Lady Offaley (IRISH REBELLION, 1641)--Lady Arundell--Lady
Bankes--Countess of Derby (CIVIL WARS IN ENGLAND)--Helena
Zrinyi, Wife of Tekeli, the Hungarian Patriot--Incident at
the Coronation of William and Mary--Lady Newcombe (James II.
in Ireland)--Madame de Vercheres--Mademoiselle de la Charce 208
LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
Beloe's Herodotus.
Booth's Diodorus Siculus.
Hearne's Justin.
Murphy's Tacitus.
Suetonius (Bohn's Classical Library).
Abbé Guyon. Histoire des Amazones. Paris, 1740.
Rollin. Histoire Ancienne.
Grote. History of Greece.
Gibbon. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Mills. History of Mohammedism.
Neale. Islamism: its Rise and Progress.
Miss Strickland. Queens of England and Scotland.
Mrs. Matthew Hall. Queens of England before the Conquest.
Mrs. Forbes Bush. Queens of France.
Michaud. Histoire des Croisades.
Lingard. History of England.
Sir J. Mackintosh. History of England.
Tytler. History of Scotland; and Worthies of Scotland.
Wolfgang Menzel. History of Germany (Mrs. Geo. Horrocks).
Kelly. History of Russia.
Coxe. House of Austria.
Motley. Rise of the Dutch Republic.
Berriat St. Prix. Jeanne d'Arc. Paris, 1817.
Lebrun des Charmettes. Hist. de Jeanne d'Arc. Paris, 1817.
Jollois. Hist. Abrégée de la Vie et Exploits de Jeanne d'Arc.
Paris, 1821.
Prescott. Conquest of Mexico.
Ralegh's Guiana. With Introduction and Notes, by Sir Robert Schomburgh
(Hackluyt Society).
Life of Mrs. Christian Davies, _alias_ Mother Ross. London, 1741
(Defoe).
Lamartine. Hist. of the Girondists. (Capt. Rafter)
Sir John Carr. Tour through Spain.
Maria Graham. Journal of a Voyage to Brazil, etc.
Garibaldi. An Autobiography. Edited by Alexandre Dumas.
Scenes of the Civil War in Hungary, with the Personal Adventures of
an Austrian Officer. London, 1850.
Ferishta. History of Mahommedan India (Jo. Briggs). 1828.
Ferishta. History of the Dekkan, and History of Bengal (J. Scott).
1794.
Gladwin. History of Hindostan.
Francklin. History of Shah Aulum, Emperor of Hindostan.
Private Life of an Eastern King.
Nolan. Illustrated History of British India.
Bruce's Travels.
Winwood Reade. Savage Africa. 1864.
Duncan. Travels in Dahomey. 1847.
Captain Burton. Mission to Dahomé. 1864.
Matilda Betham. Cyclopædia of Female Biography.
Mrs. Ellet. Women Artists.
Fullom. History of Woman.
Mrs. Hale. Woman's Record.
Mrs. Starling. Noble Deeds of Woman.
Watson. Heroic Women of History. Philadelphia. 1852.
Wilson's Wonderful Characters. 1821.
Kirby's Wonderful and Eccentric Museum. 1820.
Annual Register.
Notes and Queries.
Illustrated London News. Galignani.
Edinburgh Annual Register.
Biographie Universelle.
Etc. etc.
[Illustration]
FEMALE WARRIORS.
I.
Mythology.--Warlike Goddesses.--The Amazons.--The Sarmatians.--The
Machlyes and Auses.--The Zaveces.--More Modern Tribes of Amazons
in Asia and Africa.
WERE it not for fear of Mrs. Grundy, whose awful visage is to the
modern Briton what the Gorgon's head was to the ancient Greek, it might
be said that Popular Prejudice is the deaf, deformed sister of Justice.
Popular Prejudice makes up her mind on certain subjects, and is grandly
unconscious of any fault within herself; ignorant that she is deaf, and
that she is morally blind, although able to see every petty object that
passes within her range. Popular Prejudice, like her stately cousin,
Mrs. Grundy, arranges fixed rules of etiquette, of conduct, even of
feeling, and never pardons the slightest infringement of the lines
she marks out. A man may lay down his life for "an idea," but if it
be outside the ramparts of Popular Prejudice, he does so as a rebel,
maybe a fool. A man may have high aspirations, but if by the breadth
of a hair's line they run not parallel with the views of Popular
Prejudice, let him be anathema maranatha, let him be bound in chains,
away with him to outer darkness, to the company of the few who share
his--"crotchets."
Whisper it not in Gath that a woman should dare ever to transgress
the lines laid down by Popular Prejudice. A woman is a subordinate
accident in Creation, quite an afterthought, a supplementary notion, a
postscript, though Humour might laughingly say, much like the famous
postscript to a lady's letter. Man (though he is permitted to include
in his superb all-comprehensive identity, Woman) is big, strong, noble,
intellectual: a Being. Woman is small, weak, seldom noble, and ought
not to be conscious of the significance of the word Intellectual.
The exception is supposed to prove the rule. A woman may be forgiven
for defying Popular Prejudice, if she is very pretty, very silly, and
very wicked. Popular Prejudice has the natural instinct of yielding to
any little weakness that may be imagined to flatter a Man. But Popular
Prejudice is superbly angry with a woman who is perhaps not pretty,
yet ventures to claim good sense and personal will, and who may be
innately good. Popular Prejudice is the fast friend of lean-faced Envy;
and woe betide the woman (or even the man) who would presume to sit
down at the board of these allies uninvited.
Popular Prejudice, having decided that woman is a poor, weak creature,
credulous, easily influenced, holds that she is of necessity timid;
that if she were allowed as much as a voice in the government of her
native country, she would stand appalled if war were even hinted at.
If it be proved by hard facts that woman is not a poor, weak creature,
then she must be reprimanded as being masculine. To brand a woman
as being masculine, is supposed to be quite sufficient to drive her
cowering back to her 'broidery-frame and her lute.
Popular Prejudice abhors hard facts, and rarely reads history. Yet
nobody can deny that facts are stubborn things, or that the world
rolls calmly round even when wars, rumours of wars, revolutions, and
counter-revolutions, are raging in every quarter and sub-division of
its surface.
War is, undoubtedly, a horrid alternative to the average woman, and
she shrinks from it--as the average man shrinks. But, walking down the
serried ranks of history, we find strange records of feminine bravery;
as we might discover singular instances of masculine cowardice, if we
searched far enough.
As argumentation is unpleasant and unprofitable, be it counted only
idle pastime gathering a handful of memories from the playground of
history.
Opinion among the ancients on all subjects was as fairly divided as it
has been among moderns. Naturally, however, in that uncivilised stage
of the world's development, men and women inclined more towards brute
force than they now do. Plato, the Athenian philosopher, lamented
that the lives of women should be wasted in domestic, and sometimes
servile, duties; arguing that if the girls were trained like the boys,
in athletic sports and warlike exercises, and were taught to endure
fatigue, they would soon cease to be the weaker sex, and could not only
fight as well as their lords and masters, but might take the command of
armies and fleets.
But though the counsels of the great Athenian were followed in many
things, they were entirely declined on this question. His countrymen,
even in cases of the direst necessity, were loth to swell their ranks
with female recruits; and it was only during the degenerate days of
the Empire that Rome publicly authorised the combats of women in the
amphitheatre.
Very few people deny that woman did, occasionally, fight in olden
times. All nations, from the rudest barbarians to those most advanced
in civilisation, hold this belief. An old Chinese tradition says that
but for the wisdom of certain mandarins in days gone by, the weaker sex
might possibly be now the stronger in the Celestial Empire. Once upon
a time, so the story runs, the Chinese women, discontented with the
unequal share accorded to them in the government, rose in rebellion.
The revolt so very nearly became a revolution that the Emperor and
his ministers, to prevent a recurrence of the danger, decreed that
henceforth the feet of girls throughout China should be bandaged in
such a way as to put it out of their power ever again to take the field
as warriors. And thus, says the fable, originated the famous Golden
Lilies.
The ancients were all familiar with the idea of women sometimes
exchanging the spindle and distaff for the spear and shield. Not only
did they believe their goddesses to take part occasionally in the
battles of mortals, but the supreme direction of military affairs was
assigned to a female, as Goddess of War; and this deity, combining
wisdom and courage, frequently proved more than a match for the brutal
if not blundering God of Battles. "Which, indeed," observes Pope, "is
no more than just, since wisdom is generally averse to entering into
warlike contests at all; yet when engaged, it is likely to triumph
over brute force, and to bear off the laurels of the day." No general
amongst the ancients would have dared to enter an enemy's country,
besiege a city, or risk an engagement without first sacrificing to the
Goddess of War.
All nations alike held the same belief. The Egyptians offered
sacrifices to Neith, the Goddess of War, Philosophy, and Wisdom, to
whom lions were subject, and whose fitting emblem was the vulture. The
Greeks and Romans adored Minerva, the Thunderer's armour-clad daughter:
and Bellona, sister, or perhaps wife of Mars, whose chariot she was
said to drive through the din and tumult of the fight, lashing the
foaming horses with a bloody scourge. And Victoria, whose name denotes
her office, was so greatly honoured both in Greece and Rome, that
Hiero, King of Syracuse, to flatter the Romans, once sent them an idol
figure of this goddess, three hundred and twenty pounds in weight, made
of solid gold; while the Egyptians, who worshipped her under the name
of Naphte, represented her in the form of an eagle, because that bird
is the strongest of aerial warriors, and invariably victorious over
all the feathered race. The Brahmins, who claim an antiquity as great
as, or greater than, Egypt, worshipped, and still worship, Durga, or
Katyayini, whose ten arms and hands, each of which grasps a warlike
weapon or emblem, prove how formidable a foe she is believed to have
been. Our ancient British forefathers prayed to Andate, or Andraste,
Goddess of Victory, and called upon her in their hour of need. The
northern races, Goths, Vandals, Germans, who over-ran Europe during the
decline of the Roman Empire, assigned a somewhat analogous place in
their mythology to the Valkyrias, or Disas--
"Those dread maids, whose hideous yell
Maddens the battle's bloody swell."
These beautiful women were believed to take a leading part in every
battle fought on earth. Mounted on swift steeds, armed with helmets and
mail, drawn swords in their hands, they rode wildly over the field to
select those heroes destined by Odin for the slaughter, and lead them
to Valhalla, the Paradise of the Brave.
