historian Cassius Dio linked the appeal to Claudius’s decision to invade Britain three years later. Russell argues Verica’s role was more substantial than a brief episode in accounts of the conquest. Russell points to the name’s ending in “a,” which is also found in the names of female leaders Boudica and Cartimandua. He argues that the name is consistent with a woman’s name, and that the Latin title rex on Verica’s coins does not by itself prove the ruler was male. Russell also proposes that the coin abbreviation COM F could mean “daughter of Commios,” rather than the traditional reading, “son of...