They
proposed
to them, that in observance of their oath, they should say that by their cloak and tunic they meant their spear and shield; for it was the custom of their country to call their spear a cloak, and their sword a tunic.
Polyaenus - Strategems
When the enemy encamped against her, she directed an altar to be raised in sight of them; and after every preparation for a sacrifice had been made, the bull was brought forth.
Under the influence of the medicine, the bull broke loose; he ran wild into the plain, roaring, and tilting at everything he met.
The Erythraeans saw the victim, intended for the enemy's sacrifice, running towards their camp, and considered it as a happy omen.
They seized the beast, and offered him up in sacrifice to their gods; everyone, in participation of the sacrifice, ate a piece of the flesh.
The whole army was soon afterwards seized with madness, and exhibited the same marks of wildness and frenzy the bull had done.
When Chrysame observed this, she directed Cnopus immediately to draw out his forces, and charge the enemy.
Incapable of making any defence, the Erythraeans were cut to pieces; but Cnopus made himself master of Erythrae, a great and flourishing city.
[44] Polycleia.
Aeatus the son of Pheidippus had an only sister called Polycleia, was descended like him from the Heracleidae. The oracle had declared that whichever of their family should first cross the Achelous, should possess the city, and occupy the throne. While Aeatus was engaged in a war with the Boeotians, who had formerly settled themselves in Thessaly, and his army was preparing to cross the Achelous, Polycleia bound up her foot, pretending to have hurt it, and requested her brother to carry her across the river. He, not suspecting any deceit, readily complied with her request; he gave his shield to his armour-bearer, and took his sister on his shoulders. But as he approached the opposite bank, she leapt from him onto the shore. Turning to Aeatus, she said: "Remember the oracle, by whose declaration the kingdom must be mine; for I was the first to reach the shore. " Aeatus was pleased with the trick, and captivated by the girl's manner; he married her, and shared the kingdom with her. Their marriage produced a son, whose name was Thessalus; from whom the city was afterwards called Thessalia.
[45] Leaena.
How Aristogeiton and Harmodius delivered Athens from the tyrant's yoke, is known to every Greek. Aristogeiton had a mistress, whose name was Leaena. Hippias ordered her to be examined by torture, as to what she know of the conspiracy; after she had long borne with great resolution the various cruelties that were exercised on her, she cut out her tongue with her own hand, lest the further increase of pain should extort from her any disclosure. The Athenians in memory of her erected in the Propylaea of the Acropolis a statue of a lioness in brass, without a tongue. [see also: Pausanias, 1. 23]
[46] Themisto.
Philon, the son of Phricodemus the tyrant, fell in love with Themisto, daughter of Crithon of Oeanthe. The tyrant demanded her for his son in marriage; and was refused by her father. In resentment of this affront, Phricodemus ordered Crithon's sons to be exposed to wild beasts before the eyes of their father and mother; then he seized the daughter, and gave her in marriage to his son. Themisto, thus forced into his embraces, concealed a sword under her robe. During the night, while the bridegroom was asleep, she dispatched him with the sword so secretly, that not the least noise was heard. She then found means to escape out of the house, and fled to the shore, where she found a boat; she went onto it, and committed herself to the mercy of the wind and waves. She was carried to Helice, a city of Achaea, in which there was a temple of Poseidon, where she took refuge. Thither Phricodemus sent his other son Heracon, the brother of Philon who had been murdered, to demand the girl from the inhabitants of Helice; and they, as the tyrant requested, delivered her up. But the ship had scarcely got under sail, when a violent storm arose, which drove them to Rhium, a town in Achaea. There two Acarnanian vessels made prize of the ship, because the Acarnanians at that time were at open war with the tyrant, and they carried it to Acarnania. The people there, as soon as they were informed of what had happened, bound Heracon, and delivered him up into the power of the girl. The tyrant then sent an embassy to her, requesting his son; she promised to give him up, after she had received her parents. Phricodemus accordingly sent her parents; but nevertheless the Acarnanians would not hand over Heracon, but scourged him, and afterwards put him to death. The tyrant himself not many days afterwards fell by the hands of his citizens. And, what is most remarkable, the citizens of Helice along with their city were not long afterwards engulfed in the sea, which swelled over them in an earthquake. Poseidon thus seemed to have revenged himself on them for the indignity they had offered him, in delivering up a fugitive, who had fled for refuge to his shrine.
[47] Pheretima.
When Arcesilaus son of Battus, king of Cyrene, was driven from his kingdom by a sedition of the people, his mother Pheretima sailed to Cyprus to ask for the assistance of Euelthon, king of Salamis. The Cyprian was deaf to her entreaties, but Arcesilaus at last acquired a number of Greek allies, and recovered his kingdom. However he was too severe in the punishments that he exacted on some of his enemies, and he was slain by the neighbouring barbarians. Amidst all these calamities, Pheretima did not lose her spirit, but applied to Aryandes, the satrap of Egypt, by recounting some obligations which she had formerly been able to confer on Cambyses. Aryandes supplied her with a powerful force, with which she attacked the inhabitants of Cyrene by sea and land; thus she avenged the death of her son, and re-instated her family on the throne. [see also: Herodotus, 4. 162]
[48] Axiothea.
# When Ptolemy king of Egypt sent a powerful force to dispossess Nicocles of the kingdom of Cyprus, both he and his brothers, rather than submit to slavery, fell by their own hands. Axiothea the wife of Nicocles, wishing to emulate the glorious resolution of the deceased, assembled their sisters, mothers, and wives; and exhorted them not to submit to anything unworthy of their family. Accordingly they barred the doors of the women's apartments, and while the citizens were crowding into the palace, with their children in their arms they set fire to the house. Some dispatched themselves with a sword, and others resolutely leaped into the flames. Axiothea, who was the promoter of the enterprise, after she had see them all thus gloriously fall, first stabbed, and then threw herself into the fire; to preserve even her dead body from falling into the hands of the enemy.
