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Early Women Generals
For most readers, the category in this book which may be the biggest
surprise is that of women generals and military leaders. But they have always
existed, and nothing equalizes the sexes like a sword. Neither should the courage
represented in these stories come as a surprise. Indeed, while one can find
numerous instances of noble men running from battle, there is not a single recorded
instance of a woman running from battle in the history of Western Europe. And the
unknown stories of women defending their homes against foreign troops in Europe,
or against Indians in America, must be beyond counting.
We would like to think that women generals were the norm in the ancient
matriarchal societies. How else would the later European myths include the female
Valkyrias, with their spears; Themis, with her sword; Diana, with her arrows; and
Nemesis, who administers the righteous vengeance of the gods?
Artemisia, Queen of Caria, 5th Century BC
Artemisia, as Queen of Caria, became the leader of the Dorian race after the
death of her husband. King Xerxes of the Persians (519-463 BC), after sacking
Athens, knew that the Greeks would be preparing to meet him in a great sea battle.
He sought the advice of his various generals, being uncertain if he should engage the
Greeks at this time. Artemisia advised against a sea battle, telling him,
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Tell the king that I, who have proved myself to be not the worst in the
sea fights which have been fought near Eubœa, and have displayed deeds not
inferior to those of others, speak to him thus:....
Spare thy ships and do not make a sea fight; for their men are as
much stronger than thy men by sea, as men are stronger than women. And
why must thou needs run the risk of sea battles? If, however, thou hasten to
fight forthwith, I fear that damage done to the fleet may ruin the land army
also....
Xerxes was pleased with her advice, but elected not to take it. When he
decided to attack the Greek fleet, Artemisia threw herself valiantly into the sea
fight. During the battle the ship of Artemisia was being chased by an Athenian ship
and she could see that she could not outrun it. Ahead, blocking the way, were two
ships of the Calyndians, who were fighting on behalf of Xerxes. In a brilliant move,
Artemisia rammed the ship of her ally, which, in turn, confused the pursuing ship
into thinking it was chasing one of its own and so it broke off the chase.
She gained much greater reputation for this clever ploy, although the sailors
of the sunken ship were not so enthusiastic of course. Only one of them survived
and when he appeared before Xerxes to complain bitterly about the fate of his fellow
sailors, Xerxes could only observe, “My men have become women and my women
men.”
Artemisia, 4th Century BC
Artemisia was the wife (and sister!) of Mausolus, king of Caria and became
sole ruler from 353 to 350 BC. Her talents resulted in personal activity as a
botanist, having discovered and named several herbs, and a medical researcher.
Upon her husband’s death, she organized an oratorical contest in his honor and
then, as an architect, oversaw the plans for a magnificent mausoleum for her
husband in Halicarnassus. She died before the mausoleum, which was one of the
seven wonders of the world, was completed, but its name is now part of most
modern languages.
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She also proved to be an effective military leader. Soon after her reign
began, the Rhodians, being indignant that a woman should rule over the cities of
Caria, prepared a fleet to seize her kingdom. Upon receiving this news, Artemisia
hid her fleet in the harbor and had the citizens man the walls of the city. When the
Rhodians appeared the citizens on the wall waved and indicated a desire to
surrender the city. After the Rhodians landed, Artemisia suddenly brought on her
ships and carried away the enemy ships. Thus stranded, the Rhodians were then
taken to the forum and killed.
Artemisia then sailed with her troops in the enemy ships back to Rhodes,
where the local citizens cheered what they presumed to be their returning armies.
Rhodes was therefore captured by Artemisia, whereupon she killed the leading
citizens and had a statue of herself erected. Later, the Rhodians, having a law that a
dedicated statue cannot be removed, built a building around it so no one could see it.
Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni, died in 61 AD
Boudicca was the wife of King Prasutagus, who ruled a native tribe located in
what is today Norfolk, England. Upon his death in 61, AD, his domain was annexed
by the Romans, his wife beaten and his two daughters raped. Boudicca, in
retaliation, personally led a revolt which was briefly successful. The Roman
governor-general, Suetonius Paulinus, being temporarily in Wales, her troops
marched unchallenged toward Londinium (London), which Tacitus wrote was
already a great trade center at this time. As they proceeded, they gathered
thousands of native Britons who had long suffered under Roman rule. At
Verulamium (St. Albans) 70,000 Roman soldiers and their allies were killed before
the return of Paulinus and his legions.
Before the final battle with Paulinus, Boudicca, standing in her chariot, rode
up and down the lines offering assurance to those unaccustomed to fighting under
the leadership of a woman. According to Tacitus, she made the following address.
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It is not as a woman descended from noble ancestry, but as one of the
people that I am avenging our lost freedom, my scourged body, the outraged
chastity of my daughters. Roman lust has gone so far that not our very
persons, nor even age or virginity, are left unpolluted. But heaven is on the
side of a righteous vengeance; a legion which dared to fight has perished; the
rest are hiding themselves in their camp, or are thinking anxiously of flight.
They will not sustain even the din and the shout of so many thousands, much
less our charge and our blows. If you weigh well the strength of the armies,
and the causes of the war, you will see that in this battle you must conquer or
die. This is a woman’s resolve; as for the men, they may live and be slaves.