Nor is the belief in warlike goddesses confined to the Old World. When
Cortez entered Mexico, he found the subjects of Montezuma worshipping,
amongst other deities, all more or less repulsive to the eye, a horrid
basalt monster named Teoyamiqui, Goddess of War. She was supposed to be
wife of the equally terrible Huitzilopochtli, or Tlacahuepancuexcotzin,
the Mexican Mars. Like the Valkyrias, her chief duty was to conduct
those warriors who fell in defence of the gods to the house of the Sun,
the Elysium or Valhalla of the Mexicans, where she transformed them
into humming-birds.
The present age is a decidedly sceptical one.
It is the fashion nowadays to sneer at the traditions venerated by our
grandfathers. Those chapters in the world's history which have not
been _proved_ by _facts_, have passed, in the opinion of many well
educated people, into the category of fable and nursery-rhyme. The
early histories of Greece and Rome, and of our own country too, are
now taken, if taken at all, _cum grano salis_. King Arthur, Hengist
and Horsa, and many another hero of whom we were once so proud, have
been cast, by most matter-of-fact writers, on the same dusty shelf
with Achilles and Hector, Romulus and Remus, side by side with Jupiter
and Mercury, Jack the Giant-Killer and Blue Beard. Scarcely anybody in
our days is so credulous as to believe that the Amazons ever existed.
"Amongst barbarous nations," observes Gibbon, "women have often
combated by the side of their husbands; but it is almost impossible
that a society of Amazons could have existed in the old or new world."
His opinion has been endorsed by most subsequent writers, some of whom
are even more positive in their expressions of incredulity.
Ancient writers are divided on the question. Strabo denies that there
ever was or could have been such a community, and adds, to believe in
their existence we must suppose "in those days the women were men and
the men women." Plutarch, more moderate, half believes they did exist,
but doubts most of their marvellous achievements, which, he thinks,
"clearly resemble fable and fiction." Amongst those who speak for the
defence, Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Justin, and Quintus Curtius stand
prominently forward.
Their origin, as related by Justin, though curious, is far from being
impossible or even improbable in the remote days when they lived.
Some years previous to the reign of Ninus, king of Assyria, two young
princes of the Scythian blood-royal, Hylinos and Scolopitos, being
driven from their native country by a faction of the nobility, induced
several hundred young men and women to emigrate with them. After a
toilsome march through barren wilds they settled at last in Cappadocia,
on the rugged banks of the Thermodon. This little river, which now
bears the name of Termeh or Karmili, falls into the Black Sea, between
Trebisond and Sinope.
For a number of years, the new-comers carried on a species of border
warfare with the natives of the Themiscyrean plains--stealing their
cattle, tearing up their corn, destroying their homes by fire and
sword. At last the aborigines surprised and massacred the male
settlers, by means of an ambush. The wives of the latter, having now
no one to whom they could look for protection, armed themselves and
expelled the foe from their territory.
From this time they laid aside all thoughts of marriage, "calling it
slavery and not matrimony." And, to enforce this law, it is said, they
murdered a few men who had escaped the fury of the natives in the
general massacre. The Amazons were thenceforth forbidden even to speak
to men, save during certain days in the year. At the appointed time,
throwing aside their military character, they visited the surrounding
nations, and were permitted, by special treaties, to depart again
unmolested. Justin says they strangled all their male children directly
they were born; Diodorus, that they distorted their limbs; while
Philastratus and others affirm that they sent them back, uninjured, to
the fathers.
The girls were bred, like their mothers, "not in idleness, nor
spinning, but in exercises of war, such as hunting and riding." In
early childhood the right breast was burnt off, that they might, when
grown up, be more easily able to bend the bow and hurl the dart.
From whence, some say, they derived the name of Amazon, which is
formed of two Greek words, signifying "wanting a breast." Bryant,
the antiquarian, rejects this theory, and suggests, though with less
probability, that the name comes from Zon, the Sun, which was the
national object of worship.
The bow was their favourite weapon, and from constant practice they
acquired such proficiency as to equal, if not surpass the Scythians and
Parthians, who were the most skilful archers of ancient times. With the
Greeks and Romans it was not uncommon to speak of a very superior bow
or quiver as "Amazonian."
The nation soon became formidable, and in due time grew famous
throughout the world. At one time the dominion of the Amazons extended
over the entire of Asia Minor and Ionia, besides a great part of Italy.
So renowned did they at last become, that Jobates, king of Lycia,
commanded Bellerophon to effect their subjugation, feeling certain that
the hero would never return; great indeed was his astonishment to see
the redoubtable conqueror of the Chimera return victorious, and he no
longer hesitated to confess the divine origin of the hero. It is said
that Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, was married to an Amazon named
Sphynx when he carried letters from Egypt to Greece, about 1550 B.C.
Lampedo and Marpesia were the first Amazon queens whose names became
known beyond their own dominions. To give greater _éclat_ to their
numerous victories, they claimed to be daughters of the God Mars--a
common expedient in the olden times. Taking it in turn to defend the
frontier and invade foreign countries, they speedily conquered Iberia
(Georgia), Colchis (Mingrelia), Albania, the Tauric Chersonese (the
Crimea), and a great part of Asia.
To commemorate the achievements of Queen Marpesia during her passage
over the craggy and snow-capped Caucasus, when every peak, every ridge
was bravely defended by hordes of desperate mountaineers, the name of
Mount Marpesia was bestowed upon one of the loftiest rocks.
It was Marpesia who founded Themiscyra, the capital of the Amazons, on
the banks of the Thermodon. She adorned this city with many stately
buildings, conspicuous amongst which was the royal palace. Many cities
in Asia Minor owed their origin to the same queen--amongst others,
Ephesus, Thyatira, Smyrna, and Magnesia.
On the death of Marpesia, who was surrounded by the barbarians during
an expedition into Asia, and, together with her entire army, put to
the sword, Orithya, Orseria, or Sinope, and her sister Antiope, or
Hippolyte, ascended the throne. Orithya, the most famous of all the
Amazon queens, inherited the beauty, together with the military skill
of her mother, Marpesia. Under her rule the nation became so renowned,
that Eurystheus, fancying he had at last found a task beyond the powers
of Hercules, commanded the hero, as his ninth labour, to bring him the
girdle of the Amazon queen. The hero succeeded, however.
Hercules, accompanied by Theseus, Castor and Pollux, and most of the
young princes of Greece, sailed to the Euxine with a fleet of nine
ships, landed at the mouth of the Thermodon, during the temporary
absence of Orithya with the best part of the army, and gained an
easy victory over Antiope, whose sister Menalippe he made prisoner;
restoring her to liberty in exchange for a suit of the royal armour,
including, of course, the girdle.
Historians differ as to the expedition of Theseus. Some say he took
away Hippolyte or Antiope, at the same time that Hercules captured her
sister; others, however, relate that he undertook a separate voyage
many years after that of Hercules, and carried Antiope to Greece, where
he made her his queen. Plutarch, in his life of Theseus, gives many
details of this latter expedition.
When Orithya heard of the invasion, and of the part which the Athenian
prince had acted in it, she vowed not to rest till she was revenged.
Calling her subjects together, she soon found herself at the head of
many thousand warriors. At her entreaty, Sagillus, king of Scythia,
furnished a squadron of horse, commanded by his nephew, Panasagorus.
Passing through Colchis, over Mount Caucasus, and crossing an arm of
the Cimmerian Bosphorus, which, tradition says, was frozen, the Amazons
marched victoriously through Taurica, Thrace, Thessaly, Macedonia,
Attica, and entered the city of Athens. A hard-fought battle in the
streets--described in detail by old Plutarch--ended by the total rout
of the Amazons, who were compelled to take refuge in the camp of the
Scythians--the latter, in consequence of a quarrel, having taken no
part in the engagement.
The fate of Orithya is unknown, and historians differ as to that of
Antiope. Some say she fell in the battle by the hand of an Amazon,
while fighting in the Athenian ranks, side by side with Theseus; but
according to others, it was her mediation which brought about a treaty
of peace some four months later.
Theseus and the Amazon queen had a son named Hippolytus, or Demophoon,
who afterwards ascended the throne of Athens.
That the Amazons survived this defeat is evident, since, years after
this, we find the Phrygians imploring aid of Priam, king of Troy,
against Myrene, queen of the Amazons. Little is known about this war,
save that the queen lost her life, and was succeeded by the beautiful
Penthesilea, who not only made peace with Priam, but led a chosen
band of Amazons to the assistance of Troy when it was besieged by
the Greeks. She arrived shortly after the death of Hector, and, some
declare, seemed, in the eyes of the old king, destined to take the
place of the deceased hero. New life was infused into the dejected
Trojans. But, alas! their joy was short-lived. The morning after her
arrival Penthesilea fell by the hand of the invincible Achilles, who,
struck by her exquisite beauty, repented too late of what he had done.
The sarcastic Thersites jeered and derided, as usual, till the hero,
in a fury, turned on the sneering old wretch and slew him. Diomedes,
enraged at the death of his mocking old comrade, dragged the corpse of
the Amazon queen from the camp, and flung it into the Scamander.
Pliny ascribes the invention of the battle-axe to this queen.
After the death of Penthesilea we learn nothing of the Amazons until
the days of Alexander the Great. When that conqueror arrived at
Zadracarta, the capital of Hyrcania, about the year B.C. 330, he
is said to have been visited by an Amazon queen named Minithya, or
Thalestris, who--like another Queen of Sheba--having heard of his
mighty achievements, travelled through many lands to see him, followed
by an army of female warriors. After staying thirteen days she returned
home, greatly disappointed with the personal appearance of the
Macedonian king, who, contrary to her expectations, proved, 'tis said,
to be a little man.
This is the last we ever hear of the great female nation. Some Roman
authors affirm that the Amazons, in alliance with the Albanians,
fought most valiantly in a battle against Pompey the Great, B.C. 66.
But the only ground for this assertion consisted in the fact that some
painted shields and buskins were found on the battle-field.
If we may believe Herodotus, the Sauromatæ, or Sarmatians, in Scythia,
were descended from the Amazons. This historian relates how, after a
victory gained by the Greeks over the Amazons near the Thermodon, the
victors distributed their prisoners into three ships, and set sail for
Greece. Once upon the open sea, the captives rose upon their guards
and put them to death. Being totally ignorant of navigation and the
management of sails, oars, or rudder, they resigned themselves to the
mercy of winds and waves. They were carried to the Palus Mæotis (the
Sea of Azof), where the liberated Amazons resumed their arms, sprang
on shore, and meeting a stud of horses, mounted them, and commenced
plundering the natives.
