How Many Genders? Aelius Donatus, Parts of Speech

 

Name: Aelius Donatus Date: 4th century CE   Region:   [Unknown] Citation:   Parts of Speech

How many genders are there? Four. Which? ·         Masculine, like magister [“teacher,”]; ·         Feminine, like musa [‘Muse,’]; ·         Neuter, like scamnum [“bench”]; and ·         Common, like sacerdos [“priest”]. There is another beyond the three genders, which is called All-Inclusive [omne], like how the word ‘felix’ [“blessed, lucky”] can describe masculine, feminine or neuter words. It is unisex, for any gender, like passer [“sparrow”] or aquila [“eagle”].

genera nominum quot sunt? quattuor. quae? masculinum, ut hic magister, femininum, ut haec Musa, neutrum, ut hoc scamnum, commune, ut hic et haec sacerdos. est praeterea trium generum, quod omne dicitur, ut hic et haec et hoc felix; est epicoenon, id est promiscuum, ut passer aquila.

 

Wilgefortis, Protected By The Beard of Christ [from Acta Sanctorum Mensis Julius]

Hail, Wilgefortis, holy servant of Christ!

You loved Christ with all of your heart

and, when you rejected a marriage to the king of Sicily,

you proved your faith on the Cross.

By your own earthly father’s decree

You endured the tortures of imprisonment,

You grew a beard on your face,

Which you obtained from Christ as a gift

Because you wanted to stop others from wanting to marry you.

Seeing this, your heathen father raised you up

High up on a cross, still wearing your beard

And ready [to die].

Since you had both grace as well as virtue,

As soon as you could,

Your soul fled to Christ’s protection.

O lady,

Because we cherish your memory with solemn praises,

O blessed Wilgefortis,

We beg you to pray on our behalf!

 

--Acta Sanctorum Mensis Julius,  Volume 7, Issue 5 (1748) p. 64 ; (Originally published in Enchiridion praeclarae ecclesiae Sarisburensis, 1533)

 

Ave sancta famula,Wilgefortis,Christi,

quae ex tota anima Christum dilexisti;

dum regis Siciliae nuptias sprevisti;

Crucifixo Domino fidem praebuisti.

Jussu patris carceris tormenta subisti,

crevit barba facie, quod obtinuisti

a Christo pro munere, quod sibi voluisti

te volente nubere sibi confudisti.

videns pater impius te sic deformatam

elevavit arius in cruce paratam.

Ubi cum virtutibus reddidisti gratam

animamque quantocius,Christo commendatam.

Quia devotis laudibus tuam memoriam, virgo, recolimus,

o beata Wilgefortis, ora pro nobis quaesumus.

Challenging Gender Roles: Hipparchia's Universal Home

I don’t have a roof, or a house, or a homeland

Instead the whole world, both city & countryside

are available to me as a home.

 --Hipparchia, published in Mulierum Graecarum (1735) p. 68, Translated into Latin by Christian Wolff

Ουχ εις πάτρας μοι πύργος ου μία λέγη

Πάσης δὲ χέρσε καὶ πόλισμα καὶ δόμος

Ἕτοιμος ἡμῖν ἐνδιαιτᾶσθαι πάρα.

Non turris una, nec casa una patriae

mihi est, sed universae arces terrae,& domus

parata nobis mansio & caenacula. 

The Gender-Bending Vision of St. Perpetua

The Gender Bending Vision of St. Perpetua

Name:  St. Perpetua Date:  203 CE Region:  Madaura [modern Algeria] Citation:  The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas 10

Before she was killed, St. Perpetua had a vision in which she became a man and fought a gladiator. Many people interpret this transformation as her gaining skills and abilities that she was denied access to because of her gender.

The day before our execution, I saw this in a vision. The deacon Pomponius came to the door of the prison and started knocking on it violently. I went to the door and opened it. He was clothed in loose, bright clothing, and had special shoes on. He told me, “Perpetua, we are waiting for you, come on!,” and he held out his hand for me, and we began to walk through rough and uneven places. We nearly didn’t make it, but we finally arrived at the amphitheater and he brought me into the middle of the arena and told me, “Don’t panic. I am here with you, and I’ve got your back.” And he disappeared.

