14. About Queen Hypsicratea.
‘How could anyone show more love for another person than the beautiful Hypsicratea did for her husband, she who was so kind and loyal? This lady was the wife of the great King Mithradates who ruled over lands where twenty-four different languages were spoken. Despite the fact that this king was the most powerful on earth, the Romans waged a terrible war on him. In all the time that he was engaged in his lengthy and arduous battles, his good wife never left him, no matter where he went. As was the barbarian custom, this king also had several concubines. However, this noble lady bore her husband such a deep love that she refused to let him go anywhere without her and frequently went off with him into battle. Though the fate of the kingdom was at stake and the threat of death at the hands of the Romans ever present, she travelled everywhere with him to far-off places and strange lands, crossing seas and perilous deserts and never once failing to be his faithful companion at his side. Her affection for him was so strong that she deemed that no man could possibly serve her lord with such perfect loyalty as she could.
‘So, contrary to what the philosopher Theophrastus says on the subject, this lady was well aware that kings and princes can often have disloyal servants who serve them badly. Therefore, like the faithful lady she was, she devoted herself to ensuring that her lord’s every possible need was met. Though she had to endure many hardships, she followed him through thick and thin. Since it was impractical for her to wear women’s clothing in these conditions, and it was thought improper that the wife of such a great king and warrior should be seen at his side in battle, she cut off her finest womanly attribute, her long, golden hair, in order to disguise herself as a man. Neither did she give a thought to protecting her complexion, for she strapped on a helmet and her face soon grew dirty from all the sweat and dust. Her lovely, graceful body she clad in armour and weighed down with a coat of chainmail. She took off all her precious rings and costly jewellery and instead roughened her hands from carrying heavy axes and spears, as well as a bow and arrows. Round her waist she wore no elegant girdle but a sword. Because of the great love and loyalty she bore her husband, this lady so thoroughly adapted herself to her new surroundings that her charming and delicate young body, which was made for softer and more pleasurable living, was transformed into that of a strong and powerfully built knight-in-arms. Listen to what Boccaccio says in his version of the story: “Is there anything that love cannot accomplish? Here we see this lady, who was used to the finer things in life such as a soft bed and every possible comfort, choosing of her own free will to make herself as tough and rugged as any man, journeying over hill and dale, travelling by day and night, bedding down in deserts and forests often on the hard ground, in perpetual fear of the enemy and surrounded on all sides by wild beasts and serpents.” Yet all this seemed agreeable to her as long as she could be at her husband’s side to comfort and advise him, seeing to his every need.
‘Later on, after having suffered many great hardships together, her husband was cruelly defeated by Pompey, a prince of the Roman army, and had to take flight. Though he was abandoned by all his men, his wife alone stayed with him, following him as he fled across mountains and valleys and through many dark and dangerous places. On the point of despair at having been deserted and forsaken by all his friends, the king was comforted by his faithful wife who gently encouraged him to hope for better days to come. Even when they were at their lowest ebb, she still made every effort to bring him good cheer and to lift his spirits by finding the right words to dispel his sadness and by inventing some amusing and distracting games for them to play together. By means of these things and her great kindness, she brought him such consolation that no matter how downcast or dejected he was, or how much suffering he had to bear, she found a way to make him forget his unhappiness. He was often moved to say that he didn’t feel like he was in exile but rather as if he were at home in his palace having a delightful time with his devoted wife.’
15. About the Empress Triaria.
‘Another lady who can be likened to Queen Hypsicratea for the similar circumstances in which she found herself and for the great affection which she bore her husband was the noble Empress Triaria, wife of Lucius Vitellius, Emperor of Rome. This lady loved him so deeply that she followed him everywhere, dressed like a knight, riding next to him at all times and fighting with great courage and valour.
‘In the course of the war for control of the empire, which he was waging against Vespasian, the emperor besieged the city of the Volscians and managed to slip into it at night, launching a ruthless attack on the sleeping inhabitants. The noble lady Triaria, who had been following her husband every step of the way, did not now hold back. Instead, in order to ensure her husband’s victory, she armed herself to the teeth and engaged in fierce combat at his side all along the streets, rushing here and there through the darkness. Feeling neither fear nor terror, she fought so hard that she distinguished herself above all others in the battle, accomplishing many extraordinary feats. Boccaccio comments that she thus clearly showed how much she loved her lord, and he expresses his approval of the bond between husband and wife which others have seen fit to criticize so heavily.’
16. More about Queen Artemisia.
‘On the subject of ladies who bore a great love for their husbands, which they were not loath to display through their actions, we must once more cite that noble lady Artemisia, Queen of Caria. As we said before, after she had followed him into many battles, she lost her husband, King Mausolus, which was a terrible blow that left her utterly distraught and griefstricken. Just as she had shown throughout his life how much she loved him, she was determined to do no less at his death. Once she had completed all the funeral rites which were customary for a king, she had his body burnt on a huge pyre in front of a great assembly of princes and barons. She herself gathered together his ashes which she washed with her tears and placed in a golden vessel. It seemed to her that there was no reason why the remains of the person she had loved so deeply should have any other sepulchre than that of the heart and body in which this love had first taken root. She therefore mixed his ashes with some liquid and drank them down, little by little, over a period of time until she had swallowed every last drop.
