Customer Reviews

The Murder of Regilla: A Case of Domestic Violence in Antiquity

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Professor Pomeroy's work is an excellent exercise in speculative history, where she pieces together various fragments of evidence to weave a compelling narrative. She traces the story about how a young Roman girl came of age, was married off to a narcissistic Roman-Greek millionaire, more interested in male sex toys than serious companionship with his wife, dragged off to Greece, and eventually murdered by him. She explores issues of class, national identity, gender, daily life, sexual mores, property, and legal institutions, through her compelling narrative.

Pomeroy's laconic prose adds to the sense that you're peering through a window into the ancient Roman world. Highly recommended!

Pomeroy, a well established historian of ancient history, provides a fascinating glimpse into the world of women of the highest social class in Imperial Rome. Appia Annia Regilla Atilia Caucidia Tertulla married a very rich husband but one who was somewhat alien because of his Greek lineage. When Regilla follows him to live in one of his massive estates outside Athens, things fall apart. After giving birth to at least five children, she suffers a brutal murder, kicked in the stomach at the age of 35 while eight months pregnant. Her husband is implicated, is tried in Rome, and is acquitted.

We know of Regilla's fate in the beginning of this tale. What we learn from then on is everything Pomeroy can tease out of the few extant sources regarding Regilla - the possible reasons for the murder, the tenuous position of even wealthy women in this age, and the social milieu in which Regilla lived her short life.

Pomeroy tells an historical fiction story although is is more historical than fiction. She illustrates not only the difference in Roman and Greek women, but also tells the reader more about the Roman and Greek societies. If one needed an introduction on women in the ancient world, this is the book to start with. After reading this one, I bought her other one as well as two more on women in ancient society. It will peak your interest.