The people, ignorant alike of the dress, the language, or the country
of the invaders, supposed them to be a body of young men. A sanguinary
battle, however, led to mutual explanations. The Amazons consented
to accept an equal number of young Scythians as husbands; but afraid
that their habits would never assimilate with those of the mothers
and sisters of their husbands,--for the Scythian women, so far from
going to battle, passed their days in the wagons--resolved to seek
out some desert land where they would be free to follow their own
manners and customs. Crossing the Tanais (the Don), they travelled six
days' journey east and north, and set up their homes in an uninhabited
country. The nation increased greatly in the course of two or three
centuries, and, even in the days of Herodotus, retained the habits of
their progenitors. The women pursued the chase on horseback, sometimes
with, sometimes without their husbands, and, dressed like men, they
fought in battle.
No maiden was permitted to marry till she had first killed an enemy;
"it sometimes, therefore, happens," quaintly adds the historian, "that
many women die single at an advanced age." Hippocrates says they were
condemned to single-blessedness till they had slain at least _three_
enemies.
Yet, in spite of this, there was only one Sarmatian queen who became
famous for her deeds on the battle-field. This was Amagia, whose
husband, King Medosac, having given himself up to indolence and
luxury, permitted the affairs of the nation to fall into disorder. At
last Amagia took the reins of government into her own hands, received
ambassadors, took the command of the army, went in person to reinforce
the frontiers with troops, and not only repelled several invasions but
even made some incursions into foreign countries to assist such of her
allies as were in peril. Very soon she became an important personage,
and was more than once chosen as mediatrix by the various petty
monarchs of the Chersonese.
As a ruler, Queen Amagia had not her equal in those days throughout
Scythia. Her judgments were sound; and both as a general and as
a governor, she was respected by all. Her justice was severe and
unbending, and untempered with mercy.
* * * * *
The African Amazons, who are said to have existed for some centuries
prior to those of Thermodon, were not, like the latter, a community
of women only, but the men were kept in close subjection to their
better-halves, by whom they were treated as women are usually treated
in barbarous countries. While the women conducted the government or
fought with their neighbours, the men staid at home, attending to the
household duties. They were not permitted, under any circumstances, to
serve as soldiers or hold any public office. The girls were not allowed
to marry till they had served a certain number of years in the army;
and, like the Asiatic Amazons, one breast was burnt off.
This nation, Diodorus tells us, originally dwelt on a large island
called Hesperia, on the western coast of Africa. This isle, which,
the historian says, abounded "with all sorts of fruit trees," is
supposed to have been one of the Canaries. The climate was then, as
now, delicious, the soil more than ordinarily fertile, and the natives
possessed "many herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats."
The Amazons, more warlike than their neighbours, speedily conquered
the entire island; and, crossing into Africa, subdued great part of
Numidia and founded a large city named Chersonesus, in the Tritonis
Morass. This gigantic fen was situated near the Atlantic Ocean, under
the shadow of the lofty Mount Atlas.
When Queen Merina ascended the throne, she determined to accomplish
mightier deeds than her ancestors. Assembling an army of thirty
thousand foot and two thousand horse, dressed in coats of mail made
from the skins of large serpents, she passed into Africa, conquered
the Atlantides, the Gorgons, and many another nation, and formed an
alliance with Orus, King of Egypt, the son of Isis. After making war
successfully on the Arabians she conquered Syria and Cilicia, and the
tribes around Mount Taurus, who, says Diodorus, "were both men of
strong bodies and stout hearts"; marched through Phrygia, and passed
along the shores of the Mediterranean, founding several cities, one
of which she named after herself, and the others after her principal
captains. Crossing to the Greek Archipelago, where she conquered
Lesbos and other isles, Merina founded the city of Mitylene, and named
it after her sister, who accompanied the expedition.
Shortly after the return of the Amazons to Africa, Mompsus, a refugee
from the court of Lycurgus, king of Thrace, and Sipylus, a banished
Scythian, invaded the dominions of Merina. The queen was slain in the
first battle, together with many thousand Amazons; and the rest of her
subjects, after bravely contending in several engagements with the
invaders, retired, it is said, into Lybia.
We also read that Egee, another queen of the African Amazons, also
raised a large army, with which she invaded Asia. Being opposed by
Laomedon, King of Troy (who was afterwards conquered by Hercules), she
defeated his troops in several actions, and took a quantity of valuable
plunder. While re-passing the sea a storm arose, and Egee perished with
her entire army.
The nation was finally extirpated by Hercules when he undertook his
journey into Africa, and erected the famous Pillars.
* * * * *
Herodotus mentions two Libyan tribes, the Machlyes and Auses, dwelling
on the shores of Lake Tritonis, who trained their girls to the use of
arms. Once a year, at the festival of Minerva, their patron-goddess,
the maidens of each tribe formed themselves into two hostile armies,
and attacked each other before the temple with sticks and stones,
contending for the victory with the most desperate valour. On the
conclusion of this _sham_ fight, the most beautiful of the survivors
was presented with a magnificent suit of armour and a sword, and,
amidst the noisiest acclamations from the spectators, escorted in a
chariot triumphantly round the lake.
The Zaveces, another African tribe mentioned by the same historian,
employed their wives and daughters to drive their war-chariots on the
day of battle, thus placing them in the front of the battle.
* * * * *
From what certain modern travellers have reported, it would seem that
even as lately as the eighteenth century the legend of the Amazons
still held its ground in various parts of Asia and Africa. Father
Archangel Lamberti, a Neapolitan monk, who travelled through Mingrelia
in the seventeenth century, was told that a warlike and ruthless
nation, amongst whom were several female warriors, dwelt somewhere in
the neighbourhood of the Caucasus. They were often at war with the
Calmuc Tartars and the various tribes living near them. Lamberti was
even shown some suits of armour taken from the corpses of these warlike
women, together with their bows and arrows and brass-spangled buskins.
The Chevalier Chardin (a Huguenot jeweller, knighted by Charles II. of
England), in travelling through Persia, between 1663 and 1680, was told
that a powerful nation of Amazons dwelt to the north of the kingdom
of Caket. The monarchs of the latter country, which was situated in
the neighbourhood of the Caucasus, subjected these Amazons for a
time, though they afterwards regained their liberty. The people of
the Caucasus, and the Calmucs were always at war with these Amazons,
and never sought to make peace or form any treaties, for they knew
the warlike women had neither religion, laws, nor honour. Sir John,
however, adds that he never met with anybody who had been in their
country.
Juan de los Sanctos, an early Portuguese traveller, in speaking of a
kingdom named Damut, in Ethiopia, mentions a numerous tribe entirely
composed of women, who had adopted (or perhaps retained) the habits of
the ancient Amazons. The exercise of arms and the pastime of the chase
were their principal occupations in times of peace, but their chief
business and pleasure was war. They burnt off the right breast as soon
as the girls were old enough to bear it; and, as a rule, they passed
their lives in a state of celibacy, the queen setting a rigid example.
Those who married did not rear their male children, but sent them back
to the fathers. The neighbouring sovereigns esteemed themselves only
too fortunate when they could secure the alliance of this people; and
so far from seeking to destroy them, more than once aided them when
they were attacked by others. This tribe was finally subjugated, says
the Portuguese friar, by the successors of Prester John, the kings of
Abyssinia.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
II.
Semiramis, Queen of Assyria--Harpalyce, daughter of Lycurgus,
King of Thrace--Atalanta (Argonautic Expedition)--Camilla, Queen
of the Volscians--Tomyris, Queen of the Massagetæ--Telesilla the
Poetess--The Two Artemisias (I. and II.) Queens of Caria--Mania,
Governess of Æolia--Cratesipolis of Sicyon--Arsinoe, Queen of
Egypt.
SEMIRAMIS is the earliest female warrior of whose existence there
is any certainty. But even her history is intermingled with much of
fable and idle tradition. The exact period at which she reigned has
never been positively determined. The following dates, assigned to her
reign by various historians, ancient and modern, as compared by the
antiquarian Bryant, show the diversity of opinion amongst chronologists
upon the subject.
B.C.
According to Syncellus, she lived 2177
Petavius makes the time 2060
Helvicus 2248
Eusebius 1984
Mr. Jackson 1964
Archbishop Usher 1215
Philo Biblius Sanchoniathan (apud Euseb.) 1200
Herodotus (about) 713
"What credit," indignantly asked the learned Bryant, "can be given to
the history of a person, the time of whose life cannot be ascertained
within 1535 years?"
The early life of this famous woman is enveloped in one of those
mythological legends in which the ancients loved to shroud the origin
of their heroes and heroines. According to tradition she was the
natural daughter of Derceto, a Philistine goddess, and while yet a
babe, was left to perish by her cruel mother in a wood near Ascalon,
in Syria. But, as Romulus and Remus were suckled by a wolf, so doves
came and fed the future queen. The birds were observed and followed by
the neighbouring peasants; and Simma, or Sisona, chief shepherd of the
Assyrian king, having no children of his own, adopted the babe, and
gave her the name of Semiramis, a Syrian word signifying doves, or
pigeons.
At the early age of thirteen or fourteen, Semiramis was married to
Menon, one of the principal officers of the king, who saw her at the
hut of Sisona while inspecting the royal flocks. Captivated by her
surpassing beauty and charming conversation, Menon induced her to
return with him to Nineveh, the capital. For some months she was kept
a close prisoner in her husband's palace; but her influence soon ruled
paramount, and all restraints were removed. Two or three years passed
thus, during which time Semiramis bore her husband two sons, Hypates
and Hydaspes.
When Ninus invaded Media, Semiramis, who only waited for some
opportunity to distinguish herself, insisted upon accompanying
her husband, who, as one of the principal courtiers, held an
important command in the invading army. The campaign was at first an
uninterrupted series of successes. One city fell after another before
the Assyrian hosts. But the army was suddenly checked in its onward
career of victory before the impregnable walls of Bactria. The city was
defended with such obstinate bravery that Ninus at last resolved to
retreat. But Semiramis presented herself before the assembled council
of war, proposed an assault on the citadel, and offered to lead, in
person, the storming party.
When the decisive moment arrived, Semiramis proved herself fully equal
to the emergency. Amidst vollies of arrows and showers of stones,
before which the bravest men turned pale, she led the forlorn hope to
the foot of the citadel. Animating all by her courage, shaming cowards
by the thought that a young and lovely woman was sharing, nay, braving,
the same dangers as themselves, the intrepid heroine rushed up the
scaling ladder, and was the first to reach the battlements. A struggle
ensued, short, but fierce, and in a few moments the golden standard of
Assyria floated from the walls. The capital of Media had fallen.
