721: Sparethra
Queen who Fought Cyrus the Great
-Lived Around 547 BC- Eurasian Steppes (Exact Location Unknown)
Cyrus captured her husband in battle and pissed Sparethra off.
Sparethra and her husband, Amorges, were leaders of a band called the Amyrgioi of Sogdiana and Bactria, one of the Saka tribes that lived between the Caspian Sea and Bactria.
Sparethra raised an army of 500,000 (40% of which were female) and kicked his ass, saving her husband. The numbers are probably exaggerated, but the point still stands. Sparethra exchanged her husband for the high-ranking Persians Cyrus had lost in the battle. Later on in history, Sparethra’s forces joined up with Cyrus’s and not much else is known about her.
The Saka tribes were Eurasian, and the evidence from Sparethra’s story helps back up the claim that the real, factual, Amazons were from the Eurasian steppes.
Badges Earned:
Rejected Princess*
*Sparethra is briefly mentioned in the Rejected Princess entry for Tomyris, linked below.
Sources:
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/amazons-ii
https://www.rejectedprincesses.com/princesses/tomyris
https://www.ancient.eu/Cyrus_the_Great/ (Sparethra is mentioned under the heading “Other Campaigns”