Then I saw a huge crowd of people, thunderstruck. Since I knew that I was condemned to die by beasts, I was wondering why there weren’t any animals around me. Instead, a certain Egyptian fighter—an absolutely huge warrior—came to fight me along with other gladiators. But young, honorable youths rose up alongside of me to cheer me on and help me fight. I took off my robe, and became a man. And my helpers began to anoint me with oil (something that happens in the arena). And I saw the Egyptian gladiator rolling in the dust. And there was a certain man who was huge (even taller than the tower of the amphitheater), who wore a loose purple robe with two stripes across the middle of his chest, wearing special shoes made of gold and silver. He carried a staff like a referee would, but it was a leafy branch that had golden apples. He shushed the crowd and said, “If this Egyptian fighter gladiator wins, he will kill her with a sword, but if this woman wins, she will get this staff as a trophy.” And he left.

And we approached each other and began to fight. He tried to grab my feet, but I started kicking him.  He tossed me into the air and I kept kicking him with my legs. But when I saw I had a chance, I wove my fingers together and I grabbed him by the head, and I struck him in the face and I kicked him in the head. And the crowd began to shout and my fans began to cheer. And I went up to the referee and I got the staff as a trophy of my victory. And he kissed me and told me, “Daughter, Peace be with you.” And I began to do my victory dance towards the Winner’s Gate. And then I woke up. And I understood that I wasn’t going to fight beasts, but I was going to fight the devil, but that I would be victorious. I had this vision the day before the Games; if someone wishes to write down what actually happens at the Games, let them do so.

 

The Gender Bending Vision of St. Perpetua

Pridie quam pugnaremus, video in horomate hoc: venisse Pomponium diaconum ad ostium carceris et pulsare vehementer.Et exivi ad eum et aperui ei; qui erat vestitus discincta candida, habens multiplices galliculas. Et dixit mihi: “Perpetua, te expectamus; veni.” Et tenuit mihi manum et coepimus ire per aspera loca et flexuosa.Vix tandem pervenimus anhelantes ad amphitheatrum et induxit me in media arena et dixit mihi: “Noli pavere. Hic sum tecum et conlaboro tecum.” Et abiit.

Et aspicio populum ingentem adtonitum; et quia sciebam me ad bestias damnatam esse, mirabar quod non mitterentur mihi bestiae. Et exivit quidam contra me Aegyptius foedus specie cum adiutoribus suis pugnaturus mecum. Veniunt et ad me adolescentes decori, adiutores et fautores mei. Et expoliata sum et facta sum masculus; et coeperunt me favisores mei oleo defricare, quomodo solent in agone. Et illum contra Aegyptium video in afa volutantem. Et exivit vir quidam mirae magnitudinis ut etiam excederet fastigium amphitheatri, discinctatus, purpuram inter duos clavos per medium pectus habens, et galliculas multiformes ex auro et argento factas, et ferens virgam quasi lanista, et ramum viridem in quo erant mala aurea. Et petiit silentium et dixit: “Hic Aegyptius, si hanc vicerit, occidet illam gladio; haec, si hunc vicerit, accipiet ramum istum.” Et recessit.

 Et accessimus ad invicem et coepimus mittere pugnos. Ille mihi pedes adprehendere volebat; ego autem illi calcibus faciem caedebam. Et sublata sum in aere et coepi eum sic caedere quasi terram non calcans. At ubi vidi moram fieri, iunxi manus ut digitos in digitos mitterem et apprehendi illi caput; et cecidit in faciem et calcavi illi caput. Et coepit populus clamare et fautores mei psallere. Et accessi ad lanistam et accepi ramum.Et osculatus est me et dixit mihi: “Filia, pax tecum.” Et coepi ire cum gloria ad portam Sanavivariam [1]. Et experrecta sum. Et intellexi me non ad bestias, sed contra diabolum esse pugnaturam; sed sciebam mihi esse victoriam. Hoc usque in pridie muneris egi; ipsius autem muneris actum, si quis voluerit, scribat.

---

[1] Sani et vivi, literally, “the healthy and living” gate.

