[Sidenote:--2--] The _casus belli_ lay in the confiscation of the money which Claudius had given to the foremost Britons,--Decianus Catus, governor of the island, announcing that this must now be sent back. This was one reason [Lacuna] [Footnote: It would seem natural to supply "for the uprising," as does Reiske.] and another was that Seneca had lent them on excellent terms as regards interest a thousand myriads that they did not want, [Footnote: The meaning of this phrase ( [Greek: achousin]) is not wholly clear. Naber purposes to substitute [Greek: aitousin] ("that they were asking for").] and had afterward called in this loan all at once and levied on them for it with severity. But the person who most stirred their spirits and persuaded them to fight the Romans, who was deemed worthy to stand at their head and to have the conduct of the entire war, was a British woman, Buduica, [Footnote: Known commonly as Boadicea.] of the royal family and possessed of greater judgment than often belongs to women. It was she who gathered the army to the number of nearly twelve myriads and ascended a tribunal of marshy soil made after the Roman fashion. In person she was very tall, with a most sturdy figure and a piercing glance; her voice was harsh; a great mass of yellow hair fell below her waist and a large golden necklace clasped her throat; wound about her was a tunic of every conceivable color and over it a thick chlamys had been fastened with a brooch. This was her constant attire. She now grasped a spear to aid her in terrifying all beholders and spoke as follows:--