[49] Archidamis.
# Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, defeated the Lacedaemonians in a bloody battle, and marched against their city. The Lacedaemonians decided to convey their wives and children to Crete, and themselves to hazard another battle; they were determined either to obtain the victory, or to sell their lives at a dear price. But Archidamis, the daughter of king Cleadas, rejected the proposal, declaring that Spartan women ought to live, and die, with their husbands. The women therefore insisted on sharing in the operations of war; some fetched the tools, other dug in the ditches, some again were employed in sharpening the weapons, and other assisted in dressing the wounded. The spirit of the women gave new resolution to the Spartans, who again took the field; they engaged Pyrrhus, and defeated him.
[50] Laodice.
# Antiochus, surnamed Theos, married Laodice, his sister on the father's side, and had by her a son Seleucus. He also afterwards married Berenice, daughter of king Ptolemy, by whom he likewise had a son; but he died while this son was in his infancy, and left his kingdom to Seleucus. Laodice did not think her son was secure on the throne, while the son of Berenice was alive, and sought means to procure his death. Berenice invoked the pity and assistance of her husband's subjects - but too late. The assassins however exhibited to the people a child very like him, whom they had murdered; they declared him to be the royal infant, whom they had spared, and a guard was appointed to protect his person. Berenice also had a guard of Gallic mercenaries, and a fortified citadel appointed for her residence; and the people swore allegiance to her. At the suggestion of Aristarchus her physician, she now considered herself perfectly secure, and hoped to reconcile to her all who had before been hostile to her pretensions. But their object, in the oath they had taken to her, was only to throw her off her guard; once this was achieved, she was secretly assassinated. Several of the women, who were about her, fell while attempting to save her. However Panariste, Mania, and Gethosyne buried the body of Berenice, and placed another woman in her stead, in the bed where she had been murdered. They pretended that she was still living, and likely to recover from the wound she had received. And they persuaded her subjects of this, until Ptolemy, the father of the deceased, arrived. He dispatched letters to the countries around in the names of his daughter and her son, as if they were still alive; and by this stratagem of Panariste he secured for himself the whole country from Taurus to India, without a single engagement.
[51] Theano.
Pausanias, after he had been convicted of a plot to betray the city to the Medes, took refuge in the temple of Athene Chalcioeca, from whence the law strictly forbids a suppliant to be forced away. His mother Theano immediately went there, and laid a brick, which she carried with her, at the door. The Laconians admired her prompt thought and resolution, and they also each carried a brick to the door of the temple. The doorway was thus blocked up, without forcing the suppliant from the temple, and the traitor perished by being blocked up in the temple. [see also: Diodorus, 11. 45]
[52] Deidameia.
# Deidameia, the daughter of Pyrrhus, attacked and took Ambracia, to avenge the death of Ptolemy. And when the Epirots sued for peace as suppliants, she granted it only on condition that they acknowledged her hereditary rights, and the honours of her ancestors. This they agreed to do, without any intention of observing their agreement. For some of them immediately formed a plot against her life, and bribed Nestor, one of Alexander's guards, to murder her; but he, struck with her majestic dignity, fixed his eyes on the ground as if in meditation, and returned without accomplishing his purpose. She then retired to the temple of Artemis Hegemone, where Milon, who had been guilty of murdering his own mother Philotera, pursued her with a drawn sword. She had just time to call out to him, "Slaughter, thou matricide, on slaughter raise" [Euripides, Orestes. 1587], before Milon aimed a blow, and slew her in the temple.
[53] Artemisia.
Artemisia, in the naval battle at Salamis, found that the Persians were defeated, and she herself was near to falling into the hands of the Greeks. She ordered the Persian colours to be taken down, and the master of the ship to bear down upon, and attack a Persian vessel, that was passing by her. The Greeks, seeing this, supposed her to be one of their allies; they drew off and left her alone, directing their forces against other parts of the Persian fleet. Artemisia in the meantime sheered off, and escaped safely to Caria. [see also: Herodotus, 8. 87]
2 Artemisia, the daughter of Lygdamis, sank a ship of the Calyndian allies, which was commanded by Damasithymus. In acknowledgement of her gallantry, the king sent her a complete suit of Greek armour; and he presented the captain of the ship with a distaff and spindle.
3 Artemisia always chose a long ship, and carried on board with her Greek, as well as barbarian, colours. When she chased a Greek ship, she hoisted the barbarian colours; but when she was chased by a Greek ship, she hoisted the Greek colours; so that the enemy might mistake her for a Greek, and give up the pursuit
4 Artemisia planted soldiers in ambush near Latmus; and herself, with a numerous train of women, eunuchs and musicians, celebrated a sacrifice at the grove of the Mother of the Gods, which was about seven stades distant from the city. When the inhabitants of Latmus came out to see the magnificent procession, the soldiers entered the city and took possession of it. Thus did Artemisia, by flutes and cymbals, possess herself of what she had in vain endeavoured to obtain by force of arms.
5 Artemisia, queen of Caria, fought as an ally of Xerxes against the Greeks. At the famous battle of Salamis, the king acknowledged her to have excelled herself above all the officers in the fleet. And even in the heat of the action, observing the manner in which she distinguished herself, he exclaimed: "O Zeus, surely you have formed women out of man's materials, and men out of woman's. " [see also: Herodotus, 8. 88]
[54] Mania.
Mania, the wife of Zenis prince of Dardanus, governed the realm after the death of her husband, with the assistance of Pharnabazus. She always went to battle, drawn in a chariot; she gave her orders at the time of action, formed her lines, and rewarded every man who fought well, as she saw he deserved. And - what has scarcely happened to any general, except herself - she never suffered a defeat. But Meidias, who had married her daughter, and might from that close relationship have been supposed to be faithful to her, secretly entered her apartments, and murdered her. [see also: Xenophon, Hell. 3. 1]
[55] Tirgatao.
