Nearly 2,000 years ago, during the early years of Roman Britain, Boudica, victim of Roman injustice, raised the Iceni in rebellion against Rome.

During August 1984, a mysterious link with the Iceni Revolt may have been uncovered. The remnants of a male peat body were found at Lindow Moss near Wilmslow in Cheshire.

At first the peat body was thought to be a murder victim, yet in time the body was proven to be far older.

Known as Lindow Man, experts were called in. A theory was put forward, that Lindow Man was in fact a high-born sacrificial victim. A druid priest, perhaps close to Boudica herself, who was a witness to the Iceni revolt.

The discovery of Lindow Man inspired me to write Iceni: The Year of Sacrifice. Was this man a priest? Fundamental to the fate of Boudica and the Iceni?

Lindow Man, Druid and Sacrifice

On Friday, 1st August 1984, the remnants of a preserved body were found by a peat cutter at Lindow Moss on the southern outskirts of Manchester, England. The mummified corpse had been preserved in the peat. At first the local authorities believed they had a murder victim on their hand. Yet radiocarbon dating revealed the male body was far older, dated to Iron Age Britain, the era of the Roman Conquest.

Archaeologists and scientists were brought in to study this extraordinary find. Peat bog bodies, corpses preserved for centuries or longer, have been found throughout Europe. The corpse found at Lindow Moss became known as Lindow Man, or Pete Marsh, as the media called him. Mystery surrounded the body; questions were raised as to who Lindow Man was.

Two leading experts were determined to find answers. Archaeologist, Dr Anne Ross, and scientist Dr Don Robins. Over time, using the evidence and rational speculation, they came up with a sensational theory. Lindow Man was not just any murder or sacrificial victim of Iron Age Britain, he may have been a high-born sacrifice, perhaps even a druid priest.

The druids wielded great power amongst the Iron Age tribes of Britain. During 60-61 CE, the world of the druids and the tribes was turned upside down by Rome. The Roman Conquest had begun in 43CE, by 60CE, the very existence of the druids was being threatened.

Their sacred isle known as Mona (Anglesey) was attacked by the Romans. Most of the druids were killed, their sacred groves destroyed. The tribes loyal to the druids were driven back by the Roman legions. Queen Boudica, suffering Roman injustice, raised the Iceni and allied tribes in revolt.

However, the revolt was crushed by the Roman army. The Roman governor, Suetonius Paulinus, harried the Iceni and other tribes mercilessly, in the aftermath of the revolt.

Was Lindow Man a druid, perhaps close to or of the Iceni, who was sacrificed to placate the earth goddess during these terrible times? Dr Anne Ross and Dr Don Robins co-authored a book, The Life and Death of a Druid Prince, which popularised Lindow Man, the druids and Iceni, and the circumstantial evidence for sacrifice. Lindow Man will keep his secrets, yet a druid sacrifice echoes down the centuries.

Druids, the Iceni and the Golden Twist

Was Lindow Man a high-born druid and sacrifice? Trying to find answers may provide clues to the power of the druids, the motive for the Roman attack on the druid stronghold at Anglesey, and the Iceni Revolt itself.

Doctors Ross and Robins believed the druids of ancient Britain did not just hold religious power and influence over the tribes; they held power based on wealth. They helped create a trading network of wealth and worship that stretched from Ireland in the west to the Baltic Sea in the east. Known as the Golden Twist, this network came under threat as Rome expanded into northwest Europe.

The trading network allowed for co-operation between the tribes of the Celtic world, overseen by druids and kings who offered treasure and sacrifice to the gods and goddesses at open air temples.

The Iceni, close to the druids and the sea, may have possessed much of this wealth.

The Romans may have heard rumour of the Golden Twist if it existed. Rome needed treasure to fund empire and expansion. Rome wished to destroy the druids due to their power over hostile tribes, yet perhaps they also wished for their rumoured wealth.

The Roman assault against Mona (Anglesey), may have been an attempt to destroy druid power and acquire hidden treasure. The annexation of the Iceni after the death of the client king Prasutagus, the brutal treatment of his wife, Boudica, may have had a partial motive of seizing hidden wealth.

Rome would have wished to destroy any network of druid power. As Rome advanced, temples would have been abandoned or overrun, any remaining treasure moved out of Roman reach.

Much of central England may have been part of the Golden Twist. Temples at Mancetter, Wall, Ratae (or Roman Leicester), ancient Vernemeto, would have been part of the sacred landscape and trading route.

The Roman governor, Suetonius Paulinus, may have had knowledge of this sacred landscape as he drew Boudica to a decisive battle at Manduessedum, or Mancetter. He may have ordered the destruction of the sacred groves, bringing the Iceni to battle on his terms.

With the overthrow of the Iceni, druid power, the Golden Twist, Roman power seemed absolute. The future looked bleak for those who had defied Rome. A sacrifice of a high-born druid, perhaps close to Boudica herself, at a sacred place that would one day become Lindow Moss, was a final plea to the earth goddess and ancestors.

Stephen D. Owen is the author of the Iceni: The Year of Sacrifice series, a trilogy of novels.