Saint Perpetua [Vibia Perpetua; 203 CE, modern Algeria] was a Christian woman who was imprisoned and executed for her faith in 203 CE. In the Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, she tells of her arrest, imprisonment, and execution.

Faith Over Family: Perpetua 5

Faith Over Family

Name:  St. Perpetua Date:  203 CE Region:  Madaura [modern Algeria] Citation:  The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas 5

Perpetua was a Christian woman who was imprisoned and executed for her faith in 203 CE. Before her execution, her father tried to manipulate her into recanting her faith by mentioning her family ties. In this passage, Perpetua explains that her faith was more important than her earthly family.

After a few days, we heard a rumor that we would be heard [in trial]. My father came to visit me from the city, worn out with worry. He approached me, and said, “Daughter, pity my old age. Pity your father! If I am worthy to still be called your father, if I raised you to womanhood with my own hands, if I cherished you over all of your brothers, don’t let me get dragged down by other people’s trash talk. Think about your brothers! Think about your mother and your aunt! Think about your son, who will die without you! Stop being so brave, or you’ll ruin us all. If something happens to you, none of us will be able to speak freely about it...”

My dad said this out of concern for his family, kissing my hands and throwing himself at my feet. He wept, and called me “lady,” not “daughter.” And I was upset for my dad, for he was the only person who wasn’t happy for me out of my whole family. And I comforted him, saying, “What happens at the gallows is God’s will. Please know that I am not yours to control, but rather I’m in God’s hands.” And he left me, upset.

Faith Over Family

Post paucos dies rumor cucurrit ut audiremur. Supervenit autem et de civitate pater meus, consumptus taedio, et ascendit ad me, ut me deiceret, dicens: “Miserere, filia, canis meis; miserere patri, si dignus sum a te pater vocari; si his te manibus ad hunc florem aetatis provexi, si te praeposui omnibus fratribus tuis: ne me dederis in dedecus hominum. Aspice fratres tuos, aspice matrem tuam et materteram, aspice filium tuum qui post te vivere non poterit. Depone animos; ne universos nos extermines. Nemo enim nostrum libere loquetur, si tu aliquid fueris passa.”

Haec dicebat quasi pater pro sua pietate basians mihi manus et se ad pedes meos iactans et lacrimans me iam non “filiam” nominabat, sed “dominam.” Et ego dolebam casum patris mei quod solus de passione mea gavisurus non esset de toto genere meo. Et confortavi eum dicens: “Hoc fiet in illa catasta quod Deus voluerit. Scito enim nos non in nostra esse potestate futuros, sed in Dei.” Et recessit a me contristatus.

Saint Perpetua [Vibia Perpetua; 203 CE, modern Algeria] was a Christian woman who was imprisoned and executed for her faith in 203 CE. In the Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, she tells of her arrest, imprisonment, and execution. 

I Cannot Be Anything Other Than Me, St. Perpetua 2-3.2

I Cannot Be Anything Other Than Me: Perpetua’s Simple But Profound Declaration

Name:  St. Perpetua Date:  203 CE Region:  Madaura [modern Algeria] Citation:  The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas 2.1 – 3.2

Perpetua was a Christian woman who was imprisoned and executed for her faith in 203 CE. In this passage, she uses an analogy about a water pitcher to explain to her father that her faith was an integral part of her being.

Some youths were arrested before they could get baptized. They were Revocatus and Felicitas (his co-worker), Saturninus and Little Secundus. Among them was also Vibia Perpetua, a well-born lady, well educated, married and a mother. She had a mother, a father, and two brothers (one of whom was also an unbaptized Christian), and an infant son who had not yet been weaned. She was about twenty-two years old. This is a story of her martyrdom, written by her own hand, that she has left to us based on her own experience: 

When we were still among our prosecutors, my father tried to talk me out of it, out of his love for me. I told him, “Dad, do you see that vase lying over there? Is that a water jug or something else?”

He said, “I see it.”

And I told him, “Can you call it something other than its name?”

And he said, “Nope.”

And I said, “And I, too, cannot be called anything except what I am; a Christian.”