Tirgatao of Maeotis married Hecataeus, king of the Sindi, a people who live a little above the Bosphorus. Hecataeus was expelled from his kingdom, but was reinstated in his throne by Satyrus, tyrant of Bosphorus. Satyrus gave him his daughter in marriage, and urged him to kill his former wife. As Hecataeus passionately loved the Maeotian, he could not think of killing her, but confined her to a strong castle; however, she found a way of making her escape from there. Fearing lest she should excite the Maeotians to war, Hecataeus and Satyrus made a strict search for her, which she skilfully eluded, travelling through lonely and deserted ways, hiding herself in the woods in the day, and continuing her journey in the night. At last she reached the country of the Ixomatae, where her own family possessed the throne. Her father was dead, and she afterwards married his successor in the kingdom. Then she roused the Ixomatae to war, and engaged many warlike nations around the Maeotis to join the alliance. The confederates first invaded the country of Hecataeus, and afterwards ravaged the dominions of Satyrus. Harassed by a war, in which they found themselves inferior to the enemy, they sent an embassy to sue for peace, accompanied by Metrodorus the son of Satyrus, who was offered as a hostage. She granted them peace, on stipulated terms, which they bound themselves by oath to observe. But no sooner had they made the oath, than they planned schemes to break it. Satyrus prevailed on two of his friends, to revolt to her, and put themselves under her protection; so as the more easily to find an opportunity to assassinate her. On their revolt, Satyrus wrote a letter, to ask for them to be handed over; which she answered, by alleging that the law of nations justified her in protecting those, who had placed themselves under her protection. The two men, who had revolted, one day requested an audience of her. While one distracted her with a pretended matter of importance, the other levelled a blow at her with a drawn sword, which fell upon her girdle; and the guards immediately seized and imprisoned them. They were afterwards examined by torture, and confessed the whole plot; upon which, Tirgatao ordered the hostage to be executed, and laid waste the territories of Satyrus with fire and sword. Stung with remorse for the calamities he had brought upon himself and his country, Satyrus died in the midst of an unsuccessful war; leaving his son Gorgippus to succeed him in the throne. He renounced his father's proceedings, and sued for peace, which she granted on payment of a tribute, and put and end to the war.
[56] Amage.
Amage, the wife of Medosaccus king of the Sarmatians, who inhabit the coast of the Euxine sea, observed her husband to be totally given up to luxury, and took the reins of government into her own hands. She judged causes, stationed garrisons, repulsed the invasions of enemies, and directed everything with so great ability, that her fame extended through all Scythia. The inhabitants of the Tauric Chersonesus, who had been greatly harassed by a king of the neighbouring Scythians, had heard of Amage's fame, and they requested an alliance with her. In consequence of a treaty formed between the two nations, she wrote to the Scythian prince, requesting him not to repeat his ravages in the Chersonesus. When he treated her prohibition with contempt, she marched against him with a hundred and twenty men of tried courage, and extraordinary strength, each of them provided with three horses. In one night and day she covered a distance of twelve hundred stades, and arriving unexpectedly at the palace, she slew all the guards. And while the Scythian, bewildered by this moment of sudden danger, conceived her force to be much greater than it really was, Amage rushed into the palace, where she had had made her first attack, and slew the Scythian, along with his friends and relations. She put the inhabitants of Chersonesus back in free possession of their country, and gave his hereditary dominions to the son of the Scythian prince; warning him to take a warning from his father's death, and not to invade the territories of the neighbouring Greeks and barbarians.
[57] Arsinoe.
# After the death of Arsinoe's husband Lysimachus, the city of Ephesus was distracted with seditions, and the faction in favour of Seleucus knocked down the walls, and set open the gates. Arsinoe placed a slave in the royal litter, whom she dressed in her own robes, and posted a strong guard around her. Then dressing herself in ragged clothes, and disfiguring her face, she passed through a private door, ran to the ships, and going on board immediately weighed anchor and made her escape. In the meantime Menecrates, one of her opponents' generals, attacked the litter and slew the servant she had left in it, mistaking her for Arsinoe.
[58] Cratesipolis.
# Cratesipolis, who had long fought in vain for an opportunity of betraying Acrocorinth to Ptolemy, having been repeatedly assured by the mercenaries, who composed the guard, that the place could be defended, applauded their fidelity and bravery; however, said she, it may be wise to send for reinforcements from Sicyon. For this purpose, she openly sent a letter of request to the Sicyonians; and privately an invitation to Ptolemy. Ptolemy's troops were dispatched in the night, admitted as the Sicyonian allies, and put in possession of Acrocorinth without the agreement or knowledge of the guards.
[59] The Priestess.
# During the siege of Pellene, which was conducted by the Aetolians, the priestess of Athene, on the occasion of the festival of the goddess, led the procession of the day from a high hill, opposite to the tower where the men of Pellene used to arm. She was the tallest and handsomest maiden who could be picked out, and she was attired in a full suit of elegant armour and a three-plumed helmet. The Aetolians, seeing a maiden come out in arms from the temple of Athene, and advance at the head of the armed citizens, supposed that she was the goddess herself, who had come to the protection of the city. They immediately raised the siege, and the men of Pellene pursued them in their retreat, and killed many of them.
[60] Cynane.
Cynane, the daughter of Philippus, was famous for her military knowledge; she commanded armies, and in the field charged at the head of them. In an engagement with the Illyrians, she herself slew their queen with a fatal blow to the throat; and she defeated the Illyrian army with great slaughter. She married Amyntas, son of Perdiccas; and, losing him soon after, never would take a second husband. By Amyntas she had an only daughter named Eurydice: to whom she gave a military education, and instructed her in the science of war. Upon Alexander's death, his generals parcelled out his dominions among themselves, in exclusion of the royal family. But Cynane crossed the Strymon, forcing her way in the face of Antipater, who disputed her passage over it. She then passed the Hellespont, to meet the Macedonian army, and Alcetas with a powerful force advanced to give her battle. The Macedonians at first paused at the sight of Philippus' daughter, and the sister of Alexander; but after reproaching Alcetas with ingratitude, undaunted at the number of his forces, and his formidable preparations for battle, she bravely advanced to fight against him. She resolved upon a glorious death, rather than, stripped of her dominions, accept a private life, unworthy of the daughter of Philippus.
