This is a truly excellent book. From the delightful Frederic Leighton picture of a woman Winding the Skein on the front cover which kept drawing my eye away from more urgent work, to the easily read and interesting content, the clear page layouts, and the pleasurable handling of the physical volume, this book is a joy. I tend to approach books with a single‐sex theme with an element of suspicion, prejudice, even. What feminist “spin” will this one have? I was pleased that this book had none, or at least none that was obtrusive. The author, Frankenthal Professor of History and Humanistic Studies at the University of Wisconsin‐Green Bay, tells the story of women just as it is, or at least the best she can from the material that exists. Clearly rooted in the “reality‐check” of her inquisitive students, she tells the stories of many women from the ancient world, “the choices they made in their lives as they looked for happiness or wealth or power or well‐being for their families”. As the author writes, “In their stories, we can perhaps see that women in the distant past were not so very different from ourselves.” Little wonder, given the brutality and theft experienced from the occupying Roman forces, and the rape of her two daughters, that Boudicca was so motivated as to stir her subjects to rebellion. No wonder, given the shifting fortunes of dynastic families, that Eudoxa, Cleopatra, and others, married so frequently. How else could they and their families survive? If spin exists in this book, it is that the women of ancient times struggled like everyone else, in all ages, to have a decent life within the context of their times.
The coverage of the book is Western civilization from the early Middle‐Eastern “fertile crescent”, through the Egyptian, Greek, Judaic and Roman cultures, to about ad 500. The heart of the encyclopaedia is the biographies of some 150 women from the famous such as Cleopatra, Boudicca and Agrippina, to the mythological (Aphrodite, Helen of Troy, the Sirens and Sibyls), the Biblical (Eve, Mary, Salome), to the barely remembered such as the Roman wife Turia and the poet Nossis. In addition to the biographies there are general entries that cover various aspects of the ancient world such as clothing, cosmetics, family, childbirth and prostitution. It is interesting to note that the practice of abortion has been found in temple inscription of the ancient Greeks, where it was only forbidden after the death of the unborn child’s father (the child would inherit the estate). For both the Greeks and the Romans, abortion was more about controlling women than protecting the rights of the foetus.
Two features I found particularly noteworthy. The first was that this encyclopaedia is written by just the one author. This works particularly well since not only is Professor Salisbury such an excellent writer, but the whole book hangs together so well. The second point is that the writing is neither pretentious nor wordy (“academic” if I dare use the word!). The author is clearly a teacher who is a masterly communicator; nothing is taken for granted ‐ even “bc” and “ad” are explained. The reader unacquainted with ancient history can read this book as easily as watching Neighbours or Coronation Street. There are a number of outline maps and family trees which aid comprehension. The book is indexed and the articles have a modicum of suggested readings.
This book will be a valuable addition to any library. It is a useful corrective to the view that only in the twentieth century have women felt challenged by the cultural expectations of their gender.
