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

by Sarah B. Pomeroy

From an acclaimed author comes a fascinating story of the life, marriage, and death of an all but forgotten Roman woman. Born to an illustrious Roman family in 125 CE, Regilla was married at the age of fifteen to Herodes, a wealthy Greek who championed his country's values at a time when Rome ruled. Twenty years later--and eight months pregnant with her sixth child--Regilla died under mysterious circumstances, after a blow to the abdomen delivered by Herodes' freedman. Regilla's brother charged Herodes with murder, but a Roman court (at the urging of Marcus Aurelius) acquitted him. Sarah Pomeroy's investigation suggests that despite Herodes' erection of numerous monuments to his deceased wife, he was in fact guilty of the crime. A pioneer in the study of ancient women, Pomeroy gathers a broad, unique array of evidence, from political and family history to Greco-Roman writings and archaeology, to re-create the life and death of Regilla. Teasing out the tensions of class, gender, and ethnicity that gird this story of marriage and murder, Pomeroy exposes the intimate life and tragedy of an elite Roman couple. Part archaeological investigation, part historical re-creation, and part detective story, The Murder of Regilla will appeal to all those interested in the private lives of the classical world and in a universal and compelling story of women and family in the distant past.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Classics, True Crime, Ancient History, Crime, Biography

249 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

Sarah B. Pomeroy, Professor of Classics and History, Emerita, at Hunter College and the Graduate School of the City University of New York. She was born in New York City (1938) and earned her B.A. from Barnard College in 1957. She received her M.A. in 1959 and her Ph.D. in 1961, both from Columbia University. Pomeroy has been recognized as a leading authority on ancient Greek and Roman women since her book Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity was first published in 1975. Her other publications include Xenophon, Oeconomicus: A Social and Historical Commentary (1994), Families in Classical and Hellenistic Greece: Representations and Realities (1998), Spartan Women (2002), and, with Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan, and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts, the textbooks Ancient Greece: a Political, Social, and Cultural History (4th edition, 2017) and A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and Culture (3rd edition, 2011).[i]

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think there are some low reviews for this book because people think it's supposed to be something else. It's not a book about crime, it's not a thriller, it's not meant to entertain you. It's social history. It's a biography of an unfortunate, forgotten woman. Most of all, it's a case study of gender roles in Imperial Roman society.

There is nothing to spoil, as the outcome is revealed from the start. Herodes Atticus, a famous Greek philosopher and possibly the richest private citizen in the Roman Empire, is put on trial for the murder of his wife Regilla via his freedman, Alcimedon. Herodes and Alcimedon get off without a punishment through the interference of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, whom Herodes had tutored as a child. This is the most we hear of Herodes' wife in Roman and Greek literature, as she is just a woman. Why should anyone care about her?

Except she was one of the most upper-class Roman women of her day. She owned property on the Via Appia, and her brother, Bradua, as head of her clan after their father's passing, prosecuted the case against Herodes. No one, not even Herodes' biggest fans, put forth evidence that Regilla could have died of natural causes. Her death was caused by Alcimedon beating her to death while she was eight months pregnant with her fifth child.

The book is not about this. The book is about her life and the tremendous amount of material evidence that actually exists about her that remains in the historical record. She happened to be exceedingly wealthy, and when she was brought to live in Greece with her husband she had very little else to do but spend her money on philanthropy and building projects. Her face was all over Greece and many of her and Herodes' monuments are still standing in Athens and the surrounding area to this day.

The book goes into great detail to describe these monuments, which is fascinating for a student of Classical history and architecture. The symbolic nature of her building projects inform greatly on her character. Unfortunately, as is the nature of her sex, much of that is yet shrouded by Herodes. To mask his guilt in her murder, he altered many of her building projects post-mortem, as well as building his own in her "honor". Whether to placate vengeful goddesses of marriage or to placate the restless citizens of the Empire who thought of him as a degenerate and a murderer.

Their relationship is delved into, as are the lives of Herodes, their children, and, naturally, Regilla herself. This is a book designed to bring back the memory of a forgotten woman of antiquity as a case study for the millions like her who have perished in similar ways throughout human history. This is a story of empathy, which is what history truly is at its very core.