[61] Mysta.
# When Seleucus, surnamed Callinicus, was defeated by the Gauls at Ancyra, and fell into the hands of the enemy, his wife Mysta threw aside her royal robe, put on the ragged dress of a lowly servant, and as such was sold amongst the prisoners. After having been conveyed amongst the rest of the slaves to Rhodes, there she revealed her true identity. The Rhodians immediately re-purchased her from the buyer, dressed her in a manner suitable to her rank, and conducted her to Antioch.
[62] Epicharis.
Piso and Seneca were accused of a conspiracy against Nero; and Mela, a brother of Seneca, had a mistress whose name was Epicharis. Nero examined her by torture, to discover what she might know of the plot; but she resolutely bore the torture without revealing anything. She was therefore dismissed for the present; but three days afterwards she was ordered to be brought back in a litter. While she was being carried in it, she pulled off her girdle, and strangled herself with it. As soon as the men, who were in charge of the litter, had brought it to the place of torture, they set it down, and told Epicharis to come out; but on looking inside the litter, they found only a dead corpse. This circumstance exceedingly irritated the tyrant, who found himself thus outwitted by a prostitute. [see also: Tacitus, Ann. 15. 57]
[63] The Milesian Women.
A general despondency once possessed the young women of Miletus; many of whom killed themselves for no visible reason. A Milesian woman eventually advised that those, who were guilty of suicide, should be dragged [naked] through the forum. The advice was followed, and had its desired effect; for dread of the ignominy, that would attend their bodies after death, prevented them from ending their life, even though the horrors of death itself had failed to do so. [See also: Plutarch, Mor. 249]
[64] The Melian Women.
After the Melians under the conduct of Nymphaeus had established themselves in Caria, the Carians, who were settled at Cryassus, grew jealous of their power, and anxious to get rid of them. With that in view, they held a public entertainment, and invited the Melians to take part in it. But a Carian maiden, who had fallen in love with Nymphaeus, revealed their plot to him. He then answered to the invitation of the Carians, that it was the custom of the Greek never to attend an entertainment without their wives. They were therefore requested to bring their wives with them. The Melians accordingly went in their tunics, and unarmed; but each of their wives carried a sword in her bosom, and placed herself by her husband. In the midst of the entertainment, observing a Carian give a signal, the women instantly opened their bosoms, and gave every man his sword. The men fell upon the barbarians, and cut them to pieces; then they took possession of their city and domains. [See also: Plutarch, Mor. 246]
[65] The Phocian Women.
The Phocians and Thessalians fought a war with such animosity, that the Thessalians made a resolution to give no quarter to any Phocian who bore arms, and to reduce their wives and children to slavery. Before the battle, Phocian women collected a great quantity of wood, which they piled up, and mounted it with their children; they vowed that, as soon as they saw their husbands defeated, they would set fire to the pile, and expire in the flames. This resolution of the women produced corresponding bravery in the men; they fought obstinately, and obtained the victory. [See also: Plutarch, Mor. 244]
[66] The Chian Women.
When the Chians and Erythraeans had long been at war about the possession of Leuconia, the Chians, finding the enemy too powerful for them, demanded a truce, and promised to evacuate the place, taking only their cloak and tunic with them. The Chian women were enraged at the terms; and pressed the men not to relinquish their arms. The men told them, that they had promised by oath to do it. The women persisted in their advice, that they should by no means part with their arms.
They proposed to them, that in observance of their oath, they should say that by their cloak and tunic they meant their spear and shield; for it was the custom of their country to call their spear a cloak, and their sword a tunic. The Chians followed the women's advice; and by thus showing their determination to defend themselves, they afterwards became more formidable to the Erythraeans. [See also: Plutarch, Mor. 244]
[67] The Thasian Women.
The Thasians were closely besieged, and lacked cords to tie together the machines, which they erected on their walls against the enemy's siege works. The women shaves their heads, and by twisting their hair formed it into bands, which were used in binding their machines.
[68] The Argive Women.
# Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, was invited by Aristeus the Argive to undertake an expedition against Argos. The Argives assembled in arms at the marketplace; while the women attacked the Epirots from the house tops with stones and bricks, and forced them to retreat. Pyrrhus himself was killed in the attack, by the blow from a brick, which struck him on the head. The Argive women obtained immortal reputation on this occasion, through the conquest and death of Pyrrhus, who was the most warlike prince of the age.
[69] The Acarnanian Women.
# The Aetolians, after a long war with the Acarnanians, were at last let into the city by treachery. The Acarnanians fought bravely in the hour of danger, but were overpowered. The women got up onto the tops of the houses; and from there hurled down stones and bricks, which killed many of the enemy. When the men were forced to retreat before superior numbers, the women rallied them by the exhortations, remonstrances and supplications, and brought them back to the battle. And at last, when every effort failed, and those who survived the carnage were captured, the women clung to their husbands, parents and brothers, and held them so close, that the enemy were unable to separate them, and were forced to kill both men and women together.
[70] The Women of Cyrene.
When Ptolemy made war on the inhabitants of Cyrene, they committed to Lycopus, an Aetolian general, the whole conduct of the war. And while the men engaged in the field of war, the women also took their share of duty: they made the palisades, dug the trenches, supplied the men with missiles, took care of the wounded, and prepared their provisions. The men at length were most of them cut down, and Lycopus changed the constitution into a monarchy; for which the women so censured him with their reproaches, that he ordered many of them to execution, to which they cheerfully and gladly ran.
