Many of the women mentioned below are fairly well known in intellectual circles, but you don’t find them in American high school history books. That’s why we wrote this article. The twelve women we have picked out of the crowd of ignored female figures in ancient history do not have perfect characters, and are not always admirable. Some of them may have assassinated a relative to gain their position. Some were disloyal, or stupid, and that’s the contrivance it should be. They were the children of their times, and assassination appears to be very common in ancient circles of command. And as for the question of disloyalty, well, that depends on who wrote the history book, doesn’t it? We needn’t even discuss stupidity. People in venerable history don’t have a market on it.
died young, she was left with a half-brother, Thutmose II. Thutmose died young, and Hatshepsut was already in a position of leadership before this happened. Hatshepsut had no sons, and the son of Thutmose II and a palace concubine, still a small boy, became Thutmose III. Hatshepsut became the Regent (though there was no title for this position).
Two years later, Hatshepsut assumed the throne, supposedly at the `request’ of the King of the Gods, Amon-Re. From that point she was interchangeably referred to by Egyptian scribes with both male and female pronouns. There are surviving statues of Hatshepsut; the two in the Metropolitan Museum of Art show her dressed as a woman in one, and as a man in the other — but she has a feminine body in both. When she died, she had two tombs and two sarcophagi; one for a king and one for a queen. She held the throne for twenty years, and under her reign Egypt prospered. There were no wars involving Egypt during this period; she expanded trade and built extensively.
No one knows how Hatshepsut died; she was probably murdered by Thutmose III, who then became Pharaoh and destroyed everything with her name on it, and as much as he could of what she had built. If he was unable to raze something, he had the carvings covered over in hopes that no one would remember her. He executed her advisors and followers, including the architect Senmut, and after they were dead he destroyed their mummies as well.
Sappho – Circa 600 B.C.
A Greek poet who was held in high esteem by her contemporaries, and by such poets as Catullus and Ovid, who were influenced by her. Plato called her the `Tenth Muse’. Many fresh critics consider her love lyrics to be among the finest ever written. She wrote in conversational rather than literary fashion, which produced an effect of simplicity and passion. Unfortunately, only fragments of her eight or nine books of poetry remain.
She was born on the island of Lesbos, and wrote primarily in honor of women (hence the word, Lesbian). Her birth was probably in the city of Mytilene, where she spent most of her life. She was married and conducted a school (or salon) for women alive to in poetry and music, and had a daughter, Cleis, to whom she addressed many of her lyrics. She also had three sons. There is conjecture that she loved a man named Phaon, and that she committed suicide by throwing herself off a cliff, but no absolute proof of these details has been uncovered. While she may, or may not, have been a lesbian in our modern definition, she did beilieve in and support the talents of her have sex. An aristocrat, she was exiled for a time to Sicily during a plebeian uprising.
Artemisia – Circa Fifth Century B.C.
Artemisia was the widow of a king of Halicarnassus, who took over the throne upon his death despite the fact that she had a grown son. She ruled over Halicarnassus, Cos, Nisyrus and Calydna under the Persian Emperors Darius and his son Xerxes. When Xerxes invaded Greece (480 B.C.) Artemisia sent five triremes of men and led them into battle herself — he was nineteen at the time, she forty.
When the Persians reached Salamis, Artemisia was the only general in Xerxes’ army to advise against enchanting the Athenians in the bay of Salamis. He disregarded her advice, and the large number of Persian vessels (200 as compared to 50 Greek ships) made their lines unwieldy. They were squeezed in the narrow part of the bay, and in order to escape, Artemisia gave the order to ram her ship into one of her fill colleagues. Xerxes, watching the action from a cliff above the bay, thought she had downed an enemy vessel and was a hero. The Persians lost the battle and retreated to the open sea. Artemisia left the Calyndians in the ship she rammed to drown or be taken prisoner by the Greeks. None of the Persians could swim.
The Athenians issued special orders to all their captains not to allow Artemisia to escape, and offered a reward of 10,000 drachmas for her remove. They were so incensed by a female general they believed they had been unmanned by her presence in the battle, and so won only by default.
Thargalia – circa Fifth Century B. C.