The king, violently smitten with love for the brave girl, earnestly
besought her husband to give her up. He even offered his own royal
sister, Sosana, in exchange. But promises and threats were alike
vain; and Ninus, in a fury, cast Menon into prison. Here, after being
deprived of sight, the wretched husband terminated his existence with
his own hands.
Ninus married the young widow; and after their return to Nineveh, she
bore him a son called Ninyas.
'Tis said Ninus paid very dear for his marriage. Semiramis, by her
profuse liberality, soon attached the leading courtiers to her
interest. She then solicited the king, with great importunity, to place
the supreme power in her hands for five days. Ninus at last yielded to
her entreaties; and, as his reward, was cast into prison, and put to
death,--either immediately, or after languishing some years.
To cover the meanness of her origin, and to immortalise her name,
Semiramis now applied her mind to great enterprises. If she did not, as
some suppose, found Babylon the Great, she adorned it with beautiful
and imposing edifices, and made it worthy to be called "the Golden
City."
Not satisfied with the vast empire left by Ninus, she enlarged it by
successive conquests. Great part of Ethiopia succumbed to her power;
and during her stay in this country she consulted the Oracle of
Jupiter-Ammon as to how long she had to live. The answer was, that she
should not die until conspired against by her son; and that, after her
death, part of Asia would pay her divine honours.
Her last and most famous expedition was the war with India. For this
campaign she raised an army of more than ordinary dimensions. Ctesias
puts down the number at three million foot, fifty thousand horse,
and war-chariots in proportion; but this is, no doubt, a slight
exaggeration. The chief strength of the Indians lay in their countless
myriads of elephants. Semiramis, unable to procure these animals in
sufficient numbers, caused several thousand camels to be accoutred like
elephants.
Shahbrohates, King of India, on receiving intelligence of her hostile
approach, sent ambassadors to inquire her motive for invading his
dominions. She returned a haughty answer; and, on reaching the Indus,
she erected a bridge of boats and attempted to cross. The passage was
disputed, and although the Indians at last retreated, the victory was
more disastrous to the Assyrians than many a defeat.
But Semiramis, carried away by the blind infatuation which guided all
her movements in this war, marched into the heart of the country. The
king, who fled deceitfully to bring about a second engagement further
from the river, faced about, and the two armies again closed in deadly
combat. The counterfeit elephants could not long sustain the attack
of the genuine animals, who, crushing every obstacle under foot, soon
scattered the Assyrian army. Semiramis performed prodigies of bravery
to rally her broken forces, and fought with as little regard for her
own safety as though she had been the meanest soldier in the army.
Shahbrohates, perceiving the queen engaged in the thick of the fight,
rode forward and twice wounded her. The rout soon became general,
and the royal heroine, convinced at last that nothing further could
be done, gave the rein to her horse, whose swiftness soon placed her
beyond the reach of the enemy.
On reaching the Indus a scene of the most terrible disorder ensued. In
the wild terror which possessed the minds of all, officers and soldiers
crowded together on to the bridge, without the slightest regard for
rank or discipline. Thousands were trampled under foot, crushed to
death, or flung into the river. When Semiramis and all who could save
themselves had crossed over, the bridge was destroyed. The Indian king,
in obedience to an oracle, ordered his troops not to cross the river in
pursuit.
Semiramis was the only sovereign amongst the ancients, except Alexander
the Great, who ever carried a war beyond the Indus.
Some time after her return to Babylon, the queen discovered that her
son, Ninyas, was conspiring against her. Remembering now the oracle
of Jupiter-Ammon, and believing that her last days were approaching,
Semiramis voluntarily abdicated the throne. Some chroniclers give a
different version of the story, relating that the queen was slain
by her son, and this latter account, though disbelieved by most
historians, is the popular story.
Semiramis lived sixty-two years, out of which she reigned forty-two.
It is said the Athenians afterwards worshipped her under the form of a
dove.
* * * * *
The early lives of Harpalyce and Atalanta, the first known female
warriors who were natives of Greece, resemble in some respects that
of Semiramis. It appears to have been a favourite custom, during the
primitive ages, to have children nursed by birds or beasts. Harpalyce,
daughter of Harpalycus, or Lycurgus, king of the Amymnæans, in Thrace,
having lost her mother during infancy, was fed with the milk of cows
and horses. Her father trained her in every manly and warlike exercise,
riding, racing, hurling the dart, using the bow and arrow. By-and-by
she became a mighty huntress; and soon the opportunity came for her to
prove herself a brave soldier and a skilful commander. The Getes, or
Myrmidones of Thessaly invaded the dominions of King Lycurgus, defeated
his best troops and made him prisoner. Directly Harpalyce learned this
news she hastily called together an army, placed herself at its head,
and falling on the foe, put them to flight and rescued her father.
Lycurgus endeavoured to cure the Thracians of their drunken habits,
and caused all the vines in his dominions to be rooted up, whereby he
brought about a general insurrection, and was compelled to fly for
safety to the isle of Naxos, where he went mad and committed suicide.
Harpalyce turned brigand and haunted the forests of Thrace. She was
so swift of foot that the fleetest horses could not overtake her once
she began running. At last, however, she fell into a snare set by some
shepherds, who put the royal bandit to death.
Atalanta, too, was likewise bereft of a mother's care. Her father,
Jasus or Jasion, unwilling to rear the babe, yet not sufficiently
inhuman to see her slaughtered before his eyes, left her to her fate on
Mount Parthenius, the highest mountain in Peloponnesus. Close by was
the cave of an old she-bear who had been robbed of her cubs. In place
of devouring the babe, the savage brute adopted it, and brought up the
girl as her own daughter. Orson-like, the girl learned many of the
habits of her shaggy nurse. But, she also, through constant exercise,
acquired marvellous dexterity in using the bow and arrow; and with this
weapon she once slew the Centaurs Rhœcus and Hylæus.
Atalanta was one of those brave warriors who sailed in the Argonautic
expedition, B.C. 1263; and throughout the voyage she earned the praises
of her comrades by her bravery and military skill. After her return to
Greece she assisted in the chase of the Calydonian boar, a savage brute
of monster size who was ravaging Ætolia. She was the first to wound
this beast; hence Meleager awarded her the first prize. His uncles,
jealous of the honour thus conferred upon a woman, endeavoured to
wrest the trophies from her, and in the scuffle which ensued, Meleager
unfortunately slew both his uncles.
This heroine must not be confounded with another Atalanta, daughter of
Schœnus, King of Scyrus, famous for her marvellous skill in running,
and for the stratagem of the three golden apples by which she was at
last defeated.
It would seem that no Grecian or Trojan heroines distinguished
themselves during the siege of Troy; though it is not unlikely that
many of the Greek soldiers were secretly accompanied by their wives.
When Æneas landed in Italy, a few years after the fall of Troy, he
found, amongst the sovereigns confederated against him, Camilla, the
Amazon queen of the Volscians, renowned for her high courage, her
beauty, and her swiftness in running. Virgil says that she outstripped
the winds in speed, and could have skimmed over the topmost stalks of
standing corn, or along the surface of the ocean, without leaving a
trace of her footsteps.
From childhood she was dedicated by her father, King Metabus, to the
service of Diana, and trained in martial exercises. She grew so fond
of the chase, that even after the death of her father, she preferred
leading the semi-barbarous life of a wild huntress to the prospect of
domestic happiness as the wife of a Tuscan noble.
She joined Turnus, King of the Rutulians, with a squadron of horse and
a body of foot, equipped in bronze armour. Followed by her retinue of
warlike maidens, she bore a prominent part in a battle fought near the
walls of Latium. But after spreading death and terror on every side,
she was herself slain by a Tuscan chief.
Virgil's description of her death is one of the most beautiful passages
in the Æneid.
* * * * *
Cyrus, one of the greatest conquerors the world has ever seen, some
say met his first and last defeat at the hands of a female general.
Many historians describe him as dying peaceably in his bed, surrounded
by his family; but others relate that, still thirsting for fresh
conquests, he cast his eyes, in an unlucky moment, on the land of the
Massagetæ, a warlike people governed by Queen Tomyris, a widow, and a
woman possessing both courage and energy. Her country extended beyond
the broad stream of the Araxes, to the Caucasus. The Massagetæ were a
savage, hardy race, resembling the Scythians in their mode of life.
Agriculture was neglected, and they subsisted entirely upon their
cattle and the fish supplied by the Araxes. Though they had nothing to
lose by a change, this nation was devotedly attached to its freedom;
suffering death rather than the loss of liberty, and resolutely
opposing every invader.
It was against this indomitable race that Cyrus marched, at the head
of two hundred thousand men, B.C. 529. By means of a stratagem he
was at first successful. Knowing the Massagetæ to be ignorant of
Persian delicacies and the flavour of wine, he spread out a banquet,
accompanied with flowing goblets of wine; and, leaving a few hundreds
of his worst soldiers to guard the camp, retired to some distance.
When the Massagetæ, commanded by Spargapises, nephew of Tomyris, had
taken the camp, they feasted and drank, till, overcome by drunkenness
and sleep, they afforded an easy victory to Cyrus. The greater number,
including Spargapises, were made prisoners, or slain.
However, so far from despairing, Tomyris collected the rest of her
forces, and having led the Persians into a narrow pass, attacked them
with such fury that they were all slain, together with the king. Justin
says "there was not one man left to carry the news home;" but as the
news _did_ somehow find its way home, that fact is doubtful.
The body of Cyrus was discovered after considerable search. Tomyris
ordered the head to be cut off and flung into a vessel full of human
blood.
"Satisfy thyself now with blood," cried she, exulting over her dead
foe, "which thou didst always thirst after, yet could never satisfy thy
appetite."
* * * * *
A few years prior to the invasion of Greece by Xerxes, Cleomenes, King
of Lacedæmon, who arrogated to his state the first rank in Greece, went
to war with the people of Argos. Having learned from an oracle that
he would be victorious, the Spartan king without loss of time invaded
the Argeian territories, and routed the enemy in a sanguinary battle
at Sepeia. Those Argives who escaped death on the battle-field took
refuge in a grove sacred to Argus, their hero; where, however, they
were surrounded and burnt alive by the enemy. Upwards of six thousand,
the flower and strength of Argos, perished that day. Cleomenes marched
direct to the city, which, decimated, almost depopulated though it was,
made a gallant defence.
There dwelt in the city a beautiful girl named Telesilla, famous
throughout the land as a lyric poetess. Inspired by patriotism, she
addressed the Argive women and incited them to defend their homes.