Latin Text: 

Apprehensi sunt adolescentes catechumeni, Revocatus et Felicitas, conserva eius, Saturninus et Secundulus. Inter hos et Vibia Perpetua, honeste nata, liberaliter instituta, matronaliter nupta, habens patrem et matrem et fratres duos, alterum aeque catechumenum, et filium infantem ad ubera. Erat autem ipsa circiter annorum viginti duo. Haec ordinem totum martyrii sui iam hinc ipsa narravit sicut conscriptum manu sua et suo sensu reliquit:

“Cum adhuc, inquit, cum prosecutoribus essemus et me pater verbis evertere cupiret et deicere pro sua affectione perseveraret: “Pater,” inquam, “vides verbi gratia vas hoc iacens, urceolum sive aliud?”

Et dixit: “Video.” 

Et ego dixi ei: “Numquid alio nomine vocari potest quam quod est?”

Et ait: “Non.”

“Sic et ego aliud me dicere non possum nisi quod sum, Christiana.”

Saint Perpetua [Vibia Perpetua; 203 CE, modern Algeria] was a Christian woman who was imprisoned and executed for her faith in 203 CE. In the Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, she tells of her arrest, imprisonment, and execution. 

One Woman Climbs A Mountain for her Faith: Egeria, It. 1.3.7 - 1.4.1

Egeria, Climbing a Mountain for Her Faith

Name:  Egeria Date:  4th century CE Region:  [modern Spain] Citation:   Journey Abroad 1.3.7 – 4.1

Egeria was a Christian woman from Spain who lived during the 4th century CE. The narrative of her pilgrimage is an important document, as it shows rare insight into the lives of women during that time period. She was not only able to travel to visit holy sites in Constantinople, Jerusalem, and other holy places, she was also literate and able to write of her experiences to the women in her social circle, who were presumably also literate. 

After we talked a bit, the holy folk blessed us. Then we went outside of the church, and I began to ask them about certain places. Immediately, the holy men took me on a tour. They showed me the cave where Holy Moses was when he ascended the holy mountain to obtain the Ten Commandments, and where he later broke the first copy of them when his people had broken those rules. They showed me other places, as many as I had asked about, and even more that they had known about that I didn’t.  

Fellow sisters in Christ, I want you to know this, that from the point where we stood on the top of the central mountain, when we looked down, the other mountains around us which had seemed nearly inaccessible, looked like little hills.  And from the ground, they looked so massive, like I had never seen anything taller than them, and yet this central  mountain overshadowed them by a lot. From the summit, we saw such incredible sights: we saw Egypt and Palestine and the Red Sea and the Parthian Sea, which borders Alexandria; we also saw the border of the boundless territories of the  Arabian peoples. The holy men leading the tour pointed out each and every site to us.

Once this was checked off of my bucket list, we began to go back to the point we’d started our ascent, going from the summit of the holy mountain to another mountain that is joined to it named Choreb.

Hac sic ergo posteaquam communicaveramus et dederant nobis eulogias sancti illi et egressi sumus foras ostium ecclesiae, tunc coepi eos rogare, ut ostenderent nobis singula loca. Tunc statim illi sancti dignati sunt singula ostendere. Nam ostenderunt nobis speluncam illam, ubi fuit sanctus Moyses, cum iterato ascendisset in montem Dei, ut acciperet denuo tabulas, posteaquam priores illas fregerat peccante populo, et cetera loca, quaecumque desiderabamus vel quae ipsi melius noverant, dignati sunt ostendere nobis.

Illud autem vos volo scire, dominae venerabiles sorores, quia de eo loco, ubi stabamus, id est in giro parietes ecclesiae, id est de summitate montis ipsius mediani, ita infra nos videbantur esse illi montes, quos primitus vix ascenderamus, iuxta istum medianum, in quo stabamus, ac si essent illi colliculi, cum tamen ita infiniti essent, ut non me putarem aliquando altiores vidisse, nisi quod hic medianus eos nimium praecedebat. Aegyptum autem et Palaestinam et mare rubrum et mare illud Parthenicum, quod mittit Alexandriam, nec non et fines Saracenorum infinitos ita subter nos inde videbamus, ut credi vix possit; quae tamen singula nobis illi sancti demonstrabant

Completo ergo omni desiderio, quo festinaveramus ascendere, coepimus iam et descendere ab ipsa summitate montis Dei, in qua ascenderamus, in alio monte, qui ei periunctus est, qui locus appellatur in Choreb.

