QotW: Which of These Warrior Women Have you heard of?
This week I asked you;
Which of These Warrior Women Have you heard of?
The options were Tomyris, Zenobia, Boudicca, Fu Hao, and Artemisia I.
I won't lie: I had an idea which of these women was the most well-known, and I was right. I think many people, especially those living in England, are familiar with Boudicca, queen of the Iceni. Her reign ended in 61 CE at the hands of the Romans after she led a rebellion against them. I'll leave out the gruesome details surrounding her treatment and that of her two daughters by the Romans, but everything you're imagining? It was worse, trust me.
Artemisia is likely a familiar name if you've watched 300: Rise of an Empire or know anything about the Battle of Salamis. She was the queen of Halicarnassus and an ally of Xerxes I. This meant that in the Battle of Salamis, she fought on the Persian side against Sparta and the other unified Greek city-states. She is widely regarded as the first female naval commander in history.
Zenobia, queen of Palmyra in modern-day Syria, came into power after her husband was assassinated c. 627 CE. Palmyra was a Roman client state, but Zenobia didn't like this arrangement and declared herself independent. She took control of Egypt and parts of Asia Minor. Unsurprisingly, the Roman emperor Aurelian wasn't best pleased. He besieged Palmyra, capturing Zenobia as she tried to escape. Her fate after her capture is unclear.
We don't know when Tomyris was born, but she died c. 520 BCE. She ruled over the Massagetae, who were part of the Scythian Empire. She is best known for the war she waged against Cyrus the Great. To give you an idea of her fierce nature, I'm going to quote Herodotus directly.
…she took a skin, and, filling it full of human blood, she dipped the head of Cyrus in the gore, saying, as she thus insulted the corpse, “I live and have conquered you in fight, and yet by you am I ruined, for you took my son with guile; but thus I make good my threat, and give you your fill of blood.”
Herodotus The Histories 1.214
I had not heard of Fu Hao until I was looking for options for this week's question. Living in 1200 BCE in China, she was one of Emperor Wu Ding wives. She was not only a priestess but a military general. I definitely want to do a more in-depth piece about her when I have some time to do more research! Her tomb was found relatively recently, and she had been buried with many weapons, so her reputation as a high-status warrior is well supported.
Thank you so much to everyone who took part! Look out for the next question tomorrow!
Each week, I'll be asking all of you Nooklings a question inspired by my studies and research. There will be no right or wrong answers. Instead, this is an opportunity for you to nerd out and chat with your fellow history and mythology fans. You'll find the Question of the Week every Sunday morning in the History Nook Discord server, as well as on Instagram, Threads, Patreon, and Bluesky. I'll gather your answers and write a blog post featuring them each Saturday.
Sources:
Image source: Wiki Commons
Comments