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Brill's Companion to Ancient Women and War in the Mediterranean World
Series:
Considering war from a female perspective, diverse case studies from the Ancient Near East to the Roman World show the many faces of women’s involvement in war and campaigning and try to answer the question of why ancient Greek and Roman authors tend to object to women participating in military activities. It combines studies on literary and material sources and examines “famous” cases of women at war such as the myth of the Amazons, the portrayal of Artemisia of Halicarnassus, and the military role of Macedonian royal women.
Elizabeth D. Carney is Professor Emerita at Clemson University. Her research has focused on the role of women in Macedonian monarchy. She has published monographs on women and monarchy (2000), Olympias (2006), Arsinoë (2013), Eurydice (2019).
Sabine Müller has studied History and Art History and is Professor of Ancient History at Marburg University. Her research interest focuses on ancient Persia, Macedonia, and Macedonian royal women. She has published monographs on Arsinoe II (2009), Perdiccas II (2017), Alexander III (2014 and 2019), and the Argeads (2016 and 2025).
Contributors are: Cinzia Bearzot, Mary T. Boatwright, Lee L. Brice, Elizabeth D. Carney, Elinor Cosgrave, Jacqueline Fabre-Serris, Kathy L. Gaca, Elizabeth M. Greene, Johannes Heinrichs, Rachel Kousser, Franca Landucci, Kathryn A. Langenfeld, Uroš Matić, Sarah Melville, Sabine Müller, Olga Palagia, Walter Penrose Jr., Meghan Poplacean, Frances Pownall, Elinor Pyy, Gillian Ramsey Neugebauer, Caryn Reeder, Tanja Susanne Scheer, Fabio Tanja, Georgia Tsouvala, Lewis Webb, Kathryn Welch, Sergey A. Yatsenko.
Sabine Müller has studied History and Art History and is Professor of Ancient History at Marburg University. Her research interest focuses on ancient Persia, Macedonia, and Macedonian royal women. She has published monographs on Arsinoe II (2009), Perdiccas II (2017), Alexander III (2014 and 2019), and the Argeads (2016 and 2025).
Contributors are: Cinzia Bearzot, Mary T. Boatwright, Lee L. Brice, Elizabeth D. Carney, Elinor Cosgrave, Jacqueline Fabre-Serris, Kathy L. Gaca, Elizabeth M. Greene, Johannes Heinrichs, Rachel Kousser, Franca Landucci, Kathryn A. Langenfeld, Uroš Matić, Sarah Melville, Sabine Müller, Olga Palagia, Walter Penrose Jr., Meghan Poplacean, Frances Pownall, Elinor Pyy, Gillian Ramsey Neugebauer, Caryn Reeder, Tanja Susanne Scheer, Fabio Tanja, Georgia Tsouvala, Lewis Webb, Kathryn Welch, Sergey A. Yatsenko.
Contents
List of Figures
Abbreviations
Notes on Contributors
1 Some Preliminary Thoughts about Women and War in Ancient Times
Elizabeth D. Carney and Sabine Müller
2 Greek Goddesses Associated with War: from the Heights of Olympus to Troy and Marathon
Tanja S. Scheer
3 The Amazons: from History to Myth
Walter Duvall Penrose, Jr.