Egeria [4th century CE, modern Spain] was a Christian woman who wrote a narrative of her pilgrimage to Constantinople, Jerusalem, and other places in the Holy Land. Her life provides insight into the lives of women during the 4th century CE, as she not only had the privilege of being able to travel extensively, but also was literate and able to share her story in writing with other literate women in her social circle.

Mourning the loss of a friend: Antye, Greek Anthology 7.490

 

Name: Antye Date:    3rd century BCE Region:    Tegea [modern Greece] Citation: Greek Anthology 7.490
I mourn for the maiden Antibia. Because of her beauty and wisdom Many suitors flocked to her father’s home for her, But cursed Fate keeps all hope at bay.
παρθένον Ἀντιβίαν κατοδύρομαι, ἇς ἐπὶ πολλοὶ νυμφίοι ἱέμενοι πατρὸς ἵκοντο δόμον, κάλλευς καὶ πινυτᾶτος ἀνὰ κλέος: ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ πάντων ἐλπίδας οὐλομένα Μοῖρ᾽ ἐκύλισε πρόσω.	Virginem Antibiam deploro, quam propter multi Sponsi desiderantes, ad patris venerunt domum, Ob pulchritudinem & prudentiam inclytam; sed omnium Spem damnosa mors subverti prius. Translated into Latin by Christian Wolf [1735]

 

 

Antye [4^th century BCE, Modern Greece] was one of the famous “earthly Muses,” a group of nine women poets revered by classical Greek and Roman authors. Little is known about her, but it generally agreed that she was from Tegea [modern Greece] and lived during the 3^rd century BCE. Numerous poems of hers were preserved in the Greek Anthology.

Reminding Those You Care About to Care for Themselves: Four Letters Between Fronto and Marcus Aurelius

 

Name:  Fronto and Marcus Aurelius Date:  100 – 170 CE Region:  Cirta [modern Algeria], Rome [modern Italy] Citation: Fronto, Letters to Marcus Aurelius 5.1, 5.2, Index of Book 5, lines 7-8

Fronto to Marcus Aurelius:

To my lord:

If you love me at all, get some sleep the night before you come into the Senate, so you can give your speech with a healthy appearance and a strong voice.

Marcus Aurelius to Fronto:

To my teacher:

I will never love you enough! I’ll get some sleep.

 

Fronto to Marcus Aurelius:

To my lord: Get something to eat, lord...

 

Marcus Aurelius to Fronto:

To my teacher: I got something to eat...

Domino Meo.

Si quicquam nos amas, dormi per istas noctes, ut forti colore in senatum venias et vehementi latere legas.

Magistro meo:

Ego te numquam satis amabo: dormiam.

 

 

 [First lines of two lost letters]:

Domino meo: Sume cibum, Domine...

Magistro meo: Sumpsi cibum...

Fronto [Marcus Cornelius Fronto; 100 – 160 CE, modern Algeria and Italy] was a Roman statesman born in Cirta [modern Algeria] whose rhetorical and literary abilities earned him the nickname “the Second Cicero.” He was tutor and mentor to the future Roman emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. His correspondence with them provides unique insight into the personal lives of much of the Antonine dynasty.

Dux Femina Facti: Zenobia, A Better Warrior Than A Man, SHA Duorum Gallienorum 13.1-5

Zenobia vs. Gallienus

Name: Scriptores Historia Augusta Date:   Unknown Region:    Unknown Citation:     Life of The Two Gallieni 13.1-5

Often, authors will use depictions of other nations as a mirror for their own society. Here Zenobia’s exploits are used to criticize Gallienus’ masculinity and ability to rule effectively.  