‘Having performed these rites, Artemisia none the less wanted to create a sepulchre for her husband which would preserve his memory for ever. She spared no expense as she sent for a number of craftsmen who were extremely skilled at planning and building great monuments. Their names were Scopas, Bryaxis, Timotheus and Leochares, all of whom were supremely gifted architects. The queen told them that she wished to create a sepulchre for her lord, King Mausolus, which would be the most splendid tomb of any prince or king and so magnificent that her husband’s name would never die. They replied that they would gladly undertake the task. Artemisia ordered vast quantities of marble and jasper of many different colours to be provided, as well as all the other materials which they would need. The monument which these craftsmen constructed outside the walls of Halicarnassus, the capital city of Caria, was a huge building of exquisitely sculpted marble. Square in shape, it was 64 feet wide with walls 140 feet high. Even more spectacular still were the thirty great marble columns on which it rested. The four craftsmen, who were each responsible for one of the four sides, had outdone each other in their efforts to create a shrine which not only commemorated the name of him to whom it was dedicated but also attested to their great architectural genius. A fifth craftsman, by the name of Ytheron, was brought in to finish off the sepulchre with a great pyramid, which thus increased the height of the building by forty steps. After him came a sixth craftsman, Pythius, who carved a marble statue of a chariot which was placed on the very top of the pyramid.
‘This monument was so extraordinary that it became known as one of the seven wonders of the world. Since it had been built for King Mausolus, it took its name from him and was called a “mausoleum”. According to Boccaccio, because it was the most wonderful sepulchre tha
t had ever been created for any prince or king, all other royal tombs thereafter were known as mausoleums. Thus it was that Artemisia’s actions displayed and symbolized the true love that she felt for her noble husband, a love which lasted as long as she lived.’
17. About Argia, daughter of King Adrastus.
‘Who could dare to claim that women have little love for their spouses when they consider the example of the lady Argia, daughter of Adrastus, King of Argos, who dearly loved her husband Polynices? This Polynices, who was married to Argia, was locked in a struggle with his brother Eteocles for control of the great kingdom of Thebes which, according to certain agreements they had drawn up between them, rightfully belonged to him. However, since Eteocles wanted to seize the entire kingdom for himself, his brother Polynices declared war on him, backed by his father-in-law King Adrastus and all the latter’s troops. But the tide of fortune turned against Polynices: he and his brother killed each other in combat and all the troops were wiped out except for King Adrastus, the only one of the three princes who survived.
‘On hearing that her husband had been killed in the battle, Argia ran out of the royal palace and left the city accompanied by all the other ladies of Argos. Boccaccio describes what she did next in the following words: “The noble lady Argia learnt that the dead body of her husband, Polynices, was lying unburied alongside the corpses of all the common soldiers who had also been killed. With a grieving heart, she stripped off her royal robes and finery and turned her back on the comforts and elegance of her luxurious quarters. Her great love and burning desire made her put aside all feminine weakness and sensibility as she set out for the site where the battle had taken place. The journey took several days but she didn’t fear being attacked by treacherous enemies nor did she grow weary from the great distance involved or from the intense heat of the sun. When she arrived at the battlefield, she remained unperturbed by the sight of all the wild beasts and enormous birds which had been attracted by the dead bodies. Nor was she frightened by the evil spirits which some foolish people claim hover round men’s corpses. What is even more astonishing,” says Boccaccio, “is that she took no notice of an edict that King Creon had issued which forbade anyone, on pain of death, to go looking for the bodies or to bury them, an edict which applied to all the dead men without exception.” However, Argia had not gone all that way just to obey Creon’s edict, so, as night began to fall, she set about her business at the battlefield. Driven by her terrible grief and undaunted by the dreadful stench which rose up from the corpses, she began straightaway to examine each body one after the other in her search for the man she loved. Working by the light of a burning torch which she held in her hand, she did not stop until she recognized her beloved husband and found what she was looking for. Boccaccio exclaims, “What extraordinary love and utter devotion this woman showed!” Her husband’s face, all blackened and discoloured, was half eaten away by the rust of his helmet and terribly decayed. It was all spattered with blood, coated with dust, and encrusted with filth. Yet, out of the deep love she bore him, she managed to identify him even though he was barely recognizable. Neither the stench of his body nor the foulness of his face could stop her from covering him in kisses and hugging him to her breast. She showed no concern for King Creon’s edict as she shouted out, “Alas! Alas! I’ve found the one I loved!”, and wept copious tears. After having kissed him several times on the mouth to check if there was any sign of life in him, she washed his rotting limbs with her tears as she called out for him again and again, sobbing, moaning and crying all the while. In order to perform the last and saddest rite of all, she burnt his body on a pyre and devotedly gathered up his ashes in a golden vessel. When she had done all this, she resolved to risk her life to avenge her husband’s death. She and the many other ladies who helped her were so determined that they managed to capture the city and break through the walls, putting all those inside to death.’
