Search results for ""Author Honor Cargill""

This is the story of Messalina - third wife of Emperor Claudius and one of the most notorious women to have inhabited the Roman world.According to the Roman historians Tacitus and Suetonius, the Empress Messalina was a sexually insatiable schemer. The tales they told about her including a twenty-four-hour sex competition with a prostitute have taken deep root in the Western imagination, but Messalina's real story is much more complex.In her reappraisal of one of the most slandered female figures of ancient history, Honor Cargill-Martin finds an intelligent, passionate and ruthless woman who succeeded in asserting herself in the overwhelmingly male world of imperial Roman politics. Rather than setting out to salvage' Messalina's reputation, she looks at her life in the context of her time. Above all, she seeks to reclaim the humanity of a life story previously circumscribed by currents of high politics and patriarchy.

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Written by 'the new Mary Beard', classicist Honor Cargill-Martin flips the script in this enchanting anthology of eight Greek myths where women take centre stage.

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We all know Henry VIII had six wives. But these ladies are FAR too interesting to only be known as wives. Did you know that Catherine of Aragon rallied her troops in full armour while heavily pregnant? Or that Anne of Cleves met Henry VIII BEFORE they married - only she didn''t realise, because he was in disguise! Or that it was Catherine Parr who persuaded the king to return his daughters Mary and Elizabeth - two of British history''s most famous monarchs - to the line of succession?Get ready to lose your head as the six wonderful women behind the man take centre stage to overthrow her-story. From rumours of scandals and LOTS of lying, to political plays and fabulous frocks, The Six is a story filled with ambition, treason and strong women.

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This is the story of Messalina – third wife of Emperor Claudius and one of the most notorious women to have inhabited the Roman world. The scandalous image of the Empress Messalina as a ruthless and sexually insatiable schemer, derived from the work of Roman historians such as Tacitus and Suetonius, has taken deep root in the Western imagination. The stories they told about her included nightly visits to a brothel and a twenty-four-hour sex competition with a prostitute. Tales like these have defined the empress's legacy, but her real story is much more complex. In her new life of Messalina, the classicist Honor Cargill-Martin reappraises one of the most slandered and underestimated female figures of ancient history. Looking beyond the salacious anecdotes, she finds a woman battling to assert her position in the overwhelmingly male world of imperial Roman politics – and succeeding. Intelligent, passionate, and ruthless when she needed to be, Messalina's story encapsulates the cut-throat political manoeuvring and unimaginable luxury of the Julio-Claudian dynasty in its heyday. Cargill-Martin sets out not to 'salvage' Messalina's reputation, but to look at her life in the context of her time. Above all, she seeks to reclaim the humanity of a life story previously circumscribed by currents of high politics and patriarchy.

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