[71] The Lacedaemonian Women.
The daughters of the Lacedaemonians married the Minyans, who were descended from the Argonauts. And in consequence of these marriages, the Minyans were admitted by the Lacedaemonians into a share of the government. But not content with that, the Minyans attempt to make themselves absolute masters of the state. The Spartans thereupon seized them, and threw them into prison. Their daughters . . . .
{ The manuscripts of Polyaenus end at this point; the rest of the story of the Lacedaemonian women is told by Herodotus, 4. 145 }.
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[44] Polycleia.
Aeatus the son of Pheidippus had an only sister called Polycleia, was descended like him from the Heracleidae. The oracle had declared that whichever of their family should first cross the Achelous, should possess the city, and occupy the throne. While Aeatus was engaged in a war with the Boeotians, who had formerly settled themselves in Thessaly, and his army was preparing to cross the Achelous, Polycleia bound up her foot, pretending to have hurt it, and requested her brother to carry her across the river. He, not suspecting any deceit, readily complied with her request; he gave his shield to his armour-bearer, and took his sister on his shoulders. But as he approached the opposite bank, she leapt from him onto the shore. Turning to Aeatus, she said: "Remember the oracle, by whose declaration the kingdom must be mine; for I was the first to reach the shore. " Aeatus was pleased with the trick, and captivated by the girl's manner; he married her, and shared the kingdom with her. Their marriage produced a son, whose name was Thessalus; from whom the city was afterwards called Thessalia.
[45] Leaena.
How Aristogeiton and Harmodius delivered Athens from the tyrant's yoke, is known to every Greek. Aristogeiton had a mistress, whose name was Leaena. Hippias ordered her to be examined by torture, as to what she know of the conspiracy; after she had long borne with great resolution the various cruelties that were exercised on her, she cut out her tongue with her own hand, lest the further increase of pain should extort from her any disclosure. The Athenians in memory of her erected in the Propylaea of the Acropolis a statue of a lioness in brass, without a tongue. [see also: Pausanias, 1. 23]
[46] Themisto.
Philon, the son of Phricodemus the tyrant, fell in love with Themisto, daughter of Crithon of Oeanthe. The tyrant demanded her for his son in marriage; and was refused by her father. In resentment of this affront, Phricodemus ordered Crithon's sons to be exposed to wild beasts before the eyes of their father and mother; then he seized the daughter, and gave her in marriage to his son. Themisto, thus forced into his embraces, concealed a sword under her robe. During the night, while the bridegroom was asleep, she dispatched him with the sword so secretly, that not the least noise was heard. She then found means to escape out of the house, and fled to the shore, where she found a boat; she went onto it, and committed herself to the mercy of the wind and waves. She was carried to Helice, a city of Achaea, in which there was a temple of Poseidon, where she took refuge. Thither Phricodemus sent his other son Heracon, the brother of Philon who had been murdered, to demand the girl from the inhabitants of Helice; and they, as the tyrant requested, delivered her up. But the ship had scarcely got under sail, when a violent storm arose, which drove them to Rhium, a town in Achaea. There two Acarnanian vessels made prize of the ship, because the Acarnanians at that time were at open war with the tyrant, and they carried it to Acarnania. The people there, as soon as they were informed of what had happened, bound Heracon, and delivered him up into the power of the girl. The tyrant then sent an embassy to her, requesting his son; she promised to give him up, after she had received her parents. Phricodemus accordingly sent her parents; but nevertheless the Acarnanians would not hand over Heracon, but scourged him, and afterwards put him to death. The tyrant himself not many days afterwards fell by the hands of his citizens. And, what is most remarkable, the citizens of Helice along with their city were not long afterwards engulfed in the sea, which swelled over them in an earthquake. Poseidon thus seemed to have revenged himself on them for the indignity they had offered him, in delivering up a fugitive, who had fled for refuge to his shrine.
[47] Pheretima.
When Arcesilaus son of Battus, king of Cyrene, was driven from his kingdom by a sedition of the people, his mother Pheretima sailed to Cyprus to ask for the assistance of Euelthon, king of Salamis. The Cyprian was deaf to her entreaties, but Arcesilaus at last acquired a number of Greek allies, and recovered his kingdom. However he was too severe in the punishments that he exacted on some of his enemies, and he was slain by the neighbouring barbarians. Amidst all these calamities, Pheretima did not lose her spirit, but applied to Aryandes, the satrap of Egypt, by recounting some obligations which she had formerly been able to confer on Cambyses. Aryandes supplied her with a powerful force, with which she attacked the inhabitants of Cyrene by sea and land; thus she avenged the death of her son, and re-instated her family on the throne. [see also: Herodotus, 4. 162]
[48] Axiothea.
# When Ptolemy king of Egypt sent a powerful force to dispossess Nicocles of the kingdom of Cyprus, both he and his brothers, rather than submit to slavery, fell by their own hands. Axiothea the wife of Nicocles, wishing to emulate the glorious resolution of the deceased, assembled their sisters, mothers, and wives; and exhorted them not to submit to anything unworthy of their family. Accordingly they barred the doors of the women's apartments, and while the citizens were crowding into the palace, with their children in their arms they set fire to the house. Some dispatched themselves with a sword, and others resolutely leaped into the flames. Axiothea, who was the promoter of the enterprise, after she had see them all thus gloriously fall, first stabbed, and then threw herself into the fire; to preserve even her dead body from falling into the hands of the enemy.
[49] Archidamis.
# Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, defeated the Lacedaemonians in a bloody battle, and marched against their city. The Lacedaemonians decided to convey their wives and children to Crete, and themselves to hazard another battle; they were determined either to obtain the victory, or to sell their lives at a dear price. But Archidamis, the daughter of king Cleadas, rejected the proposal, declaring that Spartan women ought to live, and die, with their husbands. The women therefore insisted on sharing in the operations of war; some fetched the tools, other dug in the ditches, some again were employed in sharpening the weapons, and other assisted in dressing the wounded. The spirit of the women gave new resolution to the Spartans, who again took the field; they engaged Pyrrhus, and defeated him.
