Book Review: Domina by Guy de la Bédoyère *

The period of the end of the Roman Republic and the beginnings of the empire has always held great fascination for those of us in later generations, especially with its larger-than-life characters, originally portrayed with great gusto (and more than a little bias) by Suetonius and others and in the twentieth century by Robert Graves in his classic I, Claudius and Claudius the God.

In his book Domina, Guy de la Bédoyère gives us a look at the real people behind the myths and gossip. He also shows how, as the male line failed, descent through the female line became crucial to keeping the dynasty alive, as well as the methods by which these women, with varying degrees of success, circumvented the legal bar on their holding power to exercise influence through their husbands and sons. In fact, sometimes this could be an advantage, since a system that doesn't allow for female power also has very few ways to control it.

The book begins with a brief overview of the Roman view of women and their place, including what was seen as a “good”  woman (Lucretia, who killed herself after being raped, or Cornelia, the exemplary mother), as well as the “bad,” generally, as so often in later years, one who “usurped” the power of men or blatantly exercised power over them, notable examples being Marc Antony’s wife Fulvia and of course Cleopatra. De la Bédoyère then embarks on a comprehensive history of the women in the Julio-Claudian family (mainly descendants of Augustus, his sister Octavia and his wife Livia by her first husband, as well as Octavia and Livia themselves). Livia - almost certainly nothing like the Machiavellian schemer portrayed by Graves - was perhaps the most successful but was still cut loose by her son Tiberius at the end of her life. Agrippina the Elder (wife and later widow of Germanicus) and Claudius’ wife Messalina, completely different in their personalities and approaches, both failed - and paid for it with their lives - for widely varying reasons. Agrippina the Younger (mother of Nero), saw her son become emperor but in the end, lost her influence and was murdered by him. Many other women populate these pages, from Augustus’ tragic daughter Julia to others who are familiar to those of us who have read Graves’ work and still others who are more obscure but still played their part.

Finally, in an epilogue, de la Bédoyère spends time examining the second great flourishing of female power in the Severan dynasty, which includes Septimus Severus’ wife Julia Domna, her sister Julia Maesa and Julia Maesa's daughters, with a brief sketch of later empresses and their influence or (mostly) lack thereof.

I enjoyed this book very much; it was engrossing as well as careful history and, despite my prior knowledge, I don’t believe it would be excessively confusing even to those who are less familiar with the history, although some confusion is perhaps inevitable, with multiple Julias, Claudias, Octavias, and Agrippinas to keep track of. I believe it would be a rewarding read for anyone looking to learn more about this period in particular in general or specifically about the part women played.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

From September 29, 2018