[Karolinde (Kari) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall I was very disappointed in this book. While I did learn some interesting facts about Regilla, it really didn't make up for some of the issues. First, Pomeroy doesn't seem to know if her audience consists of professional historians or the lay reader. She explains common terms, but not some of the rarer ones. Second, it seems as if her book is more of a "Hey take me seriously as a historian" cry. She spends so much time explaining why this work was needed that it wears thin. State the case and move on. Third, Pomeroy says that one of the reasons for studying Regilla and her death is to create a picture of the what life was like for Roman women, but then she spends a great deal of time explaining why Regilla's life was nothing like theirs because she married a native Greek and moved to Greece. Granted, the most interesting parts of the book deal with this difference, but it ruins her supposed purpose. Fourth, the book also seems to be more about showing why her husband isn't as great as every one else seems to think he was. Some of it is necessary for her "proof" that he ordered Regilla's death, but it's still over the top. The bottom line: Even if you're interesed in Women's studies, give this one a pass.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew going in this wasn't a murder mystery; actually it's a study of an particular upper-class Roman woman, Regilla, chosen because we have statues and inscriptions about her. We know the murderer from the start. The background information on the life of an upper-class Roman female was interesting, but I felt the meat of the book was Chapter 4, where the murder was discussed and there were insights into the Roman judicial system. Locked into an abusive marriage with a husband 20 years older than she and taken off to Greece to live, away from family and friends. Her wealthy husband was a real charmer [NOT] she was finally while 8 months pregnant, kicked to death. Her brother Bradua tried to bring justice but Emperor Marcus Aurelius acquitted the murderer; wow, in spite of his wonderful writings, I think the less of this philosopher-emperor for doing that. I guess money and connections talked really loudly.


Style was not quite scholarly and not quite for laypeople.

[Kylie Vernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

a brilliant historical exploration of the life of an aristocratic Roman woman living in Greece. Pomeroy did something truly profound in filling in the gaps with historical assumptions that were left by a society that overlooked women.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's difficult to understand the low ratings this book receives, especially considering the high praise it has gotten from the author's peers (the august Bryn Mawr Classical Review, for one). It truly fills a gap in our understanding of the lives of women in the Roman Empire and, for that matter, ancient women's lives in general. And it is written in an accessible manner, with full notes and appropriate illustrations that do much to expand and inform the text.

Sarah Pomeroy is a well-known and respected classicist and ancient historian who has been turning out readable works of high scholarship for over 35 years (with an emphasis on women's studies, including her outstanding and trail-blazing Spartan Women). To toss off a statement, as one reviewer did, that The Murder of Regilla is Pomeroy's cry for academic attention demonstrates an ignorance of the author, her decades' long history of contributions to the field, and of the discipline itself.

Regilla is neither murder mystery nor pop history. If you expect either, then you will be disappointed. Its intended audience are classical scholars and interested readers with a classical background. Likewise, if you expect a detailed biography à la Goldsworthy or Green, say, then you will again be let down. The paucity of material relating directly to Regilla means lacunae aplenty in the telling of her story. Perhaps that explains some of the low ratings, and certainly one cannot argue with frustrated expectations, though that is hardly the fault of the author (and it does not excuse the inaccurate observations about the book that pepper those reviews).

The Murder of Regilla accomplishes what it sets out to do: It sheds light on an undeservedly neglected woman, at the same time expanding our understanding of the female place in the Roman Empire. That Regilla was a special case -- a Roman girl who became, essentially, a Greek woman -- adds interest to the story, as does the fact that her husband, and murderer (Pomeroy's arguments on this point are convincing), was a famous Greek with formidable friends, including the emperor. Those of us who look forward to receiving our daily dose of Bryn Mawr reviews or whose cases sag beneath scores of classical history texts will find much to enjoy here.

[Lizabeth J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read several of Pomeroy's books on women in antiquity, and I chose to assign this book in a 400-level Honors course on gender and law. The book was very useful in terms of helping students understand the cultural expectations that women, including women from wealthy and influential families, faced in Greek and Roman society and the near-total power that their husbands had over their actions and physical bodies. The book also lent itself to a good discussion of how historians can try to reconstruct women's lives and personal experiences from general historical information and material evidence in a time when few women left written documentation of those experiences to posterity.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although there's sexual inuendo (man/woman, man/man, man/boy) and a tragic murder described in this little non-fiction book, it's not necessarily a captivating read. What's compelling and rare is that this book is all about a Roman woman in Antiquity. Regilla's entire privileged and "quasi-divine" life is explored and revisited from a contemporary female scholar's perspective. The ultimate tragedy is that her death (and that of her 8 month old fetus) nearly 2,000 years ago was more than likely ordered by her husband, who was acquitted due to his political connections.

