Guy de la Bédoyère

“Exploring the dynamic between tradition and change when it came to the role of women as powerful and influential figures is an essential part of understanding the evolving nature of the Roman world. This is complicated by the fact that the Romans to a large extent did not themselves necessarily recognize how the political and social role of women was changing.”
― Guy de la Bédoyère, Domina: The Women Who Made Imperial Rome

“No other Julio-Claudian woman was memorialized in the same way; for the most part they were simply too notorious. Their stories were generally confined to the works of Roman historians like Tacitus who indulged themselves by providing as much detail as possible about their shortcomings. This way Julia the Elder, Messalina and Agrippina the Younger entered popular lore as destabilizing and villainous characters. The empresses of the Flavian period (69–96) and the second century are mostly opaque figures. Vespasian’s wife Domitilla had died before he became emperor. Only Domitian’s wife Domitia Longina came close to significant power when she plotted against her husband. Titus (79–81) had no empress, having divorced his wife Marcia Furnilla some fourteen years or so earlier. Their daughter Julia’s husband was executed by Domitian in 82. Remarkably Julia Titi proceeded to become Domitian’s mistress and was named Augusta.”
― Guy de la Bédoyère, Domina: The Women Who Made Imperial Rome