Tomyris

Tomyris ruled the Massagetae, a nomadic people, when Cyrus the Great of Persia pushed into her territory in 530 BC. Herodotus is the lone ancient source: he writes that she commanded her forces in defense, routed the Achaemenid army, and left Cyrus dead on the field. One version of the story has her mutilating his corpse, a gesture of contempt that became her signature in later retellings. By the Renaissance she'd become a fixture of the "Power of Women" genre — painters returned again and again to the image of a queen standing over the severed head of the man who thought he could take her lan…