Salome Alexandra [died 67 BCE]

The widow of both Aristobulus I & Alexander Jannai became only the second female monarch in Judean history. But she was dominated by the Pharisees, whom her late husband had advised her to placate. The Pharisees' unrestrained campaign of revenge against Alexander's former associates in turn alienated the aristocratic Sadducees & her own younger son, Aristobulus II. She died as the latter's army was preparing to lay siege to Jerusalem.

http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/religion/arcproj/judean/has_ftr.html
by Mahlon H. Smith, Rutgers University