Eumachia: Patrona Pompeiana

by Emma Vanderpool

Eumachia rose from humble origins to be an influential patron and priestess within the city of Pompeii. Through her successful vineyards and workshops, she gained great wealth . . . and thus great prestige and influence in the city. This historical novella retells her story and her growing influence in the city, as reconstructed through the inscriptions found in Pompeii. With 120 lemmae, it is intended for students, who are late in their first year of study and beyond.

47 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2020

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Needy to Wealthy
I liked the characters and the setting it took place. The book took place on the more poor side of Rome and I was able to see how they lived their life. I like this book a lot because it shows me a lot about Roman life and how they were living. It was fun to read and the characters made it even better.
I have been taking Latin for 2 and a half years so the story wasn't too hard to read. I had to look up only a few words in the dictionary because most of them were repetitive. Most of the words I had looked up were new names or nouns but that was it. It was written in first person so you are able to see what the main character thinks. Overall this was a level medium in the understanding of it for me.

[Jack Scali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eumachia was an easy book to read and comprehend. Someone who wants to read this needs a minimum of two years of Latin to understand and translate. All the words were simple; I only needed to look up five different words which were nouns and names of things we learned about in middle schools, like the word for grapes. The majority of the words are repeated over and over again, and the book is pretty repetitive, which can make it easier or less interesting, depending on the level. The actual content of the book is interesting; it goes over patrons and clients of Rome and how a Roman businesswoman/man would spend his/her day. It also gives context to Roman's personal life, religion, motivations, and how people are ranked/judged in society, specific women in Rome.

[Matthew Goldberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book itself wasn't the most interesting read, it dove much more into Roman society. It talked about the forum, merchants, and patrons. If you're looking for a book with action and adventure, this book is probably not for you. The latin though is pretty easy. Many of the words you've probably seen before, and those you haven't, you can find either on the bottom of the page or in the back of the book. Many of the words are usually repeated throughout the chapter. Overall the book was a quick and easy read.

[Drianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't really a novella, per se, more of a non-fiction essay. The Latinity could use a lot of editing.