Happy (belated) New Year! I’m ready to celebrate with a blog about history’s warrior women. Naturally, there are more warrior women throughout history than will be listed here. This blog seeks to highlight the military and martial accomplishments of women throughout history who have captured the imagination of the public past and present.
Boudicca
Boudicca might be one of the most famous warrior women in history. A Celtic queen, Boudicca led uprisings against the invading Roman forces on her native British Isles. The sources we have for the descriptions of Boudicca come from Romans, notably Tacitus and Cassius Dio. It is important to remember that her story has been etched into history by her enemy when examining Boudicca’s story.
Boudicca was born in what is now modern day Colchester around 30CE to a noble, possibly royal family. She married at the age of 18. Her husband, Prasutagus, was king of Iceni, a Celtic ally of Rome in 43 CE during the reign of Claudius. When Prasutagus died, however, he left his landholdings to the Emperor of Rome and his wife and daughters in his will. His wishes were ignored and Roman veterans seized the lands of leading Iceni men, flogged Boudicca, and raped her daughters.
It was no surprise then, that when it came time for retribution and the haven for Briton rebels in Northeastern Wales was threatened, Boudicca was chosen to lead. The Roman governor of Britain planned to capture the island of Mona in 60 CE.
It was not as a woman descended from noble ancestry, but as one of the people that I am avenging lost freedom, my scourged body, the outraged chastity of my daughters… This is a woman’s resolve; as for men, they may live and be slaves.
Boudicca defeated the Roman Ninth Legion and moved on to Camulodunum, her birthplace and the capital of Roman Britain. The rebellion methodically destroyed the city and took the head of the statue of Nero as a symbolic victory. She led the rebellion against Londinium (modern day London), a thriving commercial center. The Roman governor, Suetonius, abandoned Londinium, leaving it to the mercy of the rebel forces. Boudicca followed up this destruction with the sacking of Verulamium (St. Albans). There is archaeological evidence for the destruction of both Camulodunum and Londinium, but the evidence is scarce for Verulamium, showing only a row of burnt shops in excavations.
Estimates say 70,000 – 80,000 people died during these battles.
After these defeats, the Romans managed to rally and used strategy against Boudicca’s army of 200,000 – 300,000, funneling them to efficiently defeat the rebels, despite the Roman’s smaller numbers. It is not entirely clear what happened to Boudicca, as Tacitus and Cassius Dio disagree on the manner of her death. According to Tacitus, she and her daughters committed suicide by ingesting poison before they could be captured by the Romans. Cassius Dio, however, says she fell ill and was given a lavish funeral.
Boudicca’s legacy was used as leverage during the reigns of Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria, as a great British female ruler. Queen Victoria and Boudicca apparently shared a namesake, both of their names meaning “victory.”
Trieu Thi Trinh
“I’d like to ride storms, kill orcas in the open sea, drive out aggressors, reconquer the country, undo the ties of serfdom, and never bend my back to be the concubine of whatever man.”
Trieu Thi Trinh was, according to stories, orphaned as a toddler and raised by her older brother during the third century. Her sister-in-law was apparently a cruel woman who treated Trieu Thi Trinh poorly. Lady Trieu, as she would later be known, killed her sister-in-law and ran to the mountains. There, she gathered one thousand followers with the intention of leading a revolt against the Chinese who were occupying her home of North Vietnam. Her brother tried to convince her not to rebel and some sources say he may have led the thousand followers first, later being passed on to her.
Regardless, two factions of Northern Vietnam consolidated to overthrow the Eastern Wu kingdom. One of the factions was led by Trieu. This faction was made up of 100 chieftains and 50,000 families, which were amassed under her charismatic leadership. Although she led several successful rebellions against the Eastern Wu, the revolt ultimately failed. Trieu’s fate is unknown, with some sources saying she was defeated in battle at the age of 19 in 248 or she committed suicide after the failure of the rebellion.
Although Chinese texts mention the revolt, they make no note of a female leader, as Confucianism influenced their view of women as military leaders. The Vietnamese histories, however, talk about Trieu. As she became entrenched in legend, her mystical features grew. Now she is known as a nine-foot tall giant with three-foot long breasts, which she threw back over her shoulders, who wore a yellow tunic and rode an elephant into battle. Her voice was like a temple bell, and she could walk 500 leagues in a day. I think it’s fair to say these accounts were exaggerated, however, her impact on Vietnamese history remains.
Artemisia
Artemisia was a warrior queen, ruling over the Greek city-state of Caria at Halicarnassus in the 5th century BCE. She was an ally of King Xerxes of Persia during the second Persian invasion of Greece. Most of what is told of Artemisia comes from the writings of Herodotus, a historian writing about the Greco-Persian wars during the same time as Artemisia lived. However, Herodotus was mocked by both his contemporaries and modern scholars for his folklore-ish spin on many of the histories he told. In fact, one of his monikers was “Father of Lies.”
