Published in 2023
336 pages
Dr. Emma Southon holds a PhD in ancient history from the University of Birmingham. After a few years teaching Ancient and Medieval history, followed by some years teaching academic writing. She quit academia because it is grim and started writing for her own enjoyment. She co-hosts a history/comedy podcast with Janina Matthewson called History is Sexy.
What is this book about?
Here’s how the history of the Roman Empire usually goes…
We start with Romulus, go on to Brutus overthrowing Tarquin, bounce through an appallingly tedious list of battles and generals and consuls, before emerging into the political stab-fest of the late Republic. From there, it runs through all the emperors, occasionally mentioning a wife or mother to show how bad things get when women get out of control, until Constantine invents Christianity and then Attila the Hun comes and ruins everything. But the history of Rome and empire is so much more than these Important Things.
In this alternative history, Emma Southon traces the story of the Roman Empire through women: Vestal Virgins and sex workers, business owners and poets, martyrs and saints. Each gives a different perspective on women’s lives and how they changed, across time and across class lines.
