Amazons of Black Sparta
History is rife with tales of fighting women. More often than not, these stories prove more legend than history. Dating back to the amazons of ancient Asia Minor, myths of fierce, autonomous women of martial excellence abound.
And yet, the only thoroughly documented amazons in world history are the women warriors of Dahomey, an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Western African kingdom. Once dubbed a “small Black Sparta,” residents of Dahomey shared with the Spartans an intense militarism and sense of collectivism. Moreover, the women of both kingdoms prided themselves on bodies hardened from childhood by rigorous physical exercise.
Spartan women kept in shape to breed male warriors, Dahomean Amazons to kill them. Originally a praetorian guard, the Dahomeans developed into a force 6,000 strong and were granted semi-sacred status. They lusted for battle, fighting with fury and valour until the kingdom’s final defeat by France in 1892.
The product of meticulous archival research, Amazons of Black Sparta will stand as the most comprehensive and accessible account of the woman warriors of Dahomey.
