ABSTRACT
BY the genius and valour, therefore, of such great women at home and abroad kingdoms and empires were extended and, in their enlarged form, 1 were protected with notable vigour, as was proved with the passage of time by the manifest achievements of their first offspring and Amazons who followed their example. 2 In Bk XI, however, Strabo believes that, whatever remote antiquity may say about the splendid feats of these women, it is very far from being trustworthy, for he argues that no state could be established by Amazons without the help of men; it would be impossible, he says, for the natural folly and cunning natures of women, especially those who have been born in a harsh climate, to be toughened and trained as soldiers and to discharge the violent duties of war. But in this statement, or argument, he differs widely from Plato, who writes in Bk VII of his Dialogue on the Laws that in his own age countless thousands of women round about the Black Sea served as 277soldiers. These concerned themselves not only with horses but with bows and all other weapons, and used them too. Not much farther on he gives an account of the Amazons’ courage in warfare. 2 It may be added that Virgil speaks, among other things, of the Amazons in Bk II of his Aeneid: The Amazons’ ranks, with their crescent shields, are led by Penthesilea, raging amid her thousands; with a golden belt bound beneath her naked breast, the virgin warrior dares to clash with men. 3 ,
Strabo’s supposition
Cunning natures of women
Plato
Virgil