[50] Laodice.
# Antiochus, surnamed Theos, married Laodice, his sister on the father's side, and had by her a son Seleucus. He also afterwards married Berenice, daughter of king Ptolemy, by whom he likewise had a son; but he died while this son was in his infancy, and left his kingdom to Seleucus. Laodice did not think her son was secure on the throne, while the son of Berenice was alive, and sought means to procure his death. Berenice invoked the pity and assistance of her husband's subjects - but too late. The assassins however exhibited to the people a child very like him, whom they had murdered; they declared him to be the royal infant, whom they had spared, and a guard was appointed to protect his person. Berenice also had a guard of Gallic mercenaries, and a fortified citadel appointed for her residence; and the people swore allegiance to her. At the suggestion of Aristarchus her physician, she now considered herself perfectly secure, and hoped to reconcile to her all who had before been hostile to her pretensions. But their object, in the oath they had taken to her, was only to throw her off her guard; once this was achieved, she was secretly assassinated. Several of the women, who were about her, fell while attempting to save her. However Panariste, Mania, and Gethosyne buried the body of Berenice, and placed another woman in her stead, in the bed where she had been murdered. They pretended that she was still living, and likely to recover from the wound she had received. And they persuaded her subjects of this, until Ptolemy, the father of the deceased, arrived. He dispatched letters to the countries around in the names of his daughter and her son, as if they were still alive; and by this stratagem of Panariste he secured for himself the whole country from Taurus to India, without a single engagement.
[51] Theano.
Pausanias, after he had been convicted of a plot to betray the city to the Medes, took refuge in the temple of Athene Chalcioeca, from whence the law strictly forbids a suppliant to be forced away. His mother Theano immediately went there, and laid a brick, which she carried with her, at the door. The Laconians admired her prompt thought and resolution, and they also each carried a brick to the door of the temple. The doorway was thus blocked up, without forcing the suppliant from the temple, and the traitor perished by being blocked up in the temple. [see also: Diodorus, 11. 45]
[52] Deidameia.
# Deidameia, the daughter of Pyrrhus, attacked and took Ambracia, to avenge the death of Ptolemy. And when the Epirots sued for peace as suppliants, she granted it only on condition that they acknowledged her hereditary rights, and the honours of her ancestors. This they agreed to do, without any intention of observing their agreement. For some of them immediately formed a plot against her life, and bribed Nestor, one of Alexander's guards, to murder her; but he, struck with her majestic dignity, fixed his eyes on the ground as if in meditation, and returned without accomplishing his purpose. She then retired to the temple of Artemis Hegemone, where Milon, who had been guilty of murdering his own mother Philotera, pursued her with a drawn sword. She had just time to call out to him, "Slaughter, thou matricide, on slaughter raise" [Euripides, Orestes. 1587], before Milon aimed a blow, and slew her in the temple.
[53] Artemisia.
Artemisia, in the naval battle at Salamis, found that the Persians were defeated, and she herself was near to falling into the hands of the Greeks. She ordered the Persian colours to be taken down, and the master of the ship to bear down upon, and attack a Persian vessel, that was passing by her. The Greeks, seeing this, supposed her to be one of their allies; they drew off and left her alone, directing their forces against other parts of the Persian fleet. Artemisia in the meantime sheered off, and escaped safely to Caria. [see also: Herodotus, 8. 87]
2 Artemisia, the daughter of Lygdamis, sank a ship of the Calyndian allies, which was commanded by Damasithymus. In acknowledgement of her gallantry, the king sent her a complete suit of Greek armour; and he presented the captain of the ship with a distaff and spindle.
3 Artemisia always chose a long ship, and carried on board with her Greek, as well as barbarian, colours. When she chased a Greek ship, she hoisted the barbarian colours; but when she was chased by a Greek ship, she hoisted the Greek colours; so that the enemy might mistake her for a Greek, and give up the pursuit
4 Artemisia planted soldiers in ambush near Latmus; and herself, with a numerous train of women, eunuchs and musicians, celebrated a sacrifice at the grove of the Mother of the Gods, which was about seven stades distant from the city. When the inhabitants of Latmus came out to see the magnificent procession, the soldiers entered the city and took possession of it. Thus did Artemisia, by flutes and cymbals, possess herself of what she had in vain endeavoured to obtain by force of arms.
5 Artemisia, queen of Caria, fought as an ally of Xerxes against the Greeks. At the famous battle of Salamis, the king acknowledged her to have excelled herself above all the officers in the fleet. And even in the heat of the action, observing the manner in which she distinguished herself, he exclaimed: "O Zeus, surely you have formed women out of man's materials, and men out of woman's. " [see also: Herodotus, 8. 88]
[54] Mania.
Mania, the wife of Zenis prince of Dardanus, governed the realm after the death of her husband, with the assistance of Pharnabazus. She always went to battle, drawn in a chariot; she gave her orders at the time of action, formed her lines, and rewarded every man who fought well, as she saw he deserved. And - what has scarcely happened to any general, except herself - she never suffered a defeat. But Meidias, who had married her daughter, and might from that close relationship have been supposed to be faithful to her, secretly entered her apartments, and murdered her. [see also: Xenophon, Hell. 3. 1]
[55] Tirgatao.