At that time, Odenathus was killed by his cousin’s plot. He was killed along with his son Herodes, whom he had also named emperor. Since his remaining children Herennianus and Timolaus were too young to rule, his wife Zenobia took the throne. She ruled for a long time, not in a womanly manner, or like a girl, but cleverly and boldly, not only dissimilar to Gallienus (who any woman could do a better job than), but also even other rulers. For when Gallienus heard that Odenathus died, he gathered his forces for a war against the Persians in a too-little-too-late attempt to avenge his father. He assembled the troops and managed the war as a clever leader through the management of Heraclian. However, when Heraclian set out against the Persians, he was defeated by the Palmyrans and lost all of his soldiers, since Zenobia was ruling both Palmyra and many other eastern cities in a manly fashion.

Zenobia vs. Gallienus

Per idem tempus Odenatus insidiis consobrini sui interemptus est cum filio Herode, quem et ipsum imperatorem appellaverat. Cum Zenobia, uxor eius, quod parvuli essent filii eius, qui supererant, Herennianus et Timolaus, ipsa suscepit imperium diuque rexit, non muliebriter neque more femineo, sed non solum Gallieno, quo quae virgo melius imperare potuisset, verum etiam multis imperatoribus fortius atque solertius. Gallienus sane, ubi ei nuntiatum Odenatum interemptum, bellum Persis ad seram nimis vindictam patris paravit collectisque per Heraclianum ducem militibus sollertis principis rem gerebat. Qui tamen Heraclianus, cum contra Persas profectus esset, a Palmyrenis victus omnes, quos paraverat, milites perdidit, Zenobia Palmyrenis et orientalibus plerisque viriliter imperante.

Scriptores Historiae Augustae Little is known about the author(s) of the Historia Augusta; even internal evidence within the text is either falsified, skewed or utterly fictitious. Although attributed to six different authors, the text was likely written by a single author living during the 4th century CE. It is a series of imperial biographies modeled after the works of Suetonius; these biographies cover the reigns of the emperors Hadrian through Carus.

Married to Her Passion: the Ace Roman Painter Iaia, Pliny the Elder Nat. Hist. 35.147-148

Iaia, The Best of Women Artists

Name: Pliny the Elder Date: 23 – 79 CE Region:  Como [modern Italy]; Rome [modern Italy] Citation:  Natural History, 35.147-148

There were also women painters:

·         Timarete, the daughter of Micon, [the creator of] Diana, a painting in Ephesus that is among the oldest

·         Irene, the daughter and protégé of the painter Cratinus, [the creator of] Proserpina (which is on display at Eleusis), as well as a painting of Calypso, an old man, and the juggler Theodorus, as well as the dancer Alcisthenes

·         Aristarete, the daughter and protégé of Nearchus, [the creator of] Aesculapius

·         Iaia of Cyzicus, who never married, was a painter at Rome during the time of Marcus Varro’s youth, did both paintings and engravings in ivory. Her specialty was portraits of women, the most famous of which is on display at Naples, a huge portrait of an old woman, as well as a self portrait in a mirror. No painter was faster at the art, and she was so skilled that her works were more valuable than even very famous artists of the time period, Sopolis and Dionysius, whose paintings litter our modern museums.

·         Some woman named Olympias, but the only thing we really still know about her was that she had a protégé named Autobulus.

Pinxere et mulieres:

·        Timarete, Miconis filia, Dianam, quae in tabula Ephesi est antiquissimae picturae;

·        Irene, Cratini pictoris filia et discipula, puellam, quae est Eleusine, Calypso, senem et praestigiatorem Theodorum, Alcisthenen saltatorem;

·        Aristarete, Nearchi filia et discipula, Aesculapium.

·        Iaia Cyzicena, perpetua virgo, M. Varronis iuventa Romae et penicillo pinxit et cestro in ebore imagines mulierum maxime et Neapoli anum in grandi tabula, suam quoque imaginem ad speculum. Nec ullius velocior in pictura manus fuit, artis vero tantum, ut multum manipretiis antecederet celeberrimos eadem aetate imaginum pictores Sopolim et Dionysium, quorum tabulae pinacothecas inplent.

Pinxit et quaedam Olympias, de qua hoc solum memoratur, discipulum eius fuisse Autobulum.

Pliny the Elder [Gaius Plinius Secundus; 23 – 79 CE, modern Italy] was an Italian-born Roman statesman and author who lived during the reigns of the early Roman emperors. He spent most of his life in service of his country; he ultimately gave his life in arranging the evacuation of