Boudicca fought heroically until defeat was evident, then drank poison. The
Romans slaughtered some 80,000 Britons, together with the animals they had
brought with them. The Roman writer, Tacitus, called this a day of “Great glory.”
One Roman leader, Poenius Postumus, the prefect of the second legion, was
despondent that his troops did not have their share in the glory of the slaughter and
so he threw himself on his sword.
Septimia Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, died after 273 AD
Zenobia’s greatness as a leader must be measured not only in her being the
only leader to nearly divide the Roman Empire, but for the rare instance of a
woman playing so influential a role in an Asian society. Like Cleopatra, she was
descended from the Greek kings of Egypt, but her character traits were of a much
higher order. She was well educated and spoke several languages, including Greek
and Latin. She built beautiful palaces, whose imposing ruins still stand. Around the
philosopher, Longinus, she gathered a court of poets, artists and scholars -- she,
herself, actually writing a history of the East. Early writers describe her as having
perfectly white teeth, large black eyes and in possession of a strong, but melodic,
voice.
Her husband, Odenathus, was the strongest leader in the East and she shared
with him the sport of hunting wild animals of the desert -- which then included
lions, panthers and bears. She also accompanied her husband in battle, wearing a
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military uniform and walking in front of the troops. Several victories over the
Romans had established their nation, Palmyra, on a somewhat equal footing with
Rome.
The great valor of Odenathus was extinguished in peace time. He, together
with his son, were murdered by his nephew, Mæonius, out of revenge for a personal
slight. Mæonius himself was immediately killed and Zenobia took control of the
government.
Zenobia’s administration was marked by justice and economic stability. As
a political and military leader she extended her territories to include Arabia,
Armenia, Persia and finally Egypt itself, after a siege which destroyed half the
population of Alexandria. Of course, these victories were only possible because the
Roman Empire was beginning its decline and was at the moment occupied with
fighting the Goths.
The loss of Odenathus and the death of the Emperor Claudius II in Rome,
however, had changed the balance of power, for before long the new emperor,
Aurelian, began marching East, taking province after province, apparently intent
on restoring Rome’s domination. Zenobia, meanwhile, had decided not to allow
Aurelian to approach closer than 100 miles of Palmyra. Two great battles were
fought, but in the end Zenobia’s army was no match for the veteran Roman legions
and she retreated to Palmyra to await a final siege.
The siege of Palmyra proved much more difficult than Aurelian expected
and, in fact, he was personally wounded. One of his letters written at the time of
this siege is extant.
The Roman people speak with contempt of the war which I am
waging against a woman. [But] 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 balistœ, and artificial
fires are thrown from her military engines. The fear of punishment has
armed her with a desperate courage.
Aurelian attempted to offer generous terms for a surrender, but Zenobia
turned them down. She had hoped that the famine which was then being
experienced in the East would force the Romans to leave. When steady supplies
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indicated no possible change in the status of the siege, Zenobia decided, in 273 AD to
attempt to escape to seek the aid of Persia. Riding her fastest camel, she outraced
the Romans for 60 miles before she was captured.
Brought before Aurelian, he demanded of her, “How did you dare to rise up
in arms against the emperors of Rome?” She answered, with feminine guile,
“Because I never met an emperor like you!” It was only at this point, with Roman
soldiers clamoring for her execution, that her courage failed her. She saved her life
by blaming the siege on her advisors, who were then executed. Among these,
unfortunately, was the great writer, Longinus.
Aurelian took Zenobia back to Rome, where she was forced to walk, in
chains of gold, in a triumphal entry into the city. Having made his point with the
public by this show of humiliation, the emperor became more generous, giving
Zenobia a villa at Tivoli outside Rome. She was absorbed into Roman life, her
daughters marrying into noble families.
Matilda, Countess of Tuscany, 1046 –1115
Matilda, known as “The Great Countess,” was born to a noble Lombard
family whose holdings included much of Northern Italy, Tuscany, Spoleto, Parma
and Cremona. After the murder of her father in 1052, together with the death of
her remaining brother and sister soon after, she was left at age 9, and by special
dispensation of the Emperor Henry III, sole heiress to the richest estate in Italy.
Naturally, the widow, Beatrice, and daughter received many proposals of
marriage before the mother agreed to marry Godfrey of Lorraine, and furthermore
to marry her daughter to Godfrey’s hunchback son, also named Godfrey. This
stroke of independence angered the emperor, who imprisoned Beatrice and chased
Godfrey back to Lorraine. In 1054 Henry III died and his successor, Henry IV,
made peace, freeing Beatrice who went to live with her husband in Florence.
Matilda, being somewhat of a mystic temperament, from an early age seems
to have identified with the Church and the struggles of the popes to make the
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Church a higher power than state. The famous monk, Hildebrand, who himself
became pope in 1073, was a frequent visitor in Matilda’s home. When her uncle
Frederick became Pope Stephan X, the papacy became the personal interest of
Matilda for life. Matilda was well educated, speaking Italian, French and German.
She wrote letters in Latin and collected a large library.
In 1076 both Beatrice and her husband died making Matilda the most
powerful and wealthy woman of her time. For the next 30 years she championed the
cause of the popes against the German emperor. More than once she personally led
her troops in battle, riding in front clad in a suit of mail.
Having already spent considerable sums building churches, convents and
hospitals, before her death she attempted to donate her estates, representing nearly
a fourth of Italy, to the papacy.
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