In the 6th century BC, Tomyris rises to become Queen of the Massagatae, a confederation of nomads who roam the Eurasian steppe just east of the Caspian Sea. The culture of these fierce Scythians insists that women fight alongside men in battle.

When her husband is killed in battle Cyrus the Great, leader of the Persian Empire, who has amassed lands from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indus River, attempts to force Tomyris into a marriage and a merger. She not only refuses, but battles and defeats the world’s greatest warrior. “In order to survive now so that our people may thrive later, I must be brutal. That is how men have ruled. That is how they have thrived, and it is time for this woman to do the same.”

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