āLivia Drusilla Was NOT Evil! Hear Me Out.ā
Agreed. Seems like the 2 main types of portrayals for powerful women in Antiquity were either the manipulative seductress (Cleopatra, Messalina) or the evil & ambitious murder lady (Livia, Agrippina the Elder)
There DO seem to be only TWO portrayals of women in Ancient History and it makes me sad. But there IS something interesting that I want to write more about and I think I have written about on here somewhere. But to reiterate, there IS a 3rd but rarely used portrayal that is more...Ā ādamsel in distressedā? This one is used when the historical authors are writing about Titusā Daughter, Julia Flavia. They seem to not hate her and paint her more like a victim of the situation. Which may seem wrong, but I DO think that it was a more honest portrayal of a woman in her situation. Flaviaās Uncle, Domitian took her for his own and (either before or after, I canāt remember) killed her husband. But it is also interesting to know that Flavia convinced Domitian at one point to not kill his OWN wife,Ā Domitia Longina because she tried to assassinate him. (You go, woman!) Flavia according to Cassius Dio, if I remember right, managed to keep Longina from being executed.Ā
So, in a way, Flavia held some power, but she didnātĀ āuseā it like the others and was in a horrible situation. Thatās most likely why the ancient historians donāt hate her, which is SAD. Because Agrippina was in horrible situations and yet the historians then and today still hate her.Ā
I feel like I went on a rant here, but I think that modern historians need to step up their game. Yes, I will say that Livia and Agrippina and many other women did things that werenāt acceptable then AND today, but also, their husbands did things just as bad, if not worse. So, modern historians, treat both genders equal in your like or dislike.Ā