WEBVTT - More Blood Than You Can Drink 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:04.560 Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:11.520 and Mild from Aaron Mankie. Listener discretion advised. Imagine an 0:00:11.600 --> 0:00:15.520 ancient battlefield littered with the carnage of the aftermath of 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:19.680 a great battle. One side has emerged as victorious, and 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:24.880 now the slow, arduous task of inventoring the corpses has begun. 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:28.480 Time for the victors to take stock of what has 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:32.680 been lost and what has been gained. But there's something 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:37.839 unusual in this scene. A woman walking among the bodies. 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:42.560 Judging by the way the survivors defer to her, it's 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:48.000 pretty obvious that she's their ruler, a warrior queen. In 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:52.080 her hand, she clutches a bag, a simple wine skin 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:56.040 made of leathered animal hide. At first glance, you might 0:00:56.120 --> 0:01:00.720 think she's brought libations to toast her army's victory, but 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:05.080 you would be very wrong. In the bag is a 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:09.840 severed head, and it's not the head of some random soldier. 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:14.959 This head belonged to her sworn enemy, who also happened 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:17.760 to be the most powerful man in that part of 0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:22.760 the world. That head which once devised brilliant strategies and 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:27.560 conquered dynasties was now reduced to sloshing around in a 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:31.680 bag filled with the blood of his fellow fallen soldiers. 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:35.240 If you are a little tired of before he cheats 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:39.559 as a female rage anthem, I will direct you toward 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:43.840 another innovator in the field of revenge. This is the 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:48.080 story of Tamyris, the warrior queen who brought down an 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:52.240 empire builder, who avenged her son's death, and who made 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:57.120 sure her enemy got exactly what she promised. It's also 0:01:57.400 --> 0:02:02.200 one of history's most spectacular examples of messing with the 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:09.680 wrong woman. I'm Danish Schwartz, and this is noble blood. 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:14.600 The majority of what we know about Tomyris comes from 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:19.320 the writings of Herodotus, the Greek historian and geographer writing 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:23.560 in fifth century b c. Herodotus is known as the 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:28.480 father of history for an approach that combined rigorous documentation 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:33.840 with cultural context and human observation. One important thing to 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:38.320 note is that in terms of sources, Herodotus isn't exactly 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:42.960 pure reviewed. We're dealing with bias and also the possibility 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:46.600 of outright fabrication, given that we don't know where he 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:51.560 got his information, and as with many ancient stories, this 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:55.200 one would not pass the Bechdel test, but it's still 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:59.399 a hell of a ride. Little is known about Tamyris's husband, 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:03.520 only he was king of the Masengati, a nomadic warrior 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:07.480 tribe who lived for centuries around the steps of Central Asia. 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:11.880 The Masengati rode horses and worshiped the sun, and they 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:16.040 were notable for their progressive views on women. It makes 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:19.800 sense that when Tamyris's husband died, she would take over 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:23.880 the throne and rule the confederation in his place. In 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:27.480 their world, a warrior queen was just as good as 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:33.120 a warrior king. But to outside forces, that progress looked 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:38.160 a lot like opportunity. Cyrus the Second of Persia, or 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:42.200 Cyrus the Great, as he's generally known, was an immensely 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:45.760 powerful force in the region and the architect of what 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:50.280 would become the Persian Empire. He was a clever military 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:55.760 strategist who won many challenging campaigns, and a voracious conqueror. 0:03:56.320 --> 0:04:00.760 Expansion at all costs was his primary objective. We can 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:03.840 also probably imagine that he was a man who didn't 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:08.760 like being told no. After all, he overthrew his own 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:15.120 grandfather to claim his throne. When Cyrus set his sights 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:19.719 on the Masengetti, he saw opportunity. The tribe lived on 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:23.559 the other side of the Eraxis River, and conquering their 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:28.560 territory would set up the Persian Empire for even more expansion. 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:33.719 The barbarian horsepeople with a female leader seemed like an 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:38.120 easy target. Considering the campaigns he'd won in the past, 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:42.680 Cyrus had no reason to doubt his success would only continue. 