4 Scythia
Sergey A. Yatsenko
5 Greek Women at War in Archaic and Classical Sculpture
Olga Palagia
6 Women, Female Deities, and War in Roman Art
Rachel M. Kousser
7 Bellona: Roman Goddess of War
Meghan Poplacean
8 Women and Warfare in Ancient Mesopotamia
Sarah C. Melville
9 Framing War and Women in Ancient Egypt and Nubia
Uroš Matić
10 Argead Women and War
Elizabeth D. Carney
11 Ptolemaic and Seleucid Royal Women
Gillian Ramsey Neugebauer
12 Julio-Claudian Women, War, and the Military
Mary T. Boatwright
13 Spartan Women at War
Cinzia Bearzot
14 Women and Greek Mercenaries
Franca Landucci
15 The Historicity and Import of Martial Rape against Girls and Women in Civilian-Assault Warfare for Conquest
Kathy L. Gaca
16 Sexual Violence against Women in the Process of Captive-Taking in the Late Roman Republic and Early Empire
Elinor Cosgrave
17 Origins and Identities of the Wives of Roman Auxiliary Soldiers
Elizabeth M. Greene
18 Shorthand Girls and Secret Missives: Women’s Contributions to Late Roman Intelligence Operations
Kathryn A. Langenfeld
19 Objections to Women and War in Greek Historiography
Sabine Müller
20 Women and War in Herodotus — with the Focus on Artemisia of Halicarnassus
Johannes Heinrichs
21 Objections to Women and War in Antiquity: the Case of Hellenistic Royal Women
Frances Pownall
22 Women and War in Diodorus of Sicily
Sabine Müller
23 Nothing to Do with the Lex Oppia: Roman Women, Civil War, and the Discourse of Saving the City
Kathryn Welch and Lewis Webb
24 Livy’s Ideological Constructions of Gender Relations, Ethnicity, and Political Alliances, and Their Limits
Jacqueline Fabre-Serris
25 Women and War in Plutarch
Fabio Tanga
26 Women and War in Roman Epic
Elina Pyy
27 Women and War in Josephus
Caryn A. Reeder
28 Women and Armed Conflict: Never Just a Man’s World
Georgia Tsouvala and Lee L. Brice
Index
List of Figures
Abbreviations
Notes on Contributors
Part 1: Introduction
1 Some Preliminary Thoughts about Women and War in Ancient Times
Elizabeth D. Carney and Sabine Müller
Part 2: Goddesses, Myth, Amazons, and War
2 Greek Goddesses Associated with War: from the Heights of Olympus to Troy and Marathon
Tanja S. Scheer
3 The Amazons: from History to Myth
Walter Duvall Penrose, Jr.
4 Scythia
Sergey A. Yatsenko
5 Greek Women at War in Archaic and Classical Sculpture
Olga Palagia
6 Women, Female Deities, and War in Roman Art
Rachel M. Kousser
7 Bellona: Roman Goddess of War
Meghan Poplacean
Part 3: Royal Women and War
8 Women and Warfare in Ancient Mesopotamia
Sarah C. Melville
9 Framing War and Women in Ancient Egypt and Nubia
Uroš Matić
10 Argead Women and War
Elizabeth D. Carney
11 Ptolemaic and Seleucid Royal Women
Gillian Ramsey Neugebauer
12 Julio-Claudian Women, War, and the Military
Mary T. Boatwright
Part 4: Women and Armies in War
13 Spartan Women at War
Cinzia Bearzot
14 Women and Greek Mercenaries
Franca Landucci
15 The Historicity and Import of Martial Rape against Girls and Women in Civilian-Assault Warfare for Conquest
Kathy L. Gaca
16 Sexual Violence against Women in the Process of Captive-Taking in the Late Roman Republic and Early Empire
Elinor Cosgrave
17 Origins and Identities of the Wives of Roman Auxiliary Soldiers
Elizabeth M. Greene
18 Shorthand Girls and Secret Missives: Women’s Contributions to Late Roman Intelligence Operations
Kathryn A. Langenfeld
Part 5: Representations of Women in Texts about War
19 Objections to Women and War in Greek Historiography
Sabine Müller
20 Women and War in Herodotus — with the Focus on Artemisia of Halicarnassus
Johannes Heinrichs
21 Objections to Women and War in Antiquity: the Case of Hellenistic Royal Women
Frances Pownall
22 Women and War in Diodorus of Sicily
Sabine Müller
23 Nothing to Do with the Lex Oppia: Roman Women, Civil War, and the Discourse of Saving the City
Kathryn Welch and Lewis Webb
24 Livy’s Ideological Constructions of Gender Relations, Ethnicity, and Political Alliances, and Their Limits
Jacqueline Fabre-Serris
25 Women and War in Plutarch
Fabio Tanga
26 Women and War in Roman Epic
Elina Pyy
27 Women and War in Josephus
Caryn A. Reeder
Part 6: Afterword
28 Women and Armed Conflict: Never Just a Man’s World
Georgia Tsouvala and Lee L. Brice
Index
The volume is of interest to academic institutes, academic libraries, scholars and students of Classics, Ancient History, Gender Studies, Archaeology, ancient Philology, and Military History.