Five Warrior Queens Who Challenged Rome: Teuta, Cleopatra, Amanirenas, Boudicca, and Zenobia

Key facts

• Queen Teuta of Illyria ruled c. 231–227 BC as regent for her stepson Pinneus and sponsored piracy in the Adriatic and Ionian seas.
• Rome sent 200 ships and 20,000 infantry plus 2,000 cavalry against Teuta in 229 BC after her forces murdered a Roman envoy.
• Cleopatra VII of Egypt (69–30 BC) bore Julius Caesar a son, Caesarion, and later allied with Marc Antony; their forces were defeated at Actium in 31 BC.
• Candace Amanirenas of Kush ruled c. 40–10 BC and invaded Roman Egypt in 24 BC, seizing Syenê, Elephantinê, and Philae and taking Augustan statues.
• The Meroe Head, a bronze statue of Augustus discovered in 1910, was buried at Meroe as a trophy of Kushite victory.
• Boudicca led the Iceni revolt in AD 60/61 after being flogged and her daughters raped; rebels destroyed Camulodunum and Londinium, killing up to 80,000.
• Zenobia of Palmyra annexed Egypt in AD 269 and was defeated by Emperor Aurelian at Antioch and Emesa in AD 272.
• A peace treaty in 21/20 BC allowed Kush to retain its kingdom and avoid paying tribute to Rome.