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:48.000 He hadn't anticipated that the widowed warrior queen would turn 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:52.080 out to be the most formidable opponent he had ever faced, 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:56.599 the opponent who would lead to his ultimate death. But 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:59.680 as I said to Cyrus, this whole thing seemed like 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:04.000 a lay. Besides, he was single, Tomyris was single. They 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:07.279 would get married, and Cyrus would get control of the Masingetti. 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:12.560 It's an easy, non hostile takeover. But Tomiris saw through 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:16.480 his plan and turned down his offer of marriage. And 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:19.880 that's when things really started to head south. If you 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:23.520 think men today don't like being rejected, imagine how well 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:27.599 it went over with someone who collected empires like Pokemon cards. 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:31.880 Cyrus would later be praised for a ruling style that 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:35.760 actually employed a fair amount of autonomy among his subjects, 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:39.160 but when it came to Tomyris, he wouldn't take no 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:43.120 foreign answer. If he couldn't conquer the Masengetti by marriage 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:45.479 the easy way, he would have to do it the 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:50.480 old fashioned way. Sources differ on whether or not Cyrus 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:54.200 actually declared war on the Massingetti, but whether or not 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:57.200 he made it official. When his army began building a 0:05:57.279 --> 0:06:00.680 bridge that would carry his men across the Araxis into 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:05.880 Massngati territory, there was no question of his intentions. Tomyris 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:09.479 sent word to him advising him to call off his attack, 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:13.840 basically employing the you do you and I'll do me approach. 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:17.880 But of course Cyrus was not content to let her 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:22.000 be the one that got away. Instead, he decided to 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:26.320 enter the territory and enter what we might call today 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:34.760 the f around and find out stage. After dismissing Tomyris's warning, 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:38.200 Cyrus went to the root of many modern day toxic 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:41.560 men who blame not getting what they want on women 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:47.120 quote not liking nice guys. Although a brief note, Cyrus 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.720 was never a nice guy. But if Tomyris wouldn't give 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:53.240 him her kingdom as a wedding gift, he would just 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:57.200 have to take it. By force. Cyrus was advised by 0:06:57.240 --> 0:06:59.919 others not to cross the Araxis and put his arm 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:03.800 me in foreign territory. Instead, he was counseled to let 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:07.520 the Messengetti come to him, giving him the home advantage. 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:12.480 That was sound reasoning, but he quickly discarded it. At 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:18.840 the time. Cyrus's most trusted advice came from an unusual source, Criesus, 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:23.440 the former king of Lydia of richer than Creesus fame. 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:29.560 Cresus actually became Cyrus's subject after the Persians conquered Lydia 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:35.160 several years earlier. Despite defeating Creesus in battle, Cyrus leaned 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:39.200 on him for advice and appreciated the man's aggressively old 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:43.360 school stance on things like women in power. He wasn't 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:48.320 a fan. Crisus urged Cyrus to bring the fight to 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:52.440 to Myrius. Whether he was still stinging from the rejection 0:07:52.640 --> 0:07:56.200 of his marriage proposal or just itching for a good fight. 0:07:56.720 --> 0:08:01.320 Cyrus took Criesus's advice and decided to attack the Mesengeti 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:06.040 on their own turf. Cyrus invaded, but after crossing the river, 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:10.880 they were quickly defeated by Tomyris's army. The Persian army retreated, 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:15.960 and Creesus helped Cyrus formulate a new plan, one that 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:21.040 wouldn't rely on physical domination at all. Like other local 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:25.080 tribes at the time, the Mesengeti were milk drinkers. Their 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:30.560 intoxicants of choice were cannabis and fermented mare's milk. They 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:35.040 had no experience with and therefore no tolerance for wine. 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:40.360 That inspired a diabolically clever maneuver that would be the 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:46.080 beginning of the end for Cyrus. According to Herodotus's account, 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:49.880 Cyrus had a large banquet set up under Persian tents. 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:54.240 It was a sumptuous feast with plenty of strong wine. 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:59.160 Then Cyrus and his men withdrew, leaving the banquet intact, 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:03.760 with theation that surely the Persian army had quickly retreated 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:07.680 and left all of their goodies behind. With that the 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:14.160 trap was set, The Masengeti army, led by Tomyris's son, 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:17.520 came upon the tents and discovered what appeared to be 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:21.920 an abandoned feast. Naturally, the warriors dug in and helped 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:26.360 themselves to everything they found. The wine flowed freely, and 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:29.960 the warriors soon discovered that they had no tolerance for 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:34.640 this stuff. The entire contingent quickly fell into a drunken stupor. 