[Absinthe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Murder of Regilla was terribly boring, but probably a good introduction to learning about Greek and Imperial Roman domestic/marital customs. If you thought the majority of the book was actually about murder and domestic violence, think again. The book is also a little outdated in its consideration that ancient Greek women were physically segregated within the household, as archaeological evidence does not support this claim (though ancient greek men were segregated when hosting symposia).

[Pancha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The contrast between the treatment an upper class Roman wife and an upper class Greek wife was interesting, but there were some flaws in presentation (repetition of information, lack of constancy in terms, etc)

[Shandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite liked this, although it felt short to me -- perhaps because a lot of it is conjecture (although drawn from the life of Regilla's husband, and on the lives of Greek and Roman women in general). The research is excellent, but the story fell a little flat for me.

[Birgitta Hoffmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

try g to write a biography is always a challenge, even more so when there is very little evidence. Pomeroy has done an admirable job getting as far as has and building a case, against which it is now possible to argue, to improve our understanding.
Unfortunately, this book suffers from having been" edited down." It was clearly written for a specialist audience, with the publisher wishing to widen it's readership, resulting into far too many "explanatory interjections" that distract from the argument without making the book easier to understand d for a beginner.
It should also be stressed that the evidence as presented is far less securely dated than she suggests. Other scenarios are available.

[Emma Lischka · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. read for class, and it is definitely one of the better things i’ve had to read for school. really fascinating story about the life of a woman in ancient rome with powerful themes surrounding women and their role in antiquity.

[Martine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Regilla's story is an interesting one, both on its own and as a means to discover women's lives in the period. However, Pomeroy once again displays a partiality towards the non-conformist view, oftentimes without compelling evidence. For instance, it's clear from Pomeroy's narrative that Alcimedes, the slave who probably killed Regilla, wasn't punished for this action and was even in some ways rewarded for it. However, Pomeroy makes quite a leap, inferring from this information that Alcimedes must have known in advance the benefits killing Regilla would grant him and that caused him to deliberately kill her. Signalling that he benefitted afterwards is not the same as proving premeditation! Especially when one of the mentioned benefits is to free Herodes' attention for Alcimedes' daughters, when it's not clear if the girls were even born at the time of the murder.
Pomeroy also mentions that she fills in the details of Regilla's personal life with that of normal women of the time, but she doesn't always differentiate to the readers what is general knowledge and what is specific to Regilla. This makes it very difficult to evaluate Pomeroy's narrative or create one of your own.
All in all, a interesting read, but from a historian's perspective it seems rather unreliable.

[Meaghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically, this book is about a real murder case from Ancient Rome. A man beat his pregnant wife to death, to the scandal of everyone. Regilla's husband was obviously gay. Even the homoerotic Romans thought he paid a little bit too much attention to his male paramours. What role this played in the murder, though, is anyone's guess.

I think this book could have been a lot more interesting than it was, considering the topic, but academic writing is often very dry and we must forgive that fact. It was sort of intriguing to learn about the criminal justice system of the time (if I'm reading right, murders did not get prosecuted automatically but someone had to bring a prosecution against the alleged killer, like a civil suit today). But I think I could only recommend this book to classics historians or women's studies scholars.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very scholarly book but very interesting. I think the author does her best to make her book as much of a story as possible. You will learn a lot of interesting facts about Ancient Greece, Rome, and the domestic life of the time period. The story itself is heartbreaking and I think she has a strong case that Regilla was murdered. She basis her thesis on a variety of actual documentation, other scholarly research, and the archeological discoveries from the area. The book has definitely piqued my curiosity of this time period. I would welcome any other recommendations of similar nonfiction books about the domestic life of Ancient Greece and Rome.

[Drianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting, and it certainly helped clarify my understanding of Herodes Atticus and who he was. (That was perhaps not Pomeroy's aim.) I was not ultimately convinced by all of her argumentation, but it seems reasonable that Herodes was in fact responsible for Regilla's death. I also wish all of her 'speculation' were more clearly marked. Overall, I am reminded of why I am so grateful to Pomeroy -- without her work, the generations of feminist Classicists after her would have had much more difficulty.

[Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads a LOT like a history dissertation. A good description of the culture of Rome and Greece, how the Regilla would have ended up with her husband and all that but very heavily cited and dry. Still excited to see a book on Domestic Violence in the past and how it was treated though.