18. About the noble lady Agrippina.
‘A woman who deserves to be ranked amongst all the other splendid ladies who were greatly devoted to their husbands was the good and faithful Agrippina, daughter of Marcus Agrippa and of Julia, daughter of the Emperor Octavian who was ruler of the entire world. This honourable lady was given in marriage to Germanicus, a very noble and fine prince, full of wisdom, who dedicated himself to the welfare of the people of Rome. Unfortunately, Tiberius, a man of evil ways who was emperor at that time, grew envious of the lady Agrippina’s husband, Germanicus, because of his good reputation and the love that everyone bore him, and had him attacked and murdered. Agrippina, his devoted wife, was so anguished at Germanicus’s death that she too wanted to be killed. She did all she could to bring this about, screaming such terrible curses at Tiberius that he had her beaten, tortured and thrown into prison. Her grief at the loss of her husband was so great that she preferred to die rather than live, and decided to refuse all food and drink. When Tiberius heard about Agrippina’s resolve, he was determined to force-feed her in order to prolong torturing her. But his efforts were all in vain. Though he tried to make her swallow food, she showed him that even if he had the power to put a person to death, he did not have the power to keep someone alive against their will, for this was how she died.’
19. Christine addresses Rectitude, who replies to her with several examples, telling her about the noble lady Julia, daughter of Julius Caesar and wife of the prince Pompey.
As Lady Rectitude was recounting these things to me, I spoke up, saying: ‘My lady, it certainly seems to me that it is a great honour to the female sex to hear the stories of so many virtuous women. Amongst all their other qualities, it must be particularly gratifying for everyone to see that women are capable of such tremendous affection in marriage. Matheolus and all those other scribblers who have been driven by envy to utter such lies about women should keep their mouths shut and go back to sleep! However, my lady, I’ve just remembered something that the philosopher Theophrastus, whom I mentioned earlier, said about women hating their husbands when they’re old and despising men who are scholars or clerks. He claimed that it is impossible to reconcile all the attention that you have to give to a woman with the time needed to study books.’
Rectitude replied, ‘Come now, Christine, hold your tongue! I can immediately find plenty of examples which contradict these opinions and disprove them completely.
‘In her time, Julia was the noblest of Roman ladies, being the daughter of Julius Caesar who later became emperor, and of Cornelia, his wife, who were both descended from Aeneas and Venus of Troy. She was married to the great warrior, Pompey. According to Boccaccio, this Pompey, though now elderly and decrepit, was at the height of his glory. He had spent his life defeating kings, deposing them and choosing their successors, subjugating countries to his will and destroying pirates, earning the respect of Rome and of the rulers of all other nations, as well as conquering new territories on both land and sea, all thanks to his extraordinary prowess. Despite the fact that his wife, the great lady Julia, was still a very young woman, she loved her husband so deeply and so truly that she met her death in a very unusual way. It so happened that, one day, Pompey went to make a sacrifice, as was the custom in those times, in order to thank the gods for the marvellous victories that he had won. During the ritual, Pompey was holding on to one side of the slaughtered animal as it was being laid on the altar, when his robes became splattered with blood from the creature’s wound. He therefore took off the robe which he was wearing and sent one of his servants back to the house with it to fetch him a fresh, clean one.
‘As luck would have it, the servant who was carrying the robe ran into Julia, Pompey’s wife, who saw her lord’s clothing all covered in blood. Knowing that those who distinguished themselves in Rome were often the target of the envy of others who attacked and sometimes killed them, the dramatic sight of her husband’s blood convinced her that some ill must have befallen him. She was seized by a great pain in her heart as if she had suddenly lost all will to live. Being
pregnant at the time, she fell to the floor in a faint, all colour drained from her body and her eyes turned up in their sockets. It all happened so quickly that there was no time to give her any help or to allay her fears before she expired. As would be expected, her death was a devastating blow to her husband. Yet it was not only a source of anguish to him and to the Romans, but to the whole world as well at that time. If she and her child had lived, the bitter war which broke out between Julius Caesar and Pompey, a war which had dreadful consequences in every country of the world, would never have taken place.’
20. About the noble lady Tertia Aemilia.
‘Neither did the kind and beautiful Tertia Aemilia, wife of Scipio Africanus the Elder, love her husband any less for his being old. She was also an extremely prudent and virtuous lady. Though she was still young and lovely, her husband was already an old man. None the less, he used to sleep with one of her servants, a handmaiden of hers, on such a regular basis that his wife eventually found out. Despite the hurt she felt, she didn’t give way to her pangs of jealousy but acted wisely, betraying no sign to her husband or to anybody else that she had discovered what was going on. She chose not to say anything about it to him because she thought that it would be improper to criticize such a great man as he. It was even more unthinkable to disclose it to a third party, for that would diminish and undermine the reputation of this fine man and would cast a slur on his character, he who had conquered so many kingdoms and empires. So the good lady continued to love, serve and honour him just as much as before. On his death, she gave the woman her freedom and married her off to a free man.’
The Book of the City of Ladies Page 17