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:38.120 Little did they know that they had walked right into 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:43.400 Cyrus's trap. As soon as the Masengeti were incapacitated, the 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:49.559 Persian army descended. The previously fearsome warriors became sitting ducks, 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:53.160 and they were quickly slaughtered by the invading army. It 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:56.520 was a brilliant plan that exploited the differences in their 0:09:56.559 --> 0:10:01.199 cultures and allowed for an easy victory for Cyrus. Tomyris's 0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:04.520 son was taken alive, but he wouldn't remain that way 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:08.080 for long. Once the young prince was able to sober 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:11.480 up and realize what had happened to his fellow soldiers, 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:15.480 the magnitude of the situation was clear. As it set 0:10:15.520 --> 0:10:18.480 in that he had led his men directly to their 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:23.840 own slaughter, the shame became unbearable. Unable to picture a 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:26.320 world where he could go back and face his mother, 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:31.400 he took his own life. Other sources have Cyrus killing 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:35.040 Tomyris's son himself, but anyway you look at it, the 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:41.480 blame for the young man's death rested squarely on Cyrus. Naturally, 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:45.800 when Tomyris found out what happened, her rage was all consuming. 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:49.600 She sent Cyrus a barn burner of a message that 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:53.920 was the tonal opposite of her polite first morning. This 0:10:54.000 --> 0:10:58.360 one was glutton for blood. Your weapon was red wine, 0:10:58.679 --> 0:11:01.920 which you Persians drinks until you are so crazy that 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:06.120 shameful words float on the liquor's fumes. This was the 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:09.600 poison you used to destroy my army and my son. 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:13.360 Leave my land now, or I swear by the sun, 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:16.480 I will give you more blood than you can drink. 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:21.880 Of course, Cyrus did not retreat, and the warrior queen 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:26.239 made good on her threat. What followed was an epically 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:30.680 destructive fight between the Persians and the Masengeti, so brutal 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:34.720 that it was described by Herodotus as the fiercest battle 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:40.520 among barbarians in the ancient world. Fighting began at long 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:44.320 range with bows and arrows. Then things got up close 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:47.960 and personal with spear and dagger work that put on 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:52.200 vivid display the full force of the Masengeti fighting prowess. 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:58.880 The Masengeti didn't just defeat Cyrus's forces, they destroyed them. 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:01.360 When the battle and end, and did Cyrus the Great 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:06.400 himself lay dead on the battlefield, but Tomyrius wasn't finished. 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:10.319 The warrior queen had one final move to make, and 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:15.360 this one was grotesquely literal. She searched among the fallen 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:20.960 Persian soldiers until she found Cyrus's corpse. She ordered his 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:25.640 head to be chopped off. Then she dropped Cyrus's head 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:29.040 into a wine skin full of blood that had been 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:32.960 collected from his men. As she did this, she cried, 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:38.160 drink your fill of blood. Was dunking the dead king's 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:42.320 head in his own soldier's blood overkill? Some might say, yes, 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:45.960 but the wrath of a grieving mother is not a 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:50.559 thing to underestimate. Cyrus the Great, who had built an 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:54.960 empire through conquest and clever strategy, met his end at 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:59.559 the hands of a woman he had underestimated. Tomyris proved 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:04.400 that to defying her warnings carried severe consequences, and that 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:08.120 men didn't have a monopoly on rage. I think we 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:11.920 can all agree that, in modern terms, carrying your enemy's 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:15.640 decapitated head around in a wine bag full of his 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:19.760 own soldier's blood is about as f around and find 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:25.239 out as you can get. Little is known about Tomyris's 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:28.840 life following her victory over Cyrus, but her actions in 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:31.400 that battle were enough to gain her a good amount 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:36.120 of notoriety. Throughout the centuries, Tomyris became part of a 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:41.480 popular artistic theme of celebrating powerful female figures who triumphed 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:46.280 over men. Women like Tomyris, or like Judith over Holophernes. 