Books like Theodosian Empresses

Hypatia was a pagan philosopher in Alexandria around AD 400.

As Maria Dzielska shows, she occupies a special place in western culture – her life, and more particularly her death in AD 415 at the hands of a Christian mob, became a metaphor for a clash of civilizations. In these terms, it signifies the death of the old Hellenic world of ideas and learning and the rise of a new Christian world based on faith.

Dzielska’s pithy book explores Hypatia the myth, as created in literature such as Charles Kingsley’s 1853 novel Hypatia or the New Foes with an Old Face, and presents and interprets the historical evidence for the real Hypatia. It’s a great read about a fascinating life. (Also watch the excellent 2009 film Agora, directed by Alejandro Amenábar!)

While researching the fifth century for my first novel, I found a trio of powerful women who became the protagonists in my historical novel series. Roman Princess Galla Placidia was taken hostage by the Goths when they sacked Rome in 410. She returned to court to rule during the twilight of the Western Roman Empire. Empress Placidia held the empire together against rebel generals and ravaging hordes of barbarians.

Her long life was filled with romance, danger, political intrigue, and inevitable loss. Her tale is chronicled in this “biographical essay” which is over 300 pages of readable scholarly work. This book is close to my heart because I had to physically go to the New York Public Library and take notes before I found a used print copy. Thank you NYPL!

I metaphorically danced on the rooftop when I discovered this book. Do you know how likely it is that writing from the wild fifth century comes down to us? Much less writing by a woman? It had to survive barbarian incursions, fires, floods, and ravenous insects as well as “curators” of collections who decide which books get kept and which get used as fuel for the hypocaust.

This one features Empress Aelia Eudocia. Born Athenais, she was a pagan poetess who married the Most Christian Emperor Theodosius II and is the titular Rebel Empress in the third of my Theodosian Women series. Sowers not only provides us with Eudocia’s words translated from Greek, but fills in the history and politics of her life. A real find!

This one is just for fun. I regularly pick up these modern collections of brief biographies of ancient warrior women, doomed queens, she captains, etc. I like to see if “my” characters are included and how they fare with a non-scholarly author. Also, I like to see if any catch my eye for further research and possibly(?) a novel.

Like its sister books, this one is written in a breezy modern style with a certain amount of snark. Leon gives two pages each to about one hundred women who lived from 2500 BC to AD 450 around the Mediterranean and the western Roman provinces. All are real women who made a difference and their names survived, but you’ve probably never heard of most of them. Check it out!

While this novel moves effortlessly between three narrators, I loved that one of them is plucked straight from the dusty pages of history. While Lucrezia Borgia typically gets plenty of press, her contemporary Giulia Farnese was the beautiful young woman who didn’t have a choice in becoming the mistress of Cardinal Borgia, who became Pope Alexander VI. Here we see her learning to wade through Italian politics at the height of Borgia treachery.

I read this trilogy out of order but I’ll go ahead and recommend the first book. I found these on my hunt for things to do with the Borgias, and this is an absolutely brilliant set of books for it. Centered on a smart, strong woman in late 15th century Rome, it shows us a side usually left to male characters as she is embroiled in politics, plotting, and murder at the behest of the Borgias during the Papacy of Alexander VI. For anyone who loves to see every possible angle to a period of history, this is certainly one to add to their list. The only sad note is the series is, and seems likely to remain, incomplete, without a satisfactory resolution.

I loved this swashbuckling tale of Shakespeare’s fight master because it took me back to Elizabethan England and right on to the stage at The Globe theater. There’s plenty of action and intrigue (the main character’s not only an actor and fight master but a spy!) that inspired me when I was writing the action scenes in my book. The author fills the pages with an impressive amount of historical detail while maintaining a brisk, page-turning pace.

Courting Miss Lancaster is a perfect first novel for those new to Sarah Eden. She is the queen of beautiful and inspirational wholesome romance novels. This story is original, fun, witty, and so heartwarming you will be an instant fan. Well-researched, it brings the Regency era—and courtship—to life.

Perfect for horror readers who enjoy a narrative that is easy to settle into (the pages fly by), enjoy elements of dark fantasy with rich, opulent settings, and anything to do with blood, not necessarily vampires, but vampire-like activity.

The “rags-to-riches” storyline is so satisfying, I was physically dying for the MC to get to her new home, take a bath, get a makeover, and sink into a pretty & comfy bed. I loved this book so much; it delivered on everything, including my infatuation with reading about female friendships, toxicity, jealousy, and rivalry. Also, quite a bit of sapphic romance, which is a breath of fresh air in horror, filled with stale same-sex relationships or no romance at all.

We’ve all heard of Lady Jane Grey, "The Nine Day Queen”, but not many know that all three Grey sisters had tragic lives. Their Tudor blood and proximity to the throne made them rivals to the monarch, whether they wanted to be or not.

Leanda de Lisle does a wonderful job telling the stories of these three fascinating women: Jane, Katherine, and Mary. I love how she banishes the many myths surrounding them. Jane may have been a victim of the executioner, but the Jane that rises from the pages of this book was one tough cookie, as were her sisters.

All three of them challenged authority and were willing to pay the price. An excellent read.