Warrior Women

The Amazons

Greek legend tells of Penthesilea, an Amazon queen noted for her courage and skill during the Trojan War. She was killed at the siege of Troy by Achilles who grieved over killing one so courageous and beautiful. According to Pliny, she created the battle-ax.

Greek historian Herodotus wrote of Amazon warriors who came from Asia and twice besieged Athens. The Amazon Kingdom was said to be in the western Tibet and so strong that even Alexander the Great could not conquer it. According to the legends, these women warriors would kill a man as a prenuptial ritual and kept only their female children. Amazons supposedly cut off their right breast to perfect their skill with bows and arrows.

Boadicea

Queen of the Celtic tribe called Iceni, Boadicea (or Boudicca) led an army of 200,000 in an uprising against Roman domination of Britain in the first century. Her rebellion began after the death of her husband, who left part of his fortune to Nero, emperor of Rome. Unimpressed, the Romans assaulted Boadicea, raped her daughters and enslaved her nobles as they moved on to annex her kingdom.

Her army raged through the countryside burning Roman army camps and towns such as Colchester and London, reportedly killing seventy thousand Roman settlers. She crushed the Ninth Legion on the battlefield before provincial governor Suetonius Paulinus arrived and routed her. She died before she could be taken to Rom and displayed in a triumphal parade. Some accounts state that she poisoned herself.