The heart of the Empire

Fulvia, Cleopatra, Livia, Medea… Rome has a woman's name and yet, history often insists on relegating them to a secondary role, if not to that of mere spectators. The ideal of Roman women demanded that they be capable of managing the domestic economy, that they be good conversationalists, great connoisseurs of art and culture… perfect hostesses and modest companions. But those in this book are other stories: those of young women who dared to be gladiators or, even worse, actresses! Of women who were not content with being companions and giving birth to emperors: they decided who should hold the position or, even, dominated the destiny of the Empire from the shadows. These are the stories of those women, ordinary or exceptional, witnesses of an excessive, unrepeatable era, and the seed of what we are today.