The story goes, however, that Xerxes the Great, along with his general Mardinous, planned a naval attack against a Greek fleet that would be fought in the Strait of Salamis. Artemisia was the only commander of any fleet to advise against the action. Her five ships had the second-best reputation in the Persian fleet. Artemisia fought bravely and effectively during the attack, pulling down Persian colors and raising Greek colors before attacking a fellow Persian ally (with whom she may have had a quarrel), to stop them from chasing her down and destroying her ships. She survived the defeat that cost Xerxes 300 ships and 20,000 men to the vastly outnumbered Greeks and earned Xerxes’s trust.
Under her guidance, Xerxes returned to Asia Minor and allowed his general Mardinous to remain at the battlefront and to lead 300,000 men.
“I think that you should retire and leave Mardonius behind with those whom he desires to have. If he succeeds, the honour will be yours because your slaves performed it. If on the other hand, he fails, it would be no great matter as you would be safe and no danger threatens anything that concerns your house. And while you will be safe the Greeks will have to pass through many difficulties for their own existence. In addition, if Mardonius were to suffer a disaster who would care? He is just your slave and the Greeks will have but a poor triumph. As for yourself, you will be going home with the object for your campaign accomplished, for you have burnt Athens.”
Afterwards, Artemisia was sent away to Ephesus to care for Xerxes’s illegitimate children and that was the last Herodotus mentions of her – that she was sent away to become a nanny. A historian writing thirteen centuries later claims she fell in love with a man and cast herself off a rock, trying to rid herself of unrequited feelings. This seems doubtful, since the contemporary sources do not mention it.
Mavia
Queen Zenobia of Syria is one of the most well-known female rulers in history. However, another Syrian queen, ruling from 375-425, made her own mark on history. King al-Hawari of the Tanukh Confederation, died without an heir. His wife, Mavia, stepped in and took command of the confederation with little to no issue. During this time, Rome ruled territories throughout the Levant. Roman Emperor Valens instituted an Arian heterodox bishop over the region, against the orthodox bishop requested by the Christian Arabs. This was the primary reason Mavia began a revolt against Roman rule.
Mavia’s people were semi-nomadic. Despite having a base at Aleppo, it was easily abandoned and her people were able to use guerilla warfare and raids against the Romans. They were also familiar with Roman tactics because they had previously fought alongside the Romans. Without a stable base to attack and their strategies being familiar to the enemy, the early start of the war was devastating for the Romans. Mavia personally led her armies into battle and was an excellent field tacticians. Over the years, the Tanukh Confederation managed to win against the Romans and Mavia sued them for peace. Her main consideration for the peace treaty was that a monk named Moses be instituted as bishop over her people.
Rome agreed and the Tanukh Confederation became Roman allies once more. They even fought alongside the Romans against the Goths. The issue, however, was that the Romans were at the mercy of the biases of their emperor. When rule passed to Theodosius I, he greatly favored the Goths at the expense of the Arabs. He granted favor to the Goths, which greatly insulted the Tanukh Confederation, which had fought the Goths and lost lives for Rome. The Tanukh revolted again, but this time, Rome gained an ally in the Arab tribe Salih and the Tanukh were defeated. It is unclear what Mavia’s fate was and if she was the leader during this second revolt or leadership had passed to another.
Amanirenas
Amanirenas was a Kushite queen during Roman occupation of Egypt. The Kush kingdom was located south of Egypt in an area known as Nubia. Romans began pushing into Kush territory, attempting to impose taxes on the Kushites. Amanirenas fought in the conflict alongside her husband and son. Her husband died early on in the five year revolt against Roman occupation, so Amanirenas took up his mantle, leading armies into battle.
She led a surprise attack at Philae and Syene and took the head of Augustus (the Roman Emperor) back to the Kush capital of Meroe. Some sources claimed she buried it under the stairs of the temple of victory, while others say it was buried under the feet of her throne. However, her early victories did not last long. The Romans invaded Kush with 10,000 soldiers and established new Roman borders. Amanirenas’s son was killed and she lost an eye during these losses.
Amanirenas, like all Kushites, was a skilled archer. She was also a clever negotiator. When the tides turned against her, she opened negotiations with Rome, which resulted in the Romans being pushed back to their old borders and out of Kushite lands. It was agreed that the people of Meroe would not pay Roman taxes. In general, despite losing at this part in the conflict, Amanirenas was able to arrange a very favorable treaty for the Kush. Amanirenas’s fate after this conflict is unclear.
The Sapphic Academic 