Boudicca - Inför en presentation. Calmare Internationella skola. Lärare Monica Andersson PDF

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Inför en presentation. Calmare Internationella skola. Lärare Monica Andersson...

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Intro Dear audience, hello and welcome to the presentation. Thank you for being here and listening to my story. You may not notice, but I am a ghost. I died a very, very long time ago. Although, I am still in your world and not with the gods. I hope you will find my speech interesting and that you will remember me, like many others as a heroine. 1

I am the Queen who led a major uprising against occupying Roman forces. Boudicca, wife to Prasutagus, the Iceni king which makes me Queen of the Iceni. I am sure that you will remember my name after you hear my story. When my husband died, the Romans thought that they could rule in my country. Not enough with that, they stripped and flogged me. My innocent, lovely daughters both got raped by these evil men. I, Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni people of England was the woman who got a successful army and fought against the Romans. My death is still unknown but there are some theories that historians believe in. Whether its right or wrong it is up to you to try to find out. Now listen carefully to how everything happened.

My story It is not much you can find about my background. The only thing they believe is that I married Prasutagus at age 18, year 30. 2My man divided his property between our daughters and King Nero of Rome. The Romans saw my man as a leader who could keep the peace between the people of Iceni and the Romans. Therefore they let my man rule in his country the time he was alive, but after his death, a lot of things changed. 3All the hope and peace my man-made between those nationalities were gone. The Romans came to take his kingdom. I knew what was going to happen. I told them that “ Nothing is safe from Roman pride and arrogance. They will deface the sacred and will deflower our virgins. Win the battle or perish, that is what I, a woman, will do.” The Romans raped me and my daughters because we were against their plans and knew that this would be really bad for the people of Iceni. 4 My husband's own relatives were treated as slaves. 5

Our small villages with wooden houses, were going to be destroyed if we just gave it to the Romans. As a woman, I was expected to be quiet and run the home. Although that was not my plan. I gave birth to my two daughters, I did something that was the cause of many women´s death when I was young. I was strong and did not plan to just hand my country to the Romans. They raped my daughters and took away their chance to marry someone when they

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/boudicca.shtml https://www.ancient.eu/Boudicca/ 3 https://www.ancient.eu/Boudicca/ 4 https://www.ancient.eu/Boudicca/ 5 http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/ztqg4wx 2

turned 14. Therefore I did something that few women did back then. I protected me, my daughters, and my people. Like many other women, I was trained as a warrior. I knew fighting techniques and could handle a weapon well. My people were not the only ones who wanted to pay back to theRomans. That is why I made a rebellion with other tribes as well. We were really strong together and defeated the “Roman Ninth Legion”. We did not stop there. My forces destroyed Camulodunum and the capital of Roman Britain as well. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus thought that he could win the battle with his 200 men, but he noticed very soon that they were ineffective. Our plan after that was to take over Verulamium too, but Gaius returned back from Wales and marshaled his army to confront my army. We went to the battle site but the gods were not with us. The Romans did not have as many soldiers but somehow they won. I lost everything I had. I could not believe that I let the Romans take my country. The Queen of Iceni, also known as me could not live with the fact that the Romans won. Not my daughter either. The historians believe that we all took our lives. They think that I poisoned myself. Believe it or not, death was a better option than to be captured. There is another story about this fight by Cassius Dio. He meant that this fight was about a loan and not because Iceni was threatened badly. He also forgot the part that I and my daughters got rapped. His theory was that I died in the battle and not because I poisoned myself. As I said, believe what you want but the Romans did not deserve my country. According to a man called Publius Cornelius Tacitus, 80 000 of my people died. I am proud of the fact that so many gave their lives to protect our little Iceni. Even though the Romans continued to control Britain for hundreds of years I am proud of the fact that I, Boudicca is celebrated as a national heroine. You can find my statue in Westminster Bridge today. It was made in 1902 by a man called Thomas Thornycroft. It is a bronze statue of me riding high in my chariot. My fight was about justice and independence, and I am proud that you remember my name as the Queen and the warrior of Iceni. Thank you for your attention. I hope that you now know me better and that you can see me, as many others as a heroine. I want you to know that I gave everything I had and did everything I could for my people. Do not forget my name, Boudicca… I am pretty sure you won´t....