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Sappho, the Poet
Artemisia I of Caria, the Warrior Queen - Amazing Women of the Ancient World
173    Dibyendu Banerjee    26/12/2024

Famous for her role in the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC, in which she fought for the Persians and personally commanded ships, Artemisia I was the queen of the Anatolian region of Caria, in modern-day Bodrum, Turkey. Apart from her commendable active role in the battle, she also advised to the benefit of the Persian King Xerxes, before the onset of the battle. Her name was derived from the Greek goddess Artemis, the goddess of the hunters, identified with the Roman goddess Diana, who presided over the wilds and the wilderness.

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However, the goddess Artemisia, never married, but Artemisia I of Caria, the daughter of King Lygdamis of Halicarnassus, married and after the death of her husband, whose identity is unknown, assumed the throne of Caria as the regent for her minor son Pisindelis, and ruled the city of Halicarnassus and the neighbouring islands of Kos, Calidna and Nisyrus. Her story was recorded by Herodotus, the famous Greek historian from the city of Halicarnassus and considered as the father of history, in his Histories, written around 425 BC.

artemisia i of caria

In 480-479 BC, when the Persian Emperor Xerxes I went to war against Greece, Artemisia was the only woman among his commanders, responsible only five ships out of the 70 total, reputed for ferocity and valour.

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According to Herodotus, Xerxes possibly selected Artemisia to lead a squadron only to embarrass the Greeks, and in fact, when the Greeks came to know about it, they offered a huge sum of money as a reward to capture her, although nobody succeeded to claim the reward.

artemisia i of caria

After winning the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, fought against an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta, Xerxes I sent Mardonius, one of his senior military commanders, to talk to each of his naval commanders separately to know their opinion about the upcoming battle of Salamis, when all the commanders, except Artemisia, advised him to go for a naval battle.

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She suggested that instead of heading for a direct naval battle, it would be wise to wait offshore, because the Greeks are much stronger in the sea, and chances against the Greek naval force is bleak, as the rest of the Persian naval commanders, comprising the Egyptians, Cypriots, Cilicians, and Pamphylians, were not up to the challenge. Therefore, it would be a better idea to keep the ships close to the shore and force them to stay there for a long time or compel them to move towards the Peloponnese in search of food and take the opportunity to attack them on shore. However, although Xerxes appreciated her advice seen from a different point of view, he ignored it and gave orders to follow the advice of the rest of his commanders, as he was sure to win.

artemisia i of caria

The Battle of Salamis proved to be a disaster for the Persians. There was a time during the battle, when Artemisia noticed that her ship was being chased by an Athenian ship and she had no chance of escape, but to be captured by the Greeks. However, despite the adverse situation, she kept her cool, and to save herself and her ship, she cunningly ordered the Persian colours to be taken down from the mast to misguide the enemies. After that, she took the extreme step of desperately ramming a friendly ship, commanded by the Calyndian king Damasithymos, possibly because she previously had a disagreement with Damasithymos, and the ship sank with all the men on board. Her action completely confused the captain of the Athenian ship, and as he saw her charging a Persian ship, he mistook her ship to be either a Greek ship or a deserter, fighting for the Greeks, and left it from the target. But that was not enough to save the situation for the Persians, and they were completely defeated by the Greeks in the Battle of Salamis. After the battle, Artemisia is said to have escorted Xerxes' illegitimate sons to safety at Ephesus, and then strangely vanished from the historical records.

artemisia i of caria
Artemisia shooting arrows at the Greeks, by Wilhem von Kaulbach.

Interestingly, British archaeologist Charles Thomas Newton discovered the ruins of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in 1857, which was built by Artemisia II to honour her husband Mausolus between 353-350 BC. An ancient alabaster jar was found in the mausoleum, inscribed with the signature of Xerxes I, in Old Persian, Egyptian, Babylonian, and Elamite, which strongly suggests that it was gifted by Xerxes to Artemisia I, and subsequently passed down to her descendants who buried it in the Mausoleum.

artemisia i of caria
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Author Details
Dibyendu Banerjee
Ex student of Scottish Church College. Served a Nationalised Bank for nearly 35 years. Authored novels in Bengali. Translated into Bengali novels/short stories of Leo Tolstoy, Eric Maria Remarque, D.H.Lawrence, Harold Robbins, Guy de Maupassant, Somerset Maugham and others. Also compiled collections of short stories from Africa and Third World. Interested in literature, history, music, sports and international films.
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