Tirgatao of Maeotis married Hecataeus, king of the Sindi, a people who live a little above the Bosphorus. Hecataeus was expelled from his kingdom, but was reinstated in his throne by Satyrus, tyrant of Bosphorus. Satyrus gave him his daughter in marriage, and urged him to kill his former wife. As Hecataeus passionately loved the Maeotian, he could not think of killing her, but confined her to a strong castle; however, she found a way of making her escape from there. Fearing lest she should excite the Maeotians to war, Hecataeus and Satyrus made a strict search for her, which she skilfully eluded, travelling through lonely and deserted ways, hiding herself in the woods in the day, and continuing her journey in the night. At last she reached the country of the Ixomatae, where her own family possessed the throne. Her father was dead, and she afterwards married his successor in the kingdom. Then she roused the Ixomatae to war, and engaged many warlike nations around the Maeotis to join the alliance. The confederates first invaded the country of Hecataeus, and afterwards ravaged the dominions of Satyrus. Harassed by a war, in which they found themselves inferior to the enemy, they sent an embassy to sue for peace, accompanied by Metrodorus the son of Satyrus, who was offered as a hostage. She granted them peace, on stipulated terms, which they bound themselves by oath to observe. But no sooner had they made the oath, than they planned schemes to break it. Satyrus prevailed on two of his friends, to revolt to her, and put themselves under her protection; so as the more easily to find an opportunity to assassinate her. On their revolt, Satyrus wrote a letter, to ask for them to be handed over; which she answered, by alleging that the law of nations justified her in protecting those, who had placed themselves under her protection. The two men, who had revolted, one day requested an audience of her. While one distracted her with a pretended matter of importance, the other levelled a blow at her with a drawn sword, which fell upon her girdle; and the guards immediately seized and imprisoned them. They were afterwards examined by torture, and confessed the whole plot; upon which, Tirgatao ordered the hostage to be executed, and laid waste the territories of Satyrus with fire and sword. Stung with remorse for the calamities he had brought upon himself and his country, Satyrus died in the midst of an unsuccessful war; leaving his son Gorgippus to succeed him in the throne. He renounced his father's proceedings, and sued for peace, which she granted on payment of a tribute, and put and end to the war.
[56] Amage.
Amage, the wife of Medosaccus king of the Sarmatians, who inhabit the coast of the Euxine sea, observed her husband to be totally given up to luxury, and took the reins of government into her own hands. She judged causes, stationed garrisons, repulsed the invasions of enemies, and directed everything with so great ability, that her fame extended through all Scythia. The inhabitants of the Tauric Chersonesus, who had been greatly harassed by a king of the neighbouring Scythians, had heard of Amage's fame, and they requested an alliance with her. In consequence of a treaty formed between the two nations, she wrote to the Scythian prince, requesting him not to repeat his ravages in the Chersonesus. When he treated her prohibition with contempt, she marched against him with a hundred and twenty men of tried courage, and extraordinary strength, each of them provided with three horses. In one night and day she covered a distance of twelve hundred stades, and arriving unexpectedly at the palace, she slew all the guards. And while the Scythian, bewildered by this moment of sudden danger, conceived her force to be much greater than it really was, Amage rushed into the palace, where she had had made her first attack, and slew the Scythian, along with his friends and relations. She put the inhabitants of Chersonesus back in free possession of their country, and gave his hereditary dominions to the son of the Scythian prince; warning him to take a warning from his father's death, and not to invade the territories of the neighbouring Greeks and barbarians.
[57] Arsinoe.
# After the death of Arsinoe's husband Lysimachus, the city of Ephesus was distracted with seditions, and the faction in favour of Seleucus knocked down the walls, and set open the gates. Arsinoe placed a slave in the royal litter, whom she dressed in her own robes, and posted a strong guard around her. Then dressing herself in ragged clothes, and disfiguring her face, she passed through a private door, ran to the ships, and going on board immediately weighed anchor and made her escape. In the meantime Menecrates, one of her opponents' generals, attacked the litter and slew the servant she had left in it, mistaking her for Arsinoe.
[58] Cratesipolis.
# Cratesipolis, who had long fought in vain for an opportunity of betraying Acrocorinth to Ptolemy, having been repeatedly assured by the mercenaries, who composed the guard, that the place could be defended, applauded their fidelity and bravery; however, said she, it may be wise to send for reinforcements from Sicyon. For this purpose, she openly sent a letter of request to the Sicyonians; and privately an invitation to Ptolemy. Ptolemy's troops were dispatched in the night, admitted as the Sicyonian allies, and put in possession of Acrocorinth without the agreement or knowledge of the guards.
[59] The Priestess.
# During the siege of Pellene, which was conducted by the Aetolians, the priestess of Athene, on the occasion of the festival of the goddess, led the procession of the day from a high hill, opposite to the tower where the men of Pellene used to arm. She was the tallest and handsomest maiden who could be picked out, and she was attired in a full suit of elegant armour and a three-plumed helmet. The Aetolians, seeing a maiden come out in arms from the temple of Athene, and advance at the head of the armed citizens, supposed that she was the goddess herself, who had come to the protection of the city. They immediately raised the siege, and the men of Pellene pursued them in their retreat, and killed many of them.
[60] Cynane.
Cynane, the daughter of Philippus, was famous for her military knowledge; she commanded armies, and in the field charged at the head of them. In an engagement with the Illyrians, she herself slew their queen with a fatal blow to the throat; and she defeated the Illyrian army with great slaughter. She married Amyntas, son of Perdiccas; and, losing him soon after, never would take a second husband. By Amyntas she had an only daughter named Eurydice: to whom she gave a military education, and instructed her in the science of war. Upon Alexander's death, his generals parcelled out his dominions among themselves, in exclusion of the royal family. But Cynane crossed the Strymon, forcing her way in the face of Antipater, who disputed her passage over it. She then passed the Hellespont, to meet the Macedonian army, and Alcetas with a powerful force advanced to give her battle. The Macedonians at first paused at the sight of Philippus' daughter, and the sister of Alexander; but after reproaching Alcetas with ingratitude, undaunted at the number of his forces, and his formidable preparations for battle, she bravely advanced to fight against him. She resolved upon a glorious death, rather than, stripped of her dominions, accept a private life, unworthy of the daughter of Philippus.
[61] Mysta.