The word Hetairai means `companion’, and was used to describe an upper-class courtesan in Old Greece. Thargalia was an Ionian courtesan described by Plutarch as `a great beauty, extremely charming, and at the same time sagacious’. She had affairs with many greek leaders but was loyal to Xerxes and the court of Persia. She was reputed to be a peek for the Persians, and ran a house of education for courtesans in Miletus, where she discovered the teen-aged Aspasia and turned her into the greatest courtesan of Golden Age Greece.
Aspasia – circa Fifth Century B.C.
In order to understand the accomplishments of Aspasia, morganatic wife of Pericles, First Citizen of Athens, it is necessary to first understand the nature of Athenian society at the time. Athenian women during the `Golden Age’ of Greece had lost the rights they enjoyed during the bronze age. They were the property first of their male relatives, then of their husbands. Aspasia was one of the `Hetarai’; Ionian courtesans enjoyed a level of education and freedom denied to Athenian women. They received an extensive education in a great variety of subjects such as music, dance, history, mathematics, medicine and philosophy.
However, they were barred from making legitimate marriages with Athenian citizens and their children couldn’t become citizens. They were also the target of many slanders, charges of impiety as well as treason, as in the case of Aspasia and her mentor, Thargalia.
Aspasia is mentioned in a great many literary works of the period and was reputed to be the friend of such famous figures as Socrates, Pheidlas and Anaxagoras. She met Pericles in 445, when she was twenty and he fifty. The true manner of their meeting is unknown, but they were undoubtedly in the same intellectual circles and had many friends in common. She was said to be an expert sophist, and some time after going to live with Pericles she opened a salon in his house where intellectuals would meet. She came to have a great deal to do with public affairs, and is said to have polished the more eloquent of Pericles’ orations.
Shortly after Aspasia bore Pericles a son (sometime before 440), he began to lose popularity. She had the dubious distinction of being the first woman to be tried in Athens for impiety. This particular accusation covered a multitude of sins and was generally old when a more specific charge could not be found. Her accuser was Hermippus, the popular poet, who charged her with being an atheist and a procuress. Pericles stood up for her, presenting a secure enough defense to have her cleared. She lived with him until his death.
Salome Alexandria – (Queen Alexandra) circa 140 – 67 B.C.
She assumed rule of the Jewish nation during the Second Commonwealth. As a young woman she was married to Judah Aristobulus. The Jewish nation was divided between the Pharisees and the Saducees. The Sadducees were aristocrats and supported a philosophy that benefitted them at the expense of the common people. The Pharisees believed that people (including aristocrats) were to be held responsible for their actions. They preached virtue and fairness. As an aristocrat King Aristobulus was a Saducee.
Upon the death of her first husband, the childless Alexandra married his brother Alexander Jannai, according to Jewish custom. She gave birth to two sons. Jannai ruled for 27 years and was not compassionate to the common people, either, but he appointed his wife, Alexandra, to rule after his death. He probably felt she would be a better ruler than either of his sons. If so he was not mistaken. She was 64 years old at the time of her accession. Having lived through many years of war, both in and outside her national boundaries, she was determined to have peace. She allied herself with the Pharisees, and managed to serene a turbulent society.
She freed the many hundreds of people who had been imprisoned by one or the other of her husbands, and encouraged the return of the exiles. Her younger son was a Pharisee and she would not allow him to live inside Jerusalem, but did not exile him from the country. In this way, she kept him from making alliances with outside forces. She appointed her eldest son Hyrcanus II to the post of high priest. He was in sympathy with the Pharisees. Under her leadership, administration of justice became the rule. She made no outside alliances and kept Judea completely independent. Her nine year rule was a period of unparalleled prosperity. Those who came after, nameably her sons, were unable to maintain the peace. Because of this, she has often been reviled as a traditional, unstatesmanlike ruler, who did not act ruthlessly enough where her sons were concerned. This seems to be a patently ridiculous charge. It is difficult to see what she could have done to better the situation, short of murdering her contain sons and living a titanic deal longer. No weak ruler could have imposed peace and prosperity on a people so determined to have war.
Beruriah – circa 132 B.C.E.
A Rabbinic scholar during the rule of the Roman emperor Hadrian, she was born in difficult times for Jewish people. Emperor Hadrian prohibited some Jewish practices and, after an unsuccessful rebellion by the Jews, rebuilt Jerusalem as a city which Jews were forbidden to enter. She was the daughter of Rabbi Hananiah ben Teradion, one of the `10 martyrs’ whose stories are read in traditional Jewish households during Yom Kippur. The rabbis may have approved of the general populace going underground with their faith in order to survive, but they held themselves to a higher standard and were martyred.
