About: Mary Naples
With an emphasis in Women’s Studies, Mary Naples has an M.A. in Humanities from Dominican University of California. Her deep love of the classical world is reflected in her writing which explores women’s narratives ranging from the ancient Greek and Roman worlds into the Byzantine era and even into ancient Israel and Judea. Mary Naples has been a contributing writer for Classical Wisdom since 2013. More of her articles can be found at www.femminaclassica.com.
Recent Posts by Mary Naples
The Banishment of Julia Augusti (PART 3)
Written by Mary Naples, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom Yet, as it turns out, Livia would not be unhappy for long. Poor Marcellus would not live to see his twenty-first birthday. After just two years of marriage, an epidemic swept through the Roman Empire that would infect Augustus almost to death. After he improved, it went
The Banishment of Julia Augusti (PART 2)
Written by Mary Naples, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom Because the mere hint of sovereignty had dispatched his dear Uncle Julius into the hereafter, he never called himself emperor, preferring to use the term Princeps, or first citizen, instead. Regardless of his title, a de facto monarchy is what his regime—the principate—would become. But like all
The Banishment of Julia Augusti (PART 1)
Written by Mary Naples, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom “I would certainly not describe as mercy, what was actually the exhaustion of cruelty.” ~ Seneca, On Mercy (referring to the deified Augustus) “Let her be banished for life,” Augustus is recorded as saying about the harsh exile of his only biological child, Julia, to the barren and windswept
Pithecusae: Island of Firsts
By Mary Naples, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom Home to thermal springs and verdant landscapes, the idyllic island of Ischia also houses the first Greek settlement in all of Europe. Enterprising pioneers from the Greek island of Euboea, founded the colony in the mid-eighth century BCE, naming it Pithecusae from the Greek word pithekos meaning “ape”
The Brutality of Citizen Wives
By Mary E. Naples, M.A. Thesmophoria, the feminine fertility festival, dedicated to the Goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone, was literally for women only. Citizen males of ancient Greece were unconditionally restricted from attending any portion of the three-day long event, though they were responsible for its expenses. Further, men who spied on, or interrupted,