# When Seleucus, surnamed Callinicus, was defeated by the Gauls at Ancyra, and fell into the hands of the enemy, his wife Mysta threw aside her royal robe, put on the ragged dress of a lowly servant, and as such was sold amongst the prisoners. After having been conveyed amongst the rest of the slaves to Rhodes, there she revealed her true identity. The Rhodians immediately re-purchased her from the buyer, dressed her in a manner suitable to her rank, and conducted her to Antioch.
[62] Epicharis.
Piso and Seneca were accused of a conspiracy against Nero; and Mela, a brother of Seneca, had a mistress whose name was Epicharis. Nero examined her by torture, to discover what she might know of the plot; but she resolutely bore the torture without revealing anything. She was therefore dismissed for the present; but three days afterwards she was ordered to be brought back in a litter. While she was being carried in it, she pulled off her girdle, and strangled herself with it. As soon as the men, who were in charge of the litter, had brought it to the place of torture, they set it down, and told Epicharis to come out; but on looking inside the litter, they found only a dead corpse. This circumstance exceedingly irritated the tyrant, who found himself thus outwitted by a prostitute. [see also: Tacitus, Ann. 15. 57]
[63] The Milesian Women.
A general despondency once possessed the young women of Miletus; many of whom killed themselves for no visible reason. A Milesian woman eventually advised that those, who were guilty of suicide, should be dragged [naked] through the forum. The advice was followed, and had its desired effect; for dread of the ignominy, that would attend their bodies after death, prevented them from ending their life, even though the horrors of death itself had failed to do so. [See also: Plutarch, Mor. 249]
[64] The Melian Women.
After the Melians under the conduct of Nymphaeus had established themselves in Caria, the Carians, who were settled at Cryassus, grew jealous of their power, and anxious to get rid of them. With that in view, they held a public entertainment, and invited the Melians to take part in it. But a Carian maiden, who had fallen in love with Nymphaeus, revealed their plot to him. He then answered to the invitation of the Carians, that it was the custom of the Greek never to attend an entertainment without their wives. They were therefore requested to bring their wives with them. The Melians accordingly went in their tunics, and unarmed; but each of their wives carried a sword in her bosom, and placed herself by her husband. In the midst of the entertainment, observing a Carian give a signal, the women instantly opened their bosoms, and gave every man his sword. The men fell upon the barbarians, and cut them to pieces; then they took possession of their city and domains. [See also: Plutarch, Mor. 246]
[65] The Phocian Women.
The Phocians and Thessalians fought a war with such animosity, that the Thessalians made a resolution to give no quarter to any Phocian who bore arms, and to reduce their wives and children to slavery. Before the battle, Phocian women collected a great quantity of wood, which they piled up, and mounted it with their children; they vowed that, as soon as they saw their husbands defeated, they would set fire to the pile, and expire in the flames. This resolution of the women produced corresponding bravery in the men; they fought obstinately, and obtained the victory. [See also: Plutarch, Mor. 244]
[66] The Chian Women.
When the Chians and Erythraeans had long been at war about the possession of Leuconia, the Chians, finding the enemy too powerful for them, demanded a truce, and promised to evacuate the place, taking only their cloak and tunic with them. The Chian women were enraged at the terms; and pressed the men not to relinquish their arms. The men told them, that they had promised by oath to do it. The women persisted in their advice, that they should by no means part with their arms.
They proposed to them, that in observance of their oath, they should say that by their cloak and tunic they meant their spear and shield; for it was the custom of their country to call their spear a cloak, and their sword a tunic. The Chians followed the women's advice; and by thus showing their determination to defend themselves, they afterwards became more formidable to the Erythraeans. [See also: Plutarch, Mor. 244]
[67] The Thasian Women.
The Thasians were closely besieged, and lacked cords to tie together the machines, which they erected on their walls against the enemy's siege works. The women shaves their heads, and by twisting their hair formed it into bands, which were used in binding their machines.
[68] The Argive Women.
# Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, was invited by Aristeus the Argive to undertake an expedition against Argos. The Argives assembled in arms at the marketplace; while the women attacked the Epirots from the house tops with stones and bricks, and forced them to retreat. Pyrrhus himself was killed in the attack, by the blow from a brick, which struck him on the head. The Argive women obtained immortal reputation on this occasion, through the conquest and death of Pyrrhus, who was the most warlike prince of the age.
[69] The Acarnanian Women.
# The Aetolians, after a long war with the Acarnanians, were at last let into the city by treachery. The Acarnanians fought bravely in the hour of danger, but were overpowered. The women got up onto the tops of the houses; and from there hurled down stones and bricks, which killed many of the enemy. When the men were forced to retreat before superior numbers, the women rallied them by the exhortations, remonstrances and supplications, and brought them back to the battle. And at last, when every effort failed, and those who survived the carnage were captured, the women clung to their husbands, parents and brothers, and held them so close, that the enemy were unable to separate them, and were forced to kill both men and women together.
[70] The Women of Cyrene.
When Ptolemy made war on the inhabitants of Cyrene, they committed to Lycopus, an Aetolian general, the whole conduct of the war. And while the men engaged in the field of war, the women also took their share of duty: they made the palisades, dug the trenches, supplied the men with missiles, took care of the wounded, and prepared their provisions. The men at length were most of them cut down, and Lycopus changed the constitution into a monarchy; for which the women so censured him with their reproaches, that he ordered many of them to execution, to which they cheerfully and gladly ran.
[71] The Lacedaemonian Women.
The daughters of the Lacedaemonians married the Minyans, who were descended from the Argonauts. And in consequence of these marriages, the Minyans were admitted by the Lacedaemonians into a share of the government. But not content with that, the Minyans attempt to make themselves absolute masters of the state. The Spartans thereupon seized them, and threw them into prison. Their daughters . . . .
{ The manuscripts of Polyaenus end at this point; the rest of the story of the Lacedaemonian women is told by Herodotus, 4. 145 }.
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