“We know the names of many female artists and writers, but possess the works of few.” (p. 3)

Our understanding of ancient history is largely shaped by what elite men said about themselves and each other. Their mothers, sisters and daughters are mostly missing from the story. Their lost voices cannot be recovered, but archaeology is providing a new generation of classical scholars with tools to attempt some imaginative reconstruction of what their lives must have been like.

This delightful book features ten chapters dealing with Greek and Persian history and nine chapters covering the Romans up to the death of Nero in 69 CE. Along the way we meet well-known figures like the lyric poet Sappho, and Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great, as well as nearly forgotten women like 6th century BCE poet Erinna, and Persian empress Atossa (c. 550-475 BCE) the formidable daughter of Cyrus the Great, and wife of Darius the Great.

The author has a deep mastery of the ancient sources (she provides her own translations of quotations from Greek and Latin writers) as well as the findings of modern archaeology. Chapters on the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures gave me a better understanding of sites I visited on a recent trip to Greece.

When we come to the Romans, a common source of confusion for readers is the frequent occurrence of women who have the same name, for example:

· Julia the Elder (39 BCE - 14 CE) daughter of Augustus and Julia the Younger (19 BCE - 28 CE) daughter of Julia the Elder and Marcus Agrippa,

· Antonia the Elder (39 BCE - 32 CE) older daughter of Mark Antony, and Octavia and Antonia the Younger (36 BCE - 37 CE) younger daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia,

· Agrippina the Elder (14 BCE - 33 CE) daughter of Julia the Elder, mother of Caligula and Agrippina the Younger (15 CE - 59 CE) fourth wife of Claudius, mother of Nero.

Family trees for the royal house of Macedon and the Julio-Claudian dynasty help to keep these complex relationships clear for the reader. Four clearly drawn maps locate every place referenced in the text, and there are 28 well-chosen and informatively captioned color plates.

It might be asked what readers concerned with military history would find of interest in a book about ancient women? There is plenty here, for example: Queen Artemisia of Caria, who fought brilliantly at the naval battle of Salamis (480 BCE), Queen Boudica of the Iceni, who led a doomed revolt against the Roman occupation of Britain (60-61 CE), Fulvia (died 40 BCE), who commanded an army in the Roman Civil War and famously stuck her hairpin through the tongue of the decapitated head of her political enemy, Cicero, and, of course, the endlessly fascinating Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt (70 - 30 BCE).

The book’s concluding paragraph is worth quoting:

“As historians, we are always at the mercy of the material that has come down to us and the gaps and biases it contains. We may vent our frustration on behalf of all the women of antiquity whose lives were buried with them or twisted out of recognition, but like Xerxes lashing the sea, we risk overlooking the spirits swirling subtly beneath. Women are everywhere that antiquity raises its head. They are the authors of our history.” (p. 379).

The author, Daisy Dunn, studied classics at Oxford, received an MA in art history from Courtauld Institute and a PhD from University College London. Her published books include a new translation of the poems of Catullus, arguably the most difficult Latin poet, as well as several histories and biographies, including The Shadow of Vesuvius: A Life of Pliny.

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Our Reviewer: Mike Markowitz is an historian and wargame designer. He writes a monthly column for CoinWeek.Com and is a member of the ADBC (Association of Dedicated Byzantine Collectors). His previous reviews include The Last Viking: The True Story of King Harald Hardrada, Ancient Rome: Infographics, Byzantium and the Crusades, A Short History of the Byzantine Empire, Theoderic the Great, The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium, Battle for the Island Kingdom, Vandal Heaven, The Eternal Decline and Fall of Rome, Herod the Great: Jewish King in a Roman World, Caesar Rules: The Emperor in the Changing Roman World, Ancient Rome on the Silver Screen, Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint, Persians: The Age of the Great Kings, Polis: A New History of the Ancient Greek City-State, At the Gates of Rome: The Battle for a Dying Empire, Roman Emperors in Context, After 1177 B.C., Cyrus the Great, Barbarians and Romans: The Birth Struggle of Europe, A.D. 400–700, and Crescent Dawn: The Rise of the Ottoman Empire and the Making of the Modern Age.

Note: The Missing Thread is also available in audio and e-editions.

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