The call was responded to with enthusiasm. Armed with weapons from
the temples, or from private dwellings, the women of Argos, headed by
Telesilla, ascended the walls, and compensated by their courage for the
dearth of male warriors.
The Spartans were repulsed; and Cleomenes, afraid of being reproached,
even if successful, with fighting against helpless women and timid
girls, commanded a retreat.
Demeratus, Cleomenes' partner in the throne, is said by some historians
to have accompanied this expedition; and they relate that whilst
Cleomenes was besieging the walls, Demeratus attacked the Pamphyliacum,
or Citadel, whence he was driven with great loss by Telesilla and her
companions. This, however, is acknowledged to be mere tradition,
for Herodotus says that the two kings, having quarrelled some years
previously, never engaged together in the same war.
Grote, for an even better reason, disbelieves the entire story, which,
he says, "is probably a myth, generated by the desire to embody in
detail the dictum of the oracle a little before, about 'the female
conquering the male.'" Without for a moment denying that the Argeian
women could or would have achieved the great deeds ascribed to them,
he doubts their having done so, because, says he, the siege never took
place at all.
Great honours, so runs the legend, were paid to Telesilla and her brave
companions, many of whom fell in the conflict. A statue of the poetess
was erected by the grateful citizens and placed in the Temple of Venus.
* * * * *
The terrible danger of the Persian invasion caused all the internal
wranglings and disputes of the Greeks to be hushed for a time. In the
year B.C. 480, the Great King declared war on the (temporarily) united
states of Greece, and sailed thither with a gigantic and overwhelming
army and navy. Amongst the tributary sovereigns who followed him in
this expedition was Artemisia, Queen of Caria. She was daughter of
King Lygdamis, and her husband, the late king, having died while her
son was a minor, Artemisia conducted, _pro. tem._, the government of
Halicarnassus, Cos, Nisiras, and Calydne. Though she brought only five
ships to the Greek war, they were almost the lightest and best equipped
of any in the fleet.
Herodotus says that amongst all the Persian commanders, naval or
military, there was not one who gave the king such good advice as this
heroine; but King Xerxes was not at that time wise enough to profit
by her counsels. She was the only one who had the courage to raise
her voice against the proposed sea-fight at Salamis, which Xerxes was
resolved to risk.
As the Carian queen foretold, the Persians were defeated. Yet, though
she openly disapproved of the battle, Artemisia behaved most gallantly
throughout. The Athenians, indignant that a woman should dare to
appear in arms against them, offered ten thousand drachmas for her
capture, alive or dead. The way she escaped displayed great presence
of mind, though it also showed how unscrupulous she was in the choice
of stratagems. Closely pursued by an Athenian ship (commanded by
Aminias of Pallene, the brother of Æschylus), escape seemed impossible.
But with her customary decision of mind, the queen hung out Grecian
colours, and turned her arms against a Persian vessel. This cost her
no feelings of regret, for on board the ship was Damasithymus, King of
Calynda, with whom she had some private quarrel. Her pursuers, seeing
her send a Persian ship to the bottom of the sea, concluded that she
belonged to their navy, and so gave up the pursuit.
Xerxes, from an elevated post on shore, saw the disgraceful flight of
his own navy, together with the bravery of Artemisia. When he could
no longer doubt that it was she who performed such gallant deeds, he
exclaimed, in astonishment, that the men had behaved like women, while
the women had displayed the courage of men.
Like most warlike leaders, Artemisia was not at all scrupulous as to
the means employed, provided the end answered her expectations. Wishing
to possess herself of Latmus, a small city which lay temptingly near to
Halicarnassus, she placed her troops in ambush, and under pretence of
celebrating the feast of Cybele in a wood consecrated to that goddess,
she repaired thither with a grand procession, accompanied by drums and
trumpets. The people of Latmus ran out in crowds to witness the show,
while Artemisia's troops took possession of the city.
The ultimate fate of Artemisia proves how true it is that "love rules
the court, the camp, the grove." She fell violently in love with a
native of Abydos, a young man named Dardanus; but her passion was not
reciprocated. To punish his disdain, she first put out his eyes, and
then took the noted "Lover's Leap" from the promontory Leucas--now
Santa Maura.
* * * * *
Artemisia II., who lived more then one hundred and thirty years after
the former heroine, has frequently been confounded with her, as both
were queens of Caria. The second of that name was daughter of King
Hecatomus, and is principally famous for the honours which she paid to
the memory of her husband, Mausolus, to whom she erected a magnificent
tomb at Halicarnassus, which monument was afterwards reckoned as one of
the Seven Wonders of the World.
Most writers represent Artemisia as plunged in tears during her
widowhood; but there are some who, on the contrary, declare that she
made some important conquests at that time. Vitruvius relates that the
Rhodians, indignant that a woman should reign over Caria, despatched a
fleet to Halicarnassus to dethrone Artemisia. The queen commanded the
citizens to appear on the walls directly the Rhodians came in sight,
and to express, by shouts and clapping of hands, their readiness to
surrender. The enemy, falling into the trap, disembarked, and went with
all haste to the city, leaving their ships without even one man to
guard them.
Artemisia came out with her squadron from the little port, entered
the great harbour, and seized the Rhodian vessels. Putting her own
men on board she sailed to Rhodes, where the people, seeing their own
ships return adorned with laurel-wreaths, received them with every
demonstration of joy. No resistance was offered to the landing; and
Artemisia seized the city, putting to death the leaders of the people.
She caused a trophy to be erected, and set up two statues--one
representing the city of Rhodes, and the other an image of herself,
branding the former figure with a red-hot iron. Vitruvius says the
Rhodians were forbidden by their religion to destroy this memorial; so
they surrounded it by a lofty building which concealed it from view.
Her death, which took place the same year (B.C. 351) probably
reinstated the Rhodians in their liberty.
During the reign of Artaxerxes Nmenon, King of Persia, and brother
of Cyrus the younger, the province of Æolia was governed--under the
authority of Pharnabasus, satrap of Asia Minor--by Zenis the Dardanian.
When the latter died, Mania, his widow, went to Pharnabasus with
magnificent presents, leading a body of troops, and begged of him not
to deprive her of the government. Pharnabasus allowed her to retain the
province, and he had no reason to regret it. Mania acquitted herself
with all the prudence and energy which could have been expected from
the most experienced ruler. In addition to the customary tributes, she
added magnificent presents; and when Pharnabasus visited her province,
she entertained him with greater splendour than any of the other
governors throughout Asia Minor. She followed him in all his military
campaigns, and was of great assistance not only with her troops, but by
her advice. She was a regular attendant at all his councils, and her
suggestions contributed to the success of more than one enterprise. The
satrap knew how to estimate her merit; and the Governess of Æolia was
treated with greater distinction than any of her fellow-governors.
Her army was in better condition than that of any neighbouring
province; she even maintained a body of Greek soldiers in her pay. Not
content with the cities committed to her care, she made new conquests;
amongst others, Larissa, Amaxita, and Colona, which belonged to the
Mysians and Pisidians. In every war she took the command in person, and
from her war-chariot decreed rewards and punishments.
The only enemies she possessed were in her own family circle. Midias,
her son-in-law, thinking it a reproach on him that a woman should
command where he was subordinate, strangled her and her son, B.C. 399,
and seized two fortresses in which she had secured her treasures. The
other cities of Æolia at once declared against him; and he did not very
long enjoy the fruits of his crime. Dercyllidas, commander of the Greek
forces in Asia, arrived at this juncture. All the fortresses in the
province surrendered, either voluntarily or by compulsion; and Midias
was deprived of the possessions for which he had stained his hands in
the blood of his relatives.
* * * * *
Cratesipolis was the wife of Alexander, the son of one of Alexander the
Great's captains.
On the sudden death of Alexander the Great, his posthumous son and his
half-brother were placed on the throne, under the regency of Perdiccas,
the most talented of Alexander's captains. However, the generals
soon began to quarrel among themselves; two years later, Perdiccas
was assassinated, and the regency conferred on Antipater, governor
of Macedonia and Greece. The latter, on his death-bed, bestowed the
office of regent and the government of the provinces on Polysperchon,
the eldest survivor of all the captains who had followed Alexander to
India. Cassander, the son of Antipater, indignant at being set aside,
went to war with the new regent.
Alexander, the son of Polysperchon, was possessed of great military
talent, and his father confided to him the defence of Peloponnesus.
Cassander, knowing the abilities of Alexander, offered him the
government of Peloponnesus, and the command of the troops stationed
there if he would join the faction of the malcontents. The offer was
accepted; Alexander established his head quarters at Sicyon. At the
head of his troops he gained several victories. Cratesipolis, his
wife, was the idol of the soldiers. They regarded her, and justly, as
a woman who possessed the spirit of a hero and the talents of a great
general. She interested herself in all their affairs--appeased all
their differences, and did not disdain to think of their wants and
their pleasures. She consoled those who were sad, relieved those who
were in want, and strove to make all happy. Frequently she accompanied
Alexander in his expeditions, and was as much respected by the officers
as beloved by the privates.
Alexander held his governorship for only a few months. The citizens
of Sicyon, furious, and groaning under the yoke imposed upon them,
conspired against their rulers. The governor was slain by Alexion and
some companions who pretended to be Alexander's friends. The soldiers,
who were setting out on an expedition, seized with terror when they saw
their leader fall, fled in all directions.
Cratesipolis gave way neither to grief nor despair. Rallying the
broken forces, she assumed the command, and soon restored order and
discipline. The Sicyonians, who never suspected that a woman could
take the command of the army, rose in rebellion, and barred the city
gates. Cratesipolis, enraged as much at the insult as at the treachery
with which they had slain her husband, laid siege to Sicyon, routed
the insurgents in a hotly-contested battle, and took the city by storm
(B.C. 317), when, by her command, thirty of the ringleaders were
crucified.
Having assuaged her thirst for revenge, Cratesipolis entered Sicyon
in triumph, and assumed the government. Appeasing all the troubles
caused by the rebellion, she ruled with such wisdom and prudence as
to excite the admiration of all. To the last she kept up a large
and well-disciplined army, always ready at a moment's notice to set
forth on an expedition. The soldiers, whose love and reverence had
been increased by the courage with which she had acted during the
insurrection, would, any of them, have gladly sacrificed his own life
to save hers.
* * * * *
Arsinoe, Queen of Egypt, was the wife of Ptolemy Philopater. She was
a brave as well as prudent woman, and accompanied her husband when he
invaded Syria, B.C. 217. In the battle of Raphia she rode up and down
through the ranks, exhorting the soldiers to behave manfully during the
fight. She remained beside her husband during the heat of the action;
and by her presence she greatly contributed to the victory gained by
the Egyptians.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
III.
