Fighting for voter access is an inevitable part of any democracy, from ancient Rome to the US today. Roman legislators were able to thwart elite political sway by introducing written ballots.
We must be careful not to misgender or misidentify people of the past – especially if our only evidence for how they might have identified comes from hostile writers.
Olga Kurylenko in Boudica.
Signature Entertainment
A lively and violent retelling of the ancient British queen’s story.
A painting from the ancient Egyptian tomb of Niankhkhum and Khnumhotep, royal servants whom some scholars have interpreted to be lovers.
kairoinfo4u/Flickr
Tina Chronopoulos, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Writing about same-sex relationships and gender beyond a strict male-female binary was more common in ancient Greece and Rome than students assume, a scholar writes.
Helen Mirren playing Caesonia in Tinto Brass’ 1979 historical drama film, Caligula .
Following a number of films featuring debauched emperors, it is nowadays commonplace to associate the Greek-Roman antiquity with orgies. But is this historically accurate?
An incantation bowl with an Aramaic inscription around a demon from Nippur, Mesopotamia.
Wikimedia Commons
From snake-like creatures with claws to jealous virgin ghosts, female monsters have long been a part of women’s lore. Such figures were Intimately tied to childbirth, sexuality and child mortality.
Pollice Verso (With a Turned Thumb) by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1872).
Phoenix Art Museum
Despite wine’s centrality to the everyday life of the Romans, the ancient sources continuously attest it was a problematic drink when consumed by women.
An artist’s depiction of the temple at La Chapelle-des-Fougeretz as it would have looked in the first century AD.
Marie Millet, INRAP
This exciting newly excavated complex illustrates how elite Romans fused utilitarian function with luxurious decoration and theatre to fashion their social and political status.
Lecturer in Classical Studies, Institute of Classical Studies, University of London; Honorary Fellow, Macquarie University, School of Advanced Study, University of London