Mavia (queen)  Mavia, (, "Māwiyya"; also transliterated Mawia, Mawai, or Mawaiy, and sometimes referred to as Mania) was an Arab warrior-queen, who ruled over a confederation of semi-nomadic Arabs, in southern Syria, in the latter half of the fourth century. She led her troops in a rebellion against late Roman rule, riding at the head of her army into Phoenicia and Palestine. After reaching the frontiers of Egypt and repeatedly defeating the Roman army, the Romans finally made a truce with her on conditions she stipulated. The Romans later called upon her for assistance when being attacked by the Goths, to which she responded by sending a force of cavalry. Considered to be "the most powerful woman in the late antique Arabia after Zenobia," much of what is known about Mavia comes from early, almost contemporaneous accounts, such as the writings of Rufinus, thought to be derived from a now lost account by Gelasius of Caeserea. Later authors transformed her into a Christian of Roman stock, though she was evidently Arab, and perhaps initially pagan. The ancestors of Mavia, whose Arabic name was Mawiyya, were Tanukhids, a loose affiliation of Arab tribes that migrated northwards from the Arabian peninsula a century before Mavia was born, because of growing Sassanian influence in Eastern Arabia. Mavia's husband was al-Hawari, the last king of the semi-nomadic Tanukh confederation in southern Syria in the latter half of the fourth century. When he died in 375 CE without leaving an heir, Mavia rose to command the confederation in a revolt against Roman rule that extended throughout the Levant. The reasons for the revolt are thought to have been religious. After al-Hawari's death, the Roman emperor Valens, an Arian heterodox, decided to disregard the requests of the Arabs for an orthodox bishop, insisting on the appointment of an Arian bishop instead. Mavia withdrew from Aleppo into the desert with her people, forming alliances with desert Arabs and gaining support throughout much of Arabia and Syria, in preparation for the fight against Roman rule. It is unclear as to whether Mavia herself was Christian at this time or not. Some historians report that it was during her military exploits that she met an ascetic monk who so impressed her that she converted to orthodox Christianity. All agree, however, that the conditions she set for any truce with Rome, was this monk's appointment as bishop over her people.