Hypsicrates, Queen of Mithridates the Great--Cleopatra--Candace,
Queen of Ethiopia--Boadicea and her Daughters--Ancient
British, Caledonian, and German Female Warriors--Combats
of Roman Ladies--Nero's Amazons--Victoria, Empress of the
West--Zenobia, Queen of the East--Empress Hunila, and other Gothic
Amazons--Mavia, Queen of Pharan--Pharandsem, Queen of Armenia.
PONTUS, in Cappadocia, the _ci-devant_ home of the Amazons, passed
through many changes and vicissitudes as time rolled on. Under Cyrus
and his successors, Cappadocia was divided into two distinct provinces,
whose governors made themselves finally independent of Persia, and
ruled as kings till the days of Alexander. After the death of the great
Macedonian, Pontus was not long regaining its independence: increasing
rapidly in power and extent till the days of Mithridates the Great, who
made it one of the chief empires of the East.
This ambitious monarch, believing himself a second Alexander, cared
for nothing but war; and through his bravery and his obstinacy, he
contrived to make himself one of the most formidable rivals Rome
ever had to cope with. Hypsicrates was his favourite wife--like most
Oriental monarchs, he had more than one; and in respect of personal
courage, she was worthy to be the companion of the royal tiger. They
were romantically attached to one another; Mithridates, ruthless
towards others, was loving and tender to his favourite sultana. She
accompanied him in many of his perilous expeditions, and fought by
his side in more than one battle. For this reason, her name, properly
Hypsicratia, was changed to Hypsicrates; thus altering it from feminine
to masculine, on account of her manly courage. Besides being valiant,
she was exceedingly beautiful and highly accomplished, as a queen
should be.
After the defeat of Mithridates by Lucullus, the gourmand, on the
plains of Cabiræ, B.C. 71, the unfortunate monarch sent a messenger
to the ladies of his court, enjoining them to die by their own hands
rather than fall alive into those of the Romans. All obeyed save
Hypsicrates. Though she feared death as little as any among them, yet
could she not bear even this temporary separation from her lord.
Mounting a swift steed, she overtook the king, after encountering and
surmounting innumerable difficulties; and by her presence and counsel
she restored to him his former energy and strength of mind.
Five years later (B.C. 66), Mithridates fought a battle with Pompey the
Great on the banks of the Euphrates. Hypsicrates appeared in the dress
of a Persian soldier, and, mounted on a charger, fought beside the
king so long as the action lasted. However, the battle was not of long
duration. The barbarians were afraid to await the shock of the iron
legions, and fled in wild terror. The Romans ruthlessly slaughtered the
fugitives; ten thousand were slain on the field, and the camp fell into
the hands of the victors.
Mithridates and his brave queen, placing themselves at the head of
eight hundred chosen horsemen, cut their way, sword in hand, through
the ranks of the foe. But the eight hundred quickly dispersed, and
left the king with only three followers, one of whom was Hypsicrates.
She attended him during his flight, grooming his horse, and enduring
great hardships through fatigue and want of food. At last they reached
a fortress, where lay the royal treasures. Here Mithridates gave to
each a dose of strong poison to be taken in case of dire necessity.
But whether Hypsicrates finally swallowed the fatal potion, or by what
death she passed from the world, historians have not told us.
* * * * *
Cleopatra, the beautiful and ambitious queen of Egypt, was at all
times desirous to acquire renown as a great warrior. But she possessed
neither the courage nor the prudence necessary for those who seek the
laurel-wreath. She was too fond of her ease to take the command of an
expedition, unless the occasion was one which rendered her presence
absolutely necessary.
She first appeared as a warrior in the year B.C. 48, when her brother
Ptolemy deprived her of her share in the throne. She withdrew to Syria,
raised troops there, and re-entered Egypt at the head of her forces
shortly after the battle of Pharsalia. Pompey, routed by Cæsar, fled
to Egypt, where he was assassinated by order of the king. Scarcely
had he breathed his last, when Cæsar landed. He assumed the right to
arbitrate between Ptolemy and Cleopatra. The former refused to accept
him as referee, and for several weeks the great Cæsar had to contend
with the soldiers of the king as well as with the infuriated citizens
of Alexandria. However, the war was soon terminated by the defeat and
death of Ptolemy; and the crown was bestowed upon Cleopatra.
After the assassination of Julius Cæsar, Cleopatra declared for the
Triumvirs, Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus. She prepared a powerful
fleet, designing to take the command, and sail to the assistance of
Cæsar's avengers. Violent storms prevented the squadron from setting
out; but some time subsequently the queen sailed with a well-equipped
fleet to join the Triumvirs. Again she was frustrated by the elements.
A terrible storm arose, wrecked many vessels, threw the queen on a bed
of sickness, and compelled the fleet to put back to Alexandria.
This love of warlike display finally caused her ruin and that of
Antony. Against the advice of the most practised Roman officers, she
insisted upon taking an active part in the war against Octavius. Before
the decisive battle of Actium, Antony was counselled not to hazard a
sea-fight; but the haughty Egyptian queen, like Xerxes of old, insisted
upon it. So her advice was followed in preference to that of old and
experienced generals.
The battle was fought on the 2nd September, B.C. 31, at the mouth
of the Ambracian Gulf, within sight of the opposing land armies who
were encamped on each shore anxiously watching the struggle. A more
magnificent sight could not have been seen than the fleet of Antony;
and the most splendid object in it was the galley of Cleopatra, blazing
with gilding and bright colours, its sails of purple, flags and
streamers floating in the wind. Victory inclined to neither side till
the flight of the Egyptian queen. Terrified by the horrid din of the
fight, though in no personal danger, she fled from the scene of action,
her example being followed by nearly all the Egyptian fleet, which
numbered sixty ships. Antony, when he saw the queen's galley take to
flight, forgot everything but her, and precipitately followed. And thus
he yielded to Cæsar not merely the victory, but the Sovereignty of the
World.
* * * * *
About the time that Cleopatra sat on the throne of Egypt, the
neighbouring kingdom of Ethiopia was ruled over by another warlike
queen, Candace, whose kingdom comprised that part of the Nile valley,
which, under the name of Meröe, contained numberless towns and cities
in a high state of civilization. Very little is known concerning this
queen, save what we glean from Strabo. The year before the battle of
Actium, Candace invaded Egypt, and compelled the Roman garrisons of
Syene, Elephantine, and Philæ to surrender. Caius Petronius, Roman
prefect of Egypt, marched against the Ethiopians, and routed Candace
near Pselcha, after which the victor ravaged great part of Ethiopia.
When Petronius left the country, Candace attacked the garrison he had
left in Premnis. But directly the prefect heard of this he returned
hastily to Meröe, again defeated the Ethiopians, and imposed a heavy
tribute on the kingdom. Candace sent an embassy to Octavius, who was
then at Samos, suing for peace. The dictator not only granted her
prayer, but remitted the tribute levied by Petronius.
* * * * *
The next female sovereign who defied Rome on the battle-field was
of a very different stamp from Cleopatra, or even Candace. This was
Boadicea, the "British Warrior Queen," the story of whose wrongs and
bravery was for centuries a favourite subject with poets. Her name,
which has been variously written Boadicea, Boudicea, Bonduca, Vonduca,
Voadicea, or Woda, signified "the Woman of the Sword," and in the
ancient British or Welsh language is equivalent to Victoria. She was
the daughter of Cadalla, King of the Brigantes; and, through her
mother, Europeia, daughter of Evanus, King of Scotland, she claimed
descent from the kings of Troy and the Ptolemies of Egypt.
Boadicea's career was a sad and a stormy one from first to last.
At an early age she was compelled by her step-mother, the wicked,
ambitious, Cartismandua, to marry Arviragus, son of that queen by her
first husband, King Cymbeline. Arviragus was King of the Iceni, who
possessed a great part of Essex, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire. They are
said by Tacitus to have been a rich and powerful nation. After the
queen had presented her lord with a son and two daughters, the Emperor
Claudius came to Britain. Arviragus, having suffered several defeats,
was compelled to divorce Boadicea, and marry Gwenissa, the emperor's
daughter. A general insurrection of the Britons was the result; and the
natives, led at first by the famous Caractacus, brother of Boadicea,
and ultimately joined by Arviragus himself, were defeated again and
again by the Romans. Weary at last of the never-ending struggle,
Arviragus and Boadicea accepted very humiliating terms from Vespasian,
and were permitted to retain their dominions.
Towards the close of his life Arviragus appears, for some unexplained
reason, to have changed his name to Prasutagus. Dreading the rapacity
of the Romans, he thought to secure their protection for Boadicea and
her two daughters (her son died long before), by making the emperor
Nero joint-heir to his dominions. He died A.D. 61. Scarcely had he
ceased to breathe, when Catus, the Roman procurator, who commanded
in the absence of Suetonius Paulinus, Governor of Britain, annexed
the country of the Iceni, seized the personal effects of the deceased
monarch, treated all his relations as prisoners of war, despoiled
the wealthier Iceni, imposed heavy taxes upon the poor, and demanded
from Boadicea the payment of large sums which her father, Cadalla,
had bestowed upon the Romans. Unable to pay, the queen was publicly
whipped, and her daughters were treated even more shamefully.
Burning for revenge, Boadicea raised the standard of revolt. She was
soon joined by patriots from all parts of Britain. Eighty thousand men,
headed by the queen, rushed down like wild beasts on the colonies of
Camulodunum (Malden), Colchester, and Verulam (St. Alban's), putting to
death, in the first-named city, with every torture they could devise,
more than seventy thousand persons of every age and sex.
Shortly after the destruction of Camulodunum, Boadicea was joined by
her brother Corbred, king of Scots. Together they marched to the attack
on Colchester. Petilius Cerialis, the conqueror of Batavia, marched out
from Verulam at the head of the ninth legion to oppose the victorious
Britons. He had lately received from Germany reinforcements, amounting
to eight auxiliary cohorts of one thousand horse. A furious battle
ensued, resulting in the total defeat of the Romans. Upwards of six
thousand Romans and three thousand confederate Britons (their allies)
were slain.
Petilius fled with his broken cohorts--for, it is said, not even
one foot-soldier escaped the carnage--to his entrenched camp. Catus
Decianus, the procurator, was severely wounded in the engagement, and,
struck with terror, he continued his precipitate flight over sea into
Gaul.
