Terentia, Tullia and Publilia

Women of the Ancient World

by Susan Treggiari

Studying references and writings in over 900 personal letters - an unparalled source, this book presents a rounded and intriguing account of the three women who, until now, have only survived as secondary figures to Cicero. In a field where little is really known about Cicero's family, Susan Treggiari creates a history for these figures who, through history, have not had voices of their own, and a vivid impression of the everyday life upper-class Roman women in Italy during the heyday of Roman power. Artfully assembling a rounded picture of their personalities and experiences, Treggiari reconstructs the lives of these three important women: Cicero's first wife Terentia: a strong, tempestuous woman of status and fortune, with an implacable desire to retain control of both his second wife Publilia: shadowy and mysterious, the young submissive wedded to compensate for her predecessor's steely resolve and fiery temper, and his daughter, Tullia. Including illustrations, chronological charts, maps and glossaries, this book is essential reading for students wishing to get better acquainted with the women of ancient Rome

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Classics

228 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Elly · Rating 5 out of 5]

read for my dissertation and it was an excellent starting point. i’m already incredibly familiar with cicero and the late republic, but this offered a wonderful, accessible, and well-written recap (and i’m sure the bibliography will be very useful, too).

it was easy to follow, yet still niche and specific, and had a lovely flow to the writing, unlike a lot of other academic texts. i’d recommend this to anyone interested in the topic.

i particularly liked treggiari’s compassion for these historical figures. whilst staying close to the source material, she brought them to life.

[Triona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this for fun several times (because I’m that big of a nerd). It’s brilliant. Treggiari is a wonderful author and talented classicist who really knows how to tease out the little details of the sources available to us and come to logical conclusions that make perfect sense and aren’t unrealistic

[Carl Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative of the Cicero family. Even though the title and aim of the book is the focus on the female characters of the family the text is as much of Cicero himself.

Susan Treggiari has immense knowledge of these persons and the the society they lived in, i.e. the turbulent end of the Republican era.

The layout of the book is a bit off putting but the content is top notch!