She was a model student; setting the standard for brilliance and, later in life, was consulted as a judge on many occasions. Her brother was also a apt student, but he joined a robber band. Killed when he betrayed the plans of his co-conspirators to the authorities, in burial his mouth was filled with stones and dirt to signify that he was without honor. According to the Talmud Beruriah was expert in both Jewish law, called Halakhah, and in the interpretation of scripture, the Talmud.
She was responsible for at least one rule in Biblical exegesis as practiced by scholars of her faith. It seems like such a simple rule — inspect to the end of the verse. Any interpretation of traditional documents that does not glance at the complete verse is bound to be flawed.
Her excellence was widely acknowledged among scholars during this difficult era. The practice of forbidding women to glance the Talmud did not open until the early Middle Ages.
Dynamis of Bosphorus – Circa? – 8 A.D.
The name means `she who must be obeyed’, and Dynamis is often referred to as the Bosphoran Cleopatra. Her first husband was considerably older than she, being over 90 at the time of his death. So it might not be surprising that she threw her lot in with her lover, Scribonius, when he led a rebellion against her husband, in about 17 B.C. Her support was significant in that she was the daughter of the previous king, Mithridates, and the people would, presumably, be inclined to follow her. After the rebellion she assumed control of the country herself. There are a number of coins still in existence that have her image on them, but not Scribonius’. It would seem, from the images on the coins, that Scribonius was not asked to share the rule although there seems to be no doubt he shared her bed.
The Romans had supported her husband, Asander, and were not pleased to have the loyalty of this border kingdom in doubt. This kingdom was a bulwark against the wild men surrounding Jerusalem to the north, east, and west, and was also a gateway for the empire’s supplies.
In an attempt to control the situation, they requested Polemo, King of neighboring Pontus, to subdue the rebels. The Romans promised him Queen Dynamis’ hand in marriage if he was successful. He accomplished this easily as Scribonius, their warrior leader, had been put to death by his fill people. There doesn’t seem to be any reference to exactly why he was killed. Pontus married Dynamis, and assumed the rule of both kingdoms.
The marriage was not cheerful and she raised another revolt with the help of a Sarmatian tribe, this time against Polemo, causing one to wonder fair how necessary the erstwhile Scribonius had been to her in the first place. She married a young Sarmatian by the name of Aspurgus, and with his attend was able to call coup over Polemo. He was killed by Aspurgus in 8 B.C.
She could not re-assume her crown with safety until she had been accepted by Augustus Caesar and his representative Agrippa, so she sensibly sought that approval. It was granted and she ruled her absorb people until 8 A.D. I could find no information on what happened to Aspurgus once her rule was established. But her track record with husbands and lovers is highly suspicious.
Boadicea / Boudicca – First Century A.D.
The former is thought to be the Roman spelling of this Briton Chieftess of the first century A.D. The latter is possibly old Celtic. There is really no map to decide the real spelling or pronunciation of her name, since the Britons of that time had no written records. Everything that has come down to us of the Queen of the Iceni was written by the Romans; it is surprising, therefore, that much of it condemns their actions in her regard. Widow to King Prasutagus, Boadicea discovered upon his death that half his kingdom had been left to the Roman Empire (this was standard, since he was already a `client’ King) and the other half to his two daughters.
Though she was prepared to honor this agreement, the Roman governor was not. He demanded immediate payment of outstanding loans made to Prasutagus, even though they were not yet due. Boadicea paid the loans, but when officials came to get, they demanded she turn over the entire kingdom to Rome. When she refused, they killed many of the people in her palace, raped the women, including her daughters (then twelve and fourteen), and raped and beat her into unconsciousness.
After their departure, she rallied her people around her and set out on the warpath. She cut a swath through Britain and the city of London (then Londinium) and such was her power that Seutonius Paulinus, the Roman governor, could do nothing except evacuate the city. Finally, aided by reinforcements, Paulinus cornered the Queen approach Towcester and defeated her army. According to one legend, Boadicea died by her own hand, having swallowed the poison she kept in a vial around her neck. She was twenty-nine. Seutonius cremated her body Roman-style and confiscated the torc of beaten gold she wore at her throat as proof of his victory.