Suetonius Paulinus, absent at the time on that expedition which
concluded with the massacre of the Druids in Mona (the Isle of
Anglesea), hastened back to South Britain. With ten thousand men, he
entered London; but, despite the prayers of the people, he deserted it
at once, and encamped at a short distance north of the city. Scarcely
had he departed, when Boadicea marched directly on London, captured it
after a slight resistance, and put the inhabitants to the sword.
For some time Suetonius was afraid to venture on a battle against
a victorious queen commanding a force so immeasurably superior to
his own, amounting, according to Tacitus, to one hundred thousand,
while Dio Cassius raises the number as high as two hundred and thirty
thousand; while the Romans could muster scarcely ten thousand. At last
an engagement took place on a wild spot, guarded in the rear by a dense
forest.
Before the battle, Boadicea passed up and down in her chariot,
exhorting the warriors to avenge her wrongs and those of her daughters.
Dio Cassius has described the British Queen, as she appeared on that
memorable day. She was a woman of lofty stature, with a noble, severe
expression, and a dazzlingly fair complexion, remarkable even amongst
the British women, who were famous for the whiteness of their skin. Her
long yellow hair, floating in the wind, reached almost to the ground.
She wore a tunic of various colours, hanging in folds, and over this
was a shorter one, confined at the waist by a chain of gold. Round
her alabaster neck was a magnificent "torques," or collar of twisted
gold-wire. Her hands and arms were uncovered, save for the rings and
bracelets which adorned them. A large British mantle surmounted, but
did not conceal the rest of her attire.
Suetonius on his side used all his powers of oratory to excite the
Romans to do their best, telling them to "despise the savage uproar,
the shouts and yells of undisciplined barbarians," amongst whom, he
said, "the women out-numbered the men."
The battle was long and obstinately contested; but the steady order of
the iron legions triumphed over the savage onslaught of the Britons.
The latter were routed with terrible slaughter, leaving, Tacitus says,
upwards of eighty thousand dead on the field. The Romans lost only five
hundred. "The glory won on this day," adds Tacitus, "was equal to that
of the most renowned victories of the ancient Romans."
The exact scene of this engagement has been variously placed by
different writers. Some decide that Battle-Bridge, King's Cross, marks
the spot; while by others it has been settled as identical with the
ancient camp called Ambresbury Banks, near Epping. Some even place it
at Winchester.
Boadicea, rather than let herself be taken alive, put an end to her own
existence by poison. She was afterwards interred with due honours by
her faithful adherents.
The two daughters of Boadicea, completely armed, fought most valiantly
in the battle; and even during the rout of their countrymen they strove
wildly for victory. At last they were made prisoners, and brought into
the presence of Suetonius, who expressed deep sympathy for them, and
spoke with indignation of their oppressors.
The elder princess, by the intervention of Suetonius, was married, some
months later, to Marius, also styled Westmer, son of Arviragus and
Gwenissa. This prince was acknowledged by the Romans as King of the
Iceni, over whom he ruled for many years. His son Coel was the father
of Lucius, the first Christian king of Britain. Boadicea, the younger
daughter, inherited not only her mother's name, but her bold, dauntless
spirit, and her relentless hatred of the Romans. Marius, fearing her
influence over the Iceni, banished her from his court. She raised a
formidable army of Brigantes and Picts, and sailed to Galloway, which
was occupied by the Romans. Marching in the dead of the night, she fell
on the encampment of the foe and slew several hundred men. The entire
Roman army would probably have been put to the sword had not Petilius,
the general, ordered his men to light torches. The Britons were driven
off, and next morning Boadicea was attacked and defeated in her own
camp.
Next day Boadicea marched to Epiake, the Roman head-quarters in that
district, and setting it on fire, destroyed the garrison. Shortly after
this she was captured in an ambuscade. It is said by some that the
young princess, expecting a horrible death, followed the example of her
mother, and took poison. Others, however, declare that she was brought
alive into the presence of the Roman commander, who interrogated her
respecting the object of her invasion, when Boadicea, making a spirited
answer, was slain by his guards.
The bravery of Boadicea and her daughters was not so strange in those
days as it might now be. The British and Caledonian women were, as a
rule, brave and warlike, and invariably followed their husbands to
battle. More than five thousand women enlisted under the banners of
Boadicea, and fought, many of them, as bravely as the men. Women,
even far advanced in years, marched with their male relations to the
defence of king or country; and those who did not fight hand to hand
with the foe, peppered him well from a distance with volleys of stones.
To render themselves competent to share the perils and dangers of the
battle-field, the women, in times of peace, practised the use of arms,
and inured themselves to fatigue and hardship; as Holinshed says,
"never refusing to undergo any labour or fatigue assigned them by their
leader."
The women of Caledonia were equally warlike. In a curious old book of
engravings published in London during the last century, entitled a
"Collection of Dresses of Different Nations, Ancient and Modern," there
are three plates, one of which represents a Caledonian woman, after De
Brii, dressed in a short garment, and armed with masculine weapons;
the other two represent the wife and daughter of a Pict. The woman
Pict is entirely naked, and is tattooed and painted with stars, rays,
and various similar devices. In one hand she grasps a lance and in the
other two darts. The girl differs from the mother only in being painted
with divers floral ornaments in lieu of the astronomical adornments.
The Gallic and German women also, joined frequently in the battles
between rival tribes. Philostratus, probably for this reason, speaks
of Amazons living on the shores of the Danube; and in Lucius Flaccus
we also read of German Amazons. The Allemanni, the Marcomanni, the
Quadi, and the other warlike tribes who dwelt beyond the Rhine were
always accompanied by their wives and daughters whenever they set out
on an expedition. During the battle, such of the women as took no share
in the action, stood on the outskirts, cheering and encouraging the
warriors. More than once a beaten army of Germans was stopped in its
flight by the women, and obliged, through very shame, to turn again and
confront the enemy. If their side was defeated the German women almost
invariably committed suicide on the corpses of their friends. During
the wars of Marcus Aurelius with the Marcomanni and Quadi, several
women were found amongst the slain, many clad in armour.
Under the patronage of the emperors the combats of Roman matrons in
the amphitheatre afforded intense gratification to a pleasure-seeking
public. Juvenal, the satirist, regards these female duels from a
ludicrous point of view. "What a fine business it would be," he says,
"for a man to cry out at an auction of his wife's equipment, 'Who bids
up for my wife's boots? Who'll give most for her corslet, helmet, and
gauntlet?'"
The Romans, however, often tried to raise amateur corps of female
warriors, in imitation of the ancient Amazons, whose warlike deeds were
much admired in the imperial city. Suetonius tells us that Nero, when
he learned the news of Galba's revolt, dressed up the women of his
seraglio as Amazons, arming them with battle-axes and small bucklers,
and intending to march at their head against the rebels.
* * * * *
In the third century the Roman empire was in a state of dire confusion.
So many governors of provinces and commanders of legions had assumed
the purple, with more or less success, in various parts of the world,
that at last the Emperor, who was recognised by the senate at Rome,
though nominally sovereign of the universe, was, in fact, very little
more than ruler of Italy. One of the first to dispute the imperial
dignity in Europe was Posthumus, commander of the legions in Gaul. He
so far acquired the affections of his soldiers that they proclaimed him
Emperor of the West, A.D., 257. His dominion, the capital of which was
Cologne, extended over Gaul, Spain, and Britain.
There dwelt in Cologne a noble Roman lady named Victoria. Some say
she was the sister of Posthumus. Be that as it may, she persuaded the
emperor to raise her son, Victorinus, to the throne, as his colleague;
and when Posthumus was murdered by the soldiers, three years later,
Victorinus remained sole emperor of the West. He was a brave soldier
and an able general, and reigned over Gaul for about a year longer,
when he was slain by the troops, A.D. 269. His eldest son, named after
himself, was now proclaimed emperor; but in a few days he, too, fell a
victim to the fury of the legions.
An ordinary mind would have sunk beneath this double misfortune; but
the "Heroine of the West" was cast in a very different mould from
most women. Exceedingly ambitious, she possessed both the courage and
the ability to carry out her schemes. Even when her son was living,
she held the reins of government. So great was her influence over the
legions, they obeyed her behests in everything without a murmur. She
passed much of her time amongst them, and received thence the title of
Mater Castrorum,--"Mother of the Camp." When her son became emperor,
she, as his mother, received the title of Augusta.
Victoria bestowed the vacant throne first on Marius, a distinguished
general, who was slain in a few days, and next on Tetricus, the chief
noble in Aquitaine, a distant relative of her own. During his absence
in Spain she continued to govern the Gallic provinces. Placing herself
at the head of the troops, she maintained the authority she had seized
against all the armies sent from Rome. Even during the early days of
Aurelian's reign, she opposed the imperial forces with the same bold
and undaunted spirit, and with equal success.
Very soon Tetricus grew weary of being subordinate to Victoria. The
empress, stung by his ingratitude, would have hurled him from the
throne to which she had raised him; but Tetricus took care to prevent
this by causing Victoria to be poisoned, A.D. 269, a few months after
his own accession.
* * * * *
Since the days of Semiramis no female ruler in ancient times attained
so high a pinnacle of greatness throughout the East as Zenobia. For
more than five years, unaided, she set the Roman emperors at defiance,
defeated their armies, and laughed equally at their threats and their
underhand machinations.
Septimia Zenobia was an Arab princess, and while some writers assert
that she was a Jewess, the heroine herself claimed descent, through her
father Amru, from the Ptolemies of Egypt. Truly she was as beautiful as
any Egyptian queen--even the handsome Cleopatra. By some writers she
has been cited as the loveliest woman of her age. An olive complexion,
pearly teeth, large, brilliant, black eyes, which sparkled alternately
with the fire of the heroine and the sweetness of the loving wife--such
were the charms of her face. Her voice was rich and musical. She was
conversant with Greek, Latin, Syriac, and Egyptian; and compiled for
her own reading an epitome of Homer. Her tutor in philosophy was the
famous Greek, Cassius Longinus.
Zenobia was a widow, and the mother of a son, Vhaballathus, when
she wedded Odenathus, Prince of Palmyra. The latter, however, was a
widower, and also the father of a son--Ouarodes, or Herod, a weak and
effeminate youth.
Septimius Odenathus, who raised himself by his own genius and the
fortune of war, to the sovereignty of the East, was, like his wife, an
Arab. He was chief prince of the wild Saracen tribes who dwelt in the
Syrian deserts, on the shores of the Euphrates. Odenathus early learned
the rudiments of war in the exciting chase of wild beasts--a pastime
which, to the last, he never wearied of, and in which he was joined
with equal ardour by Zenobia. Together the royal pair, during the
intervals of peace, hunted lions, panthers, or bears, through the woods
and deserts of Syria.
