by Mary Gindling

Created on: March 30, 2010

In a day when women were generally little more than chattel, this queen became a warrior.

The woman who became famous as the first known female admiral was born sometime in the late 6th century B.C. at Halicarnassus (now Bodrun), capital of Ionia. Her name was Artemisia and she was the daughter of Lygdamis, king of Ionia and his Cretan queen. Ionia, founded by Greek colonists, lay on the western edge of Asia Minor and bordered the Aegean Sea. But the little city-state had been conquered by Persia’s great warrior-king Darius, and now fell under the rulership of his son, Xerxes I.

Artemisia was probably married early in her teen years, and she and her husband had at least two children, a boy whose name is lost to history, and a daughter who became famous in her own right as Artemisia II. Her husband ascended the throne as king following the death of her father, but he died before their son had come of age to rule. Artemisia then took the throne as the Tyrant of Ionia. Artemisia owed her throne to the Persian king, and was apparently loyal to him despite the fact that Ionia was culturally Greek.

Artemisia’s Counsel Before the Battle of Salamis

According to Herodotus, by the time Xerxes was planning the naval battle at Salamis in 480 B.C., Artemisia I was already an experienced naval commander, having fought earlier at Euboea. Herodotus also tells us that although she did not need to go to war, she supplied a fleet of five ships to Xerxes’ naval forces and led them personally. Xerxes respected her enough to give her a seat at the war council tasked with advising the king about the wisdom of launching his fleet against the Greek fleet gathering off Salamis.

Herodotus reports that although the fleet commanders included such renowned warriors as the kings of Sidon and Tyre, Artemisia alone had the courage to tell her overlord that he should not sail against the gathering Greek fleet. She believed the Greeks were superior sailors and the Persian fleet would be destroyed.

Though Xerxes was pleased by Artimesia’s advice, he nevertheless took the advice of the majority of his commanders and ordered his fleet into battle. As Artemisia had predicted, the battle proved disastrous for Xerxes’ navy.

 The Battle of Salamis

Artemisia’s most famous exploit during the Battle of Salamis was actually the sinking of one of Xerxes’ own ships As she was being pursued by a Greek vessel, she rammed her ship into a vessel whose captain was

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>