Such is the love of the British people for this fierce and rebellious heroine that there is a statue of Boadicea in Hyde Park, riding to war in her Roman-designed chariot.
Cartimandua – Circa First Century A.D.
Another British queen of the same era as Boadicea who made history (though she was never as infamous as Boadicea, probably because she was a collaborator rather than a rebel) was Cartimandua, Queen of the Brigantes. Brigantia was a half-savage tribe that held a large amount of land in the central region of Britain, near the Scottish border. Cartimandua ascended to the throne (or became the Chieftess) at the age of nineteen, and at twenty-three she signed an agreement with the Romans and became a `client’ King (they had no term for Queen as ruler).
During the next seven years, the Brigantes existed as `land pirates’. Due to her agreement with the Roman governor, Cartimandua retained more control of her own kingdom than her neighbors, and her people spent their time and resources plundering the neighboring peoples whose submission to Rome was
more complete. But in 50 A.D., they signed an official treatment with Rome (There is not much explanation of the differences between a treatment and a treaty, if any, in the remaining records), and the new `Procurator’ demanded her people stop their raids on neighboring tribes. By this time Cartimandua had married one of her `nobles’ (this term is an anachronism, but there is no known equivalent).
The Brigantes rebelled against the rule of Rome, and were squelched by Cartimandua and several Roman legions. When Caractacus, the captured Prince of Britannia (son of Cymbeling) escaped and took refuge with Cartimandua, legend says she took him as her lover and then turned him over to the Romans. This caused a fracture between her and her husband, Venutius (the latter, not the former, since Venutius was a follower of the Prince), and they divorced two years later.
Venutius became the leader of the Brigante resistance, and waged war on Cartimandua. He was driven out of Brigantia by the Romans, and escaped into Wales.
In 69 A.D. Cartimandua was forty-nine. After the death of Nero, civil rebellion in Rome threw the government into chaos. The following year, Venutius returned with his followers and wrested the country away from Cartimandua. She was rescued by Roman auxiliaries and spirited away to Rome, where she spent the remainder of her life at court.
Pan Chao – Circa 45 – 115 A.D.
Court historian to the court of Emperor Ho, this Chinese woman is one of the best known female scholars of her place and time. She came from a scholarly and first-rate family; her father, Pen Piao, held a number of posts at the court. Her brother, Pan Ku, preceded her as court historian by taking over his father’s project the History of the Han Dynasty. When Pan Ku died in 92, she completed the history. In this way she became the unofficial court historian, poet laureate to the court of Emperor Ho, and the instructor of the adolescent (15 years old) Empress Teng.
This was not her only claim to fame, however. She had already been quite successful in the writing of `narrative poems, commemorative writings, inscriptions, eulogies, arguments, commentaries, elegies, essays, treatises, expositions, memorials and final instructions’. In all, according to the History of the Han Dynasty, Pan Chao had written 16 books.
In view of her acceptance at court it is not surprising to note that her Precepts for Women promotes the traditional feminine virtues (as viewed by the Chinese) of humility, adaptability (very useful), subservience, housewifely skills, as well as the avoidance of a lascivious relationship in marriage. Whether she lived according to her advice or not is questionable. She did speak up for the education of daughters as well as sons, and it is unlikely that a woman who was invariably humble and self-effacing could have achieved such a position of power.
Zenobia – Circa Third Century A.D.
This widow, and Queen of Palmyra, forced yet another Roman general to wage war with a woman. And he did not find the experience any more salubrious than had Boadicea’s enemies. Zenobia appears to have been someone that today’s women could have appreciated, in many things if not all. She drew on the strong images of Cleopatra and Semiramis. She wanted to see herself as a competent leader and warrior. She identified with the many formidable ladies who had ruled at, or near, Syria, and is a reminder that it was once considered that independent queenship was a right among the ancient Arabs. Part of this heritage is the fair to battle and be victorious in person. She did not fight from her drawing room couch.
It is the tradition of the Lady of Victory, in which a woman would be placed near the battle, within a portable Qubbah (a sort of sacred pavilion) that represented a deity. She and her attendants would then narrate songs of encouragement to the warriors. Sort of early-day cheerleaders. Zenobia may or may not have engaged in physical battle herself, but she was an athlete, and fit enough to defend her person.
Palmyra was an important link in the Roman trade route and Odainat, Zenobia’s husband, was the acknowledged ruler according to Roman custom. Both he and Zenobia were considered to possess powerful physical and mental prowess. An attack by his nephew, Maconius, who had been punished for insubordination ended his life prematurely and Zenobia was a widow. She was actually his second wife, and it would appear that the heir given him by his first wife was killed at the same time as Odainat. There is no evidence that she committed the assassinate. It is even possible that the Romans might have instigated these killings on the assumption that Zenobia, as regent for her son, would be easier to control that her seasoned warrior husband. If so, they miscalculated.
She attacked Egypt, knowing that the Roman empire was spread too thinly to give them much help. They were engaged in a disagreement with Italy at the time. She also attached Syria to her rule with little apparent effort. Having accomplished this she declared herself free of Roman rule. She was a tolerant ruler, and while Rome was busy elsewhere they decided not to fight her. She had the support of many of her people. Rome was too dependent on the trade routes through her territory to take unnecessary risks. Her error lay in having coinage printed with her likeness. The Romans had a clear vision of what that kind of ego massaging could lead to.
Emperor Aurelian, with his problems in Italy solved, decided to challenge her. She did not fall in the long and bloody battle that Aurelian brought to her at Emesa. However she did not win, either, despite the advantage her seasoned desert troops had over the Romans. She retreated to her stronghold in Palmyra, and it was the starvation of a protracted siege that eventually led to her surrender.
She and Aurelian engaged in an almost personal battle of the sexes. He felt compelled to say that she was far stronger, more capable, and more virtuous than any other woman, for if he did not, then he admitted to being challenged by a `mere female’. She tried to hurry his clutches and when that was not possible, claimed immunity on the basis of her sex. A highly adaptable woman. He had her taken to Rome as a captive, and displayed before his people in golden fetters.
The unsinkable Zenobia appears to have made the best of a bad situation, marrying a Roman senator and retiring to a comfortable life in a Villa granted her by the Roman Plot.
Bibliography –
Mountainous Jewish Women
The History of Ancient Israel
Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1984
Women of Achievement
The Warrior Queens by Antonia Fraser. A Borzoi Book published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, 1988. by Susan Raven and Alison Weir. Published by Harmony Books, 1981. by Michael Grant. Published by by Greta Fink. Published by Menorah Publishing Company, Incorporated and Bloch Publishing Company, Incorporated, 1978. – (B.C.E., Before the Common Era, identical in time frame to the standard, B.C., but some Jewish people are more comfortable with this style.)
Some recurring themes have developed. The Roman world really hated it when anyone dared to print a coin with a local ruler’s visage on it. This is a matter of some amusement, as there must surely have been more critical issues. But if we were going to oppose the Empire, we’d have been sure not to coin a problem. It was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. We have carefully omitted many of the claims brought against ruling females. Unfeminine figures and faces, improper voices, sexual peccadilloes, and the rest of the barrage of insults are invariably cast upon aggressive women. Until someone tells us that Abraham Lincoln’s squeaky petite voice was the most notable thing about him, we aren’t listening to these unimportant matters.
We have tried to limit this article to those women who have some documented reality. Other women made very real contributions in other areas, but there isn’t enough written in the documents of the times to assure accuracy.
Nonetheless our hats are off to `J’, who appears to have authored an early version of the first testament; and to Mary the Jewess, an Egyptian who invented the water-bath arrangement of cooking. We salute the many Arabian queens who followed their ancient traditions; and the fabled female gardeners who gave the world the apple, with nothing but the sour quince from which to work. We salute the unsung heroines of the ages.
Hatshepsut – Circa 16th Century B.C.
An Egyptian queen during the time of the Pharaohs couldn’t rule as monarch. Hatshepsut is the only known exception to this, and she was labelled a King. Egyptologists believe queens held an important position because the Pharaoh held his throne through his marriage to his queen, who was generally his sister. She owned the rule, but he owned her. The mystical sanctity of the throne was understanding to pass from mother to daughter. This isn’t quite (but almost) as inbred as it sounds, since the used Egyptians had no concept of monogamy, and one Pharaoh would have many wives in addition to his `sister-wife’.
Yes, it’s very complicated. Hatshepsut not only ruled as a king, she dressed as one. Rather than long dresses, she wore a royal `kilt’. Born as the daughter of Thutmose I and his chief wife, she was expected to marry her brother and become queen. When her brothers both