When the emperor Valerian was captured and flayed alive by Sapor, King
of Persia, A.D. 260, Odenathus marched, at the head of an Arab host,
against the Persians, defeated them near Antioch, compelled them to
retreat, beat them again on the banks of the Euphrates, and finally
drove them across the river; capturing, in the first battle, the
greater part of the wives and treasures of Sapor.
Zenobia accompanied her husband in this, as in all his subsequent
expeditions, and bravely seconded his efforts. She proved herself as
good a soldier as any, and endured, with the utmost fortitude, the
same hardships as the meanest there. Disdaining the use of a covered
carriage, she frequently marched several miles at the head of the
troops.
Pursued closely by Odenathus and Zenobia, Sapor fled through
Mesopotamia, suffering many defeats, losing towns and cities, and at
last took refuge in Ctesiphon, his capital, where the victors besieged
him for some months.
The Roman senate recognised the deeds of Odenathus by granting him
the title of Augustus, A.D. 263. In the following year the royal pair
undertook a second expedition against Sapor. New triumphs were added
to the glories of the last campaign. The Persian king was once more
forced to take refuge in Ctesiphon, which would no doubt have fallen
had not the incursion of a horde of Scythian Goths into Syria compelled
Odenathus to raise the siege.
Surrounding nations soon learned to respect the brave prince of Palmyra
and his no less warlike consort. Even Sapor, humiliated though he had
been, was glad, not merely to make peace, but to join in close alliance
with his conquerors, who were threatened by the underhand machinations
of the contemptible emperor Gallienus. But the brilliant career of
Odenathus was unexpectedly brought to a close by the hand of his
nephew, who, believing himself insulted by the monarch, assassinated
him, together with his son Herod, at a banquet in the city of Emesa,
A.D. 267.
The murderer gained nothing but the empty pleasure of revenge. Scarcely
had he assumed the title of Augustus ere he was sacrificed by the royal
widow to the memory of her husband, though some historians have accused
her of being an accomplice in the double murder. Zenobia was proclaimed
queen; and, passing over Timolaus and Herennius, her sons by Odenathus,
she arrayed Vhaballathus in the purple, and showed him to the troops as
their emperor.
With the death of Odenathus ceased that authority granted him as a
personal favour by the emperor and senate of Rome; and Gallienus
despatched an army to dethrone Zenobia. But the queen soon compelled
the Roman general to retreat into Europe with the loss of both army and
reputation. Zenobia governed the East for more than five years; and
by successive conquests she extended her dominions from the Euphrates
to the Mediterranean and the borders of Bithynia; and added, besides,
the land of the Ptolemies. Her power became so great that the warlike
Claudius II., who succeeded Gallienus, was satisfied that while he was
occupied in the defence of Italy from the Goths and Germans, Zenobia
should assert the dignity of the Roman power in the East.
Palmyra, the capital of the warrior queen, almost rivalled the
Eternal City in the magnificence of its temples, its mansions, its
public monuments, and the luxury of its citizens. It became the great
centre of commerce between Europe and India, and its merchants grew
wealthy through the trade of East and West. Arcades of lofty palms
shadowed its streets of marble palaces; purling fountains, fed by icy
springs, rendered it a perfect Elysium in the midst of burning arid
sands. Schools, museums, libraries, fostered by the care of Zenobia,
encouraged and aided the arts and literature.
At last the stern, the inflexible Aurelian ascended the throne of the
Cæsars. Firmly resolved to rid the empire of every usurper, great or
small, he began by re-conquering Gaul and making prisoner the Western
usurper, Tetricus. He then passed into Asia, A.D. 272, when his
presence alone was sufficient to bring back Bithynia to its allegiance.
Of course Zenobia did not indolently permit an invader to approach
within a hundred miles of her capital without taking measures to arrest
his progress. She marched with all her forces to oppose him; but was
signally defeated in two battles, the first near Antioch, the second
near Emesa. In both engagements the queen animated the soldiers by her
presence, though the actual command devolved on Zabdas, the conqueror
of Egypt. The latter, Zenobia's principal general, has been by many
supposed to have been Zabba, the queen's sister; this, however, is mere
surmise.
After the second defeat, Zenobia was unable to raise a third army. She
retired within the walls of her capital, prepared to make a gallant
defence, and boldly declared that her reign and her life should end
together.
Aurelian arrived before Palmyra, after a toilsome march over the sandy
desert which separated the city from Antioch. His proposals being
rejected with scorn, he was obliged to begin the siege; and, while
superintending the operations, he was wounded by a dart.
"The Roman people," he wrote in a letter, "speak with contempt of the
war which I am waging against a woman. They are ignorant both of the
character and of the power of Zenobia. It is impossible to enumerate
her warlike preparations of stones, of arrows, and of every species of
missile weapons. Every part of the walls is provided with two or three
balistæ, and artificial fires are thrown from her military engines. The
fear of punishment has armed her with a desperate courage."
Zenobia was at first supported in her determined resistance by the hope
that the Roman army, having no means of getting provisions, would soon
be compelled to retreat, and also by the expectation that Persia would
come to her aid. Disappointed in both calculations, she mounted her
swiftest dromedary and fled towards the Euphrates. But the Roman light
cavalry pursued, and soon overtook the queen, who was brought back
prisoner. Palmyra surrendered almost immediately after, and was treated
with unexpected clemency by the victor.
The courage of Zenobia entirely deserted her when she heard the angry
cries of the soldiers, who clamoured for her immediate execution. She
threw the entire guilt of her obstinate resistance upon her friends and
counsellors, and the celebrated Longinus, amongst others, fell a victim
to the emperor's rage.
Vhaballathus, the only surviving son of Zenobia, withdrew into Armenia,
where he ruled over a small principality granted him by Aurelian.
When the emperor returned to Rome, in the following year (A.D. 274),
he celebrated, after the manner of Roman conquerors, a magnificent
triumph in honour of his many victories over the Goths, the Alemanni,
Tetricus, and Zenobia. Elephants, royal tigers, panthers, bears,
armed gladiators, military standards, and war-chariots passed in
succession. But the great object of attention was the Eastern queen,
who, completely laden with golden fetters, a gold chain, supported by
a slave, round her neck, her limbs bending beneath the weight of the
jewels with which she was decked, was compelled to precede, on foot,
the triumphal car in which, not many months previously, she had hoped
to enter the gates of Rome as a conqueror.
After the conclusion of his triumph, Aurelian presented Zenobia with
an elegant villa at Tibur (or Tivoli), about twenty miles from the
capital; and here she passed the rest of her days as a Roman matron.
She died about the year 300. Her daughters married into wealthy and
noble families; some say, indeed, that Aurelian espoused one of them;
and the family was not extinct even in the fifth century. Baronius
supposes Zenobius, Bishop of Florence, in the days of Saint Ambrose, to
have been one of the great queen's descendants.
Amongst the numberless captives--Sarmatians, Alemanni, Goths, Vandals,
Gauls, Franks, Dacians, Syrians, Arabs, Egyptians--who unwillingly
graced the triumph of Aurelian, were ten Gothic women, captured in a
battle between the Goths and Romans when the emperor was driving the
barbarians out of Italy. Each party was distinguished in the procession
by its own, or by some fancy name; these Gothic females were designated
"Amazons." Besides these prisoners, many Gothic women and girls, in
male attire, had been found dead on the field of battle.
Hunila, or Hunilda, one of these Gothic women, was afterwards married
to Bonosus, a wealthy and influential Roman general, Governor of
Rhætia. She was admired and distinguished amongst her new friends
for her beauty, wit, and virtue. But the _ci-devant_ Amazon kept
up communications with her own countrymen; and Bonosus, promised
assistance by his wife's relations, assumed the purple. For a few
months his authority extended over Gaul, Spain and Britain; but at last
he was conquered by the Emperor Probus. To avoid falling into the hands
of the victor, he put an end to his own life by hanging; whereupon some
wit, alluding to his favourite vice (for Bonosus, they say, could drink
as much as ten strong men) remarked that "there hung a bottle, not a
man."
Probus spared the life of Hunila, and granted her an annual pension for
the rest of her days; he permitted her sons to enjoy their paternal
estate.
* * * * *
Mavia, Queen of Pharan, another of those troublesome women who defied
the Roman emperors, was by birth a Roman, and by education a Christian.
When very young she was carried away by a troop of Arabs, who brought
her to their prince, Obedien, King of Pharan. The latter, who was
himself a Christian, charmed by the beauty of his captive, made her his
wife. At his death Mavia became sole ruler of Pharan. Placing herself
at the head of a numerous army, A.D. 373, she invaded Palestine, and
advancing as far as Phœnicia, defeated the forces of the emperors
Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian in a series of battles extending over
some months. The Roman governor of Phœnicia, unable to make head
against the invader, was compelled to seek assistance of the general
commanding the Eastern emperor's forces. The latter came speedily
to his aid, and after bragging much and loudly of what he would do,
engaged in battle with Mavia. He was signally beaten, his army cut to
pieces, and he had to fly ignominiously.
After this victory the Queen of Pharan gained many another battle,
and she proved herself so dangerous an opponent that the Romans were
compelled to sue for peace. Peace was at last concluded, on the
condition (dictated by Mavia) that the anchorite Moses should be sent
as bishop to Pharan. Having thus destroyed idolatry in Pharan, the
queen remained for the rest of her days in friendly relationship with
the Romans, to one of whom, Count Victor, she gave her daughter in
marriage.
* * * * *
Towards the close of the fourth century, one of the Sapors, King of
Persia, invaded Armenia, which for many years previously had maintained
its independence. He was resolutely opposed by King Tiranus and his
wife Pharandsem, or Olympias; but after valiantly defending his throne
for nearly four years, Tiranus was deserted by his nobles and compelled
to surrender.
Armenia was once more reduced into a Persian province, and divided
between two of Sapor's favourites. The city of Artogerassa was the only
stronghold which still dared to resist the Persians. It was defended
by Pharandsem. The Persians were surprised and routed under the walls
by a bold and concerted sortie of the besieged; but the former were
constantly reinforced, while the latter steadily diminished in numbers,
through famine and disease, rather than by the weapons of the foe.
After a siege of fourteen months the city was compelled to surrender.
Pharandsem, with her own hand, flung open the gates, when she was
seized by the victors, and, by order of Sapor, impaled.
[Illustration]