Peopling the Past

For the final episode of our season on women in the ancient Mediterranean, we feature the most famous woman in antiquity: Cleopatra! Dr. Shelley Haley joins Chelsea and Melissa to untangle the image of Cleopatra as a seductive manipulator and to challenge assumptions, misconceptions, and preconceived notions about her persona and reign. Listen in as Dr. Haley talks about Cleopatra as an African ruler and unpacks the sensationalized narratives about this talented and canny Egyptian pharoah. Come for the Plutarch, stay for the Beyonce!

Travel, displacement, religious pilgrimage - these are just some of the motivations for ancient migration, but how and why did people move from one place to another in antiquity? This week, Chelsea and Melissa are joined by Dr. Marie-Adeline Le Guennec, a historian of Roman mobility and migration. Listen in as Dr. Le Guennec talks about the ways in which women moved around the Roman Empire, the few sources that document this movement, and how modern scholars examine issues of mobility in the Roman world.

We guarantee: this episode will really move you! 

In today's episode, Dr. Anna Bonnell Freidin joins Melissa and Chelsea to talk about risk, pregnancy, and childbirth in the ancient Roman empire. Listen in as we discuss the definitions of risk in various contexts, how women's lives were affected by risks associated with pregnancy, childbearing, and delivery, and how the concept of communities of care might link us to people who lived long ago. This episode discusses infant and maternal death, so might not be appropriate for our youngest listeners. 

Ah, youth! We are all familiar with that mysterious and formative period of life between childhood and adulthood, but how did the ancient Romans describe this time of transition? In this episode, social historian Dr. Lauren Caldwell joins Chelsea and Melissa to talk about aspects of Roman "girlhood" and the difficult transition to "womanhood". Listen in, as we dive into ancient Latin medical and legal texts to learn how the ancient Romans grappled with puberty and the various changes that took place in the female body that differentiated girls (puellae) from the women (feminae) they would become.

We're celebrating Black History and African Heritage month with a very special episode on the women of ancient Nubia! Join Chelsea and Melissa as they welcome Dr. Jacke Phillips, an expert in Nubian history and archaeology, to the show. In this episode, we discuss women in ancient Nubia, from rulers and royals to the lives of everyday women. Listen in as Dr. Phillips introduces a variety of evidence, including graves, tattoos, statues, and historical sources. You'll also learn the origin of the name "Candace"! Don't miss this very special episode on a fascinating region of the ancient world. 

What better way to understand the real lives of everyday folk in the ancient Mediterranean than to look at the bones of the people themselves? On this episode, Chelsea and Melissa welcome Dr. Efthymia Nikita, a bioarchaeologist who studies the  surviving skeletal remains of ancient humans. Dr. Nikita shares her research and explains how bones can provide crucial information for understanding how people in the past lived, not just how they died. Join us as Dr. Nikita explores the way in which skeletal remains of ancient women can shed light on their mobility, sickness, diet, societal roles, and more!

Countless faces of real people survive in ancient portraiture, but how often do we know their names, or anything about their lives? In this episode, Dr. Judith Swaddling joins Melissa and Chelsea to talk about Seianti Hanunia Tlesnasa, an Etruscan woman who lived over 2000 years ago in Italy. Seianti is an incredible person to get to know, since we have a full-sized portrait of her lying atop her sarcophagus, as well as the physical remains of her skeleton. Listen in as Dr. Swaddling reveals the layers of Seianti's past and discusses the limits to how much we can actually know about any one person from the ancient Mediterranean world.

What can we say about Boudicca, one of the most famous women from the ancient world? Who was she, and was she even real? Why is she still so important to us today?  Listen in as Dr. Caitlin Gillespie joins Chelsea and Melissa to discuss what we (think we) know about this powerful resistance fighter and how her actions against the imperial Roman army still resonate with modern women in the 21st century.

What does it mean to be a "free woman" in the ancient Mediterranean world? Listen in as our guest, Dr. Stephanie Budin, joins Chelsea and Melissa to discuss women who lived outside of the traditional confines of the patriarchy and who were not under the direct control of a man. Dr. Budin, a historian and expert in ancient religion and sexuality, tells us about "harimatu" in ancient Mesopotamia and refutes the idea that these free women were prostitutes. This episode has it all: sex, gender-bending legal documents, and the dismantling of patriarchal assumptions about women's freedom and the origins of prostitution.

In today's episode, our featured guest Dr. Tara Mulder tells us all about the oldest profession in the world: midwifery! Listen in on a discussion between Dr. Mulder and hosts Dr. Chelsea Gardner and Dr. Melissa Funke that covers the sights, sounds, smells, and experiences of childbirth in ancient Rome, from the perspective of professional midwives. We look at a gravestone of a known midwife and talk about training and approaches to the birthing process. Dr. Mulder brings a unique perspective to the conversation, as she herself the daughter of a professional midwife! Don't miss it, this is an episode that definitely delivers!