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:51.640 Tomiris was especially popular during the Renaissance, when European artists 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:55.000 and writers couldn't get enough of her story. They were, 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:59.560 of course, especially fond of depicting the final gruesome moment 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:04.440 with Cyrus's head and the blood filled wine skin. One 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:09.079 particularly notable work was a fresco by the Renaissance painter 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:13.440 Andrea del Castagno, which was discovered in Florence in eighteen 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:18.240 forty seven. Among the nine larger than life figures portrayed, 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:23.680 Tomyris stands proudly alongside literary giants like Dante and Petrart. 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:28.960 The partially worn inscription beneath her feet celebrated two of 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:33.600 her key achievements, avenging her son and deliberating her people. 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:38.080 We can assume that showboding with her enemy's decapitated head 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:42.880 was a third unspoken highlight. But Tomyris was not just 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:47.000 a Renaissance fascination. Ancient writers couldn't get enough of her 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:51.800 story either. She represented something unique, a woman who defeated 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:55.520 the most powerful man of her time in battle. She 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:59.600 was both a grieving mother seeking vengeance and a fierce 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:03.880 warrior queen protecting her people. That duality made for an 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:08.360 iconic figure whose legacy would stand the test of time. Today, 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:12.400 Tamyris lives on across Central Asia. She's claimed as a 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:18.040 national heroine by multiple countries, including Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:22.200 regions of Western Turkey. In those areas, the name Tomyris 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:27.320 remained popular among young girls, a badass namesake and testament 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:32.280 to her influence. Kazakhstan even issued coins bearing her image, 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:37.520 cementing her place in modern cultural memory. As with many 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:43.080 ancient historical figures, separating fact from legend in Tamyris's story 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:48.160 can be challenging, but perhaps the exact details matter less 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:51.400 in this case than what her story represents. She was 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:55.040 a powerful woman who refused to be conquered either by 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:59.400 marriage or by force, who protected her people's sovereignty at 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:03.480 all costs, and who proved that when push comes to shove, 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:08.440 women can act just as unhinged and violent as men can. 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:15.160 That's the legend of Tomyris. But keep listening after a 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:18.200 brief sponsor break, to hear a little bit about how 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:28.800 a new discovery shed light on her story. In twenty ten, 0:16:28.920 --> 0:16:33.680 an archaeological discovery in northern Kazakhstan sparked new interest in 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:39.320 Tomyris's story. Researchers uncovered what they called the Golden Warrior Tomb, 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:43.920 dating back to somewhere between the seventh and fourth centuries BC. 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:48.000 The burial site was a treasure trove containing a body 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:51.600 adorned in gold and surrounded by more than one hundred 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:57.560 precious objects, including one ornate tiger griffin figure, bronze arrowheads, 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:03.120 and decorated sword belts. Initially, experts identified the skeleton as 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:07.359 belonging to a middle aged man, but subsequent analysis has 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:11.400 left the question of gender open. Some have speculated that 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:15.680 this could be the tomb of Tomyris herself, although that 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:21.840 remains purely conjecture. What's particularly interesting is that this discovery 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:26.840 isn't isolated. A similar Saca grave found in twenty thirteen 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:31.120 contained the remains of a tall woman wearing a golden 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:36.280 pointed hat and elaborate jewelry, proving that powerful women were 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:40.680 indeed honored with magnificent burials in this region and era. 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:45.000 Whether or not one of those tombs belonged to Tomyris, 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:48.760 it's undeniable that the power of her story lives on. 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:52.760 The warrior Queen of the Masngeti exists in a space 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:58.160 between history and legend, fact and interpretation. But what remains 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:03.280 across centuries and culture is how irresistible that story is. 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:07.920 What's not to love about a story of resistance, revenge, and, 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:12.679 let's face it, the ultimate accessory. Here's a free idea 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:17.480 for any fashion designers out there. A Tomiras handbag head 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:29.400 not included. Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:33.160 Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is hosted 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:37.240 by me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:42.040 Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and Julia Melaney. 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:46.320 The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:52.080 supervising producer rima il Kaali and executive producers Aaron Mankey, 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:56.840 Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 0:18:57.080 --> 0:19:01.400 visit the iHeartRadio, app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:05.080 to your favorite shows.