Women in Ancient Rome: A Sourcebook

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

This sourcebook includes a rich and accessible selection of Roman original sources in translation ranging from the Regal Period through Republican and Imperial Rome to the late Empire and the coming of Christianity. From Roman goddesses to mortal women, imperial women to slaves and prostitutes, the volume brings new perspectives to the study of Roman women's lives. Literary sources comprise works by Livy, Catullus, Ovid, Juvenal and many others. Suggestions for further reading, a general bibliography, and an index of ancient authors and works are also included.

Reviews

Short for all that is packed in here, Women in Ancient Rome: A Sourcebook covers Romes Beginnings, the Early and Mid-Republic, the Late Republic, the Julio-Claudian Period and the Later Empire ... [A] very useful book. * Classics Ireland *
The book has a nice blend of chronological structure and thematic groupings to help both the instructor and student make useful connections between the selected texts both within and across time periods. It offers a wide-ranging and thoughtful selection of different source materials, which would enable fruitful discussions about what the reality of daily life for women may have been and the challenges of reconstructing such a picture along with the complexities of interpreting their literary representations. -- Danielle M. La Londe, Centre College * Classical Journal *
By superbly selecting, arranging, translating and contextualizing a wide array of literary and inscriptional sources, Bonnie MacLachlan has made a peerless contribution to the study and teaching of womens images and lived realities in ancient Rome. This magnum opuswith its testimony about women of all ages and social classes, from legendary times to late antiquity, and all corners of the Roman empire deserves, in the words of the ancient Romans, ourmaximae gratulationes. -- Judith P. Hallett, University of Maryland, College Park, USA
An introduction to Roman women well tailored for the beginner. Bonnie MacLachlan has chosen excerpts from landmark texts and integrated them, along with representative inscriptions, into a lucid narrative history of Rome, with new translations and basic bibliography. -- Amy Richlin, Professor of Classics, University of California, USA

Author Bio

Bonnie MacLachlan is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Western Ontario. Her published volumes include The Age of Grace: Charis in Early Greek Poetry (1993) and Virginity Revisited: The Autonomy of the Unpossessed Body, co-edited with Judith Fletcher (2007).