The First Ladies of Rome: The Women Behind the Caesars - Hardcover

Freisenbruch, Annelise

3.95

1,067 ratings by Goodreads

9780224085298: The First Ladies of Rome: The Women Behind the Caesars

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0224085298 ISBN 13: 9780224085298

Publisher: Jonathan Cape, 2010

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The First Ladies of Rome is a richly detailed historical picture of some of those great women of Rome, born or married into the house of the caesars. Opening at the dawn of the imperial age, the story begins with the rise of Livia, the first 'first lady', and proceeds to ghost the timeline of imperial Roman history through six dynasties, to Galla Placida, captured by a rampaging Goth horde only to rise to prominence as one of the last empresses.

In this remarkable book Annelise Freisenbruch casts a spotlight into every corner of the private and public lives of some of the most intriguing women in history, showing how they were moulded to meet the political requirements of their emperors, be they fathers, husbands, brothers or lovers. But these women proved to be liabilities as well as assets, and The First Ladies of Rome unveils a full range of characters whose identities were to reverberate through the ages, from the virtuous consort, the sexually voracious schemer and the savvy political operator, to the flighty bluestocking, the religious icon and the romantic heroine. It also delves into their everyday lives and the world of Rome - taking in education, clothing, health, sex lives, slaves, children, marriages, deaths, and their pivotal roles as political, artistic and architectural patrons.

Using a full spectrum of the most up-to-date literary, artistic, archaeological and epigraphic evidence, this book reveals for the first time the rich kaleidoscopic history of these women's lives, and the vivid and complex role of the empresses as political players on Rome's greatest stage.

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Review:

"The [book] is both scholarly and racy... She has produced a book to be commended." --The Sunday Times

'There is much to learn from these two books and much enjoyment to be had from them'
--Literary Review

`There is much to learn from these two books and much enjoyment to be had from them'
--Literary Review

`Extraordinary story'
--Telegraph

`...The First Ladies of Rome is an illuminating story.' -- The Critics

"Brings a wonderfully rich, varied and original range of evidence to bear on the reality of their extraordinary lives" --Bettany Hughes, author of Helen of Troy

"Eloquently written, this is a long-overdue reappraisal of some of the most intriguing and powerful women in history" --Alison Weir, author of The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn

"A tour de force of research.....The First Ladies of Rome is an illuminating story" --Mail on Sunday

"A delight from start to finish - a vivid, exciting and very readable account" --Lancashire Evening Post

"Freisenbruch has managed the feat of writing a history book that has the page-turning qualities of a novel"
--Blackmore Vale Magazine

Book Description:

A brilliant and rich group biography of the imperial women of Rome - from an exciting young historian.

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