The femminaclassica’s Podcast

Long before her boat docked at the port of Brundisium in the winter of 19 CE, Vipsania Agrippina, more widely recognized as Agrippina the Elder (14 BCE- 33 CE), might have known that the mourners would come. Like a perfectly choreographed event—and many believe it was—the waterfront was packed elbow to elbow with people standing for hours or even days as they lined the city walls. The boldest of them were perched atop unstable rooftops, all to catch a glimpse of her. Adored and admired, she was beloved by her compatriots.

It has long been acknowledged that the more powerful a woman was in ancient Rome, the more she was condemned by ancient chroniclers. In a culture that expected women to be subservient and humble, assertiveness in the public sphere was considered improper and unseemly so it is no surprise that few women were more vilified than Fulvia (83 BC to 40 BC), the infamously spurned wife of Mark Antony.

The earth turned on its axis the day Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) died. Notorious for his unrestrained aggressivity and hard drinking, it should have come as no surprise to the Greeks that Alexander the Great would not live to see old age. Yet when the warrior king died at the age of thirty-two, it left a power vacuum the likes of which the ancient world had never seen, resulting in widespread unrest and turmoil throughout Alexander’s vast empire. 

From Petros Koutoupis, "In this exciting episode we talk about all sorts of topics with historian, Mary Naples. We talk about her publication, Unsung Heroes: Women in the Ancient World. We also discuss the Minoans, Mycenaeans, Romans and even the Canaanite cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Bible and more!"

It is no wonder that Alexander the Great (356 BCE–323 BCE) was often mistaken for a god; he modeled his life on nothing less. Instilled in him from an early age was the belief that he was the product of a union between his mother, Olympias, and the lord of the Olympian gods, Zeus almighty himself. 

Of all the unhappy couples in Greek literature perhaps the unhappiest is that of the Olympian first couple themselves. As the goddess of marriage, a neglected Hera plays the quintessential role of the jealous wife for the ever-unfaithful Zeus—the lord of the gods at Mount Olympus. Often working on the sidelines against her husband’s interests, Hera displays a proclivity for instigating strife and mayhem—- particularly against Zeus’s vast collection of paramours and their offspring. Never mind that his paramours more closely resemble victims than lovers—-by no means does she let this stand in the way of divine retribution.

The only child of Cleopatra and Marc Antony’s to reach adulthood, Queen Cleopatra Selene (40 BC- 5 BC) of Mauretania was one of the most important women of the Augustan age— exceptional in and of itself considering the animosity in Rome against her parents.