[The following is in regards to the revenge of Queen Tomyris, the fourth-century ruler of the Massagetai, a nomadic people in what is now Iran. Here, Cyrus the Great, after having failed to procure her hand in marriage, has coaxed her into battle.]
At first, things did not go well for Tomyris; clever Cyrus divided his army, leaving some troops behind to act as bait. Led by the queen’s son, the Massagetai attacked the camp, slaughtered the troops, and promptly drank all of their enemy’s wine. Cyrus’s soldiers then returned and massacred the drunken Massagetai, taking Tomyris’s son hostage.
Tomyris gave Cyrus an ultimatum: either turn over her son and leave peacefully or face the full wrath of the Massagetai. If Cyrus refused, Tomyris wrote, “I swear by the sun, the sovereign lord of the Massagetai, bloodthirsty as you are, I will give you your fill of blood.”
Cyrus, of course, wasn’t about to give up. So Tomyris mustered all the warriors in her kingdom and led them into battle against the Persians. It was a fiercely pitched struggle, but eventually the Persians fell, Cyrus included. When she found his body among the fallen, Tomyris decapitated it and dipped his head in blood, making good on her threat. Legend has it that she also kept his skull as a drinking cup.
Source:
McRobbie, Linda Rodriguez. “Seven Warrior Queens of Antiquity.” Princesses Behaving Badly: Real Stories From History-- Without the Fairy-Tale Endings. MJF Books, 2013. 28. Print.
Further Reading:
Tomyris, also called Thomyris, Tomris, Tomiride, or Queen Tomiri
Cyrus II of Persia, commonly known as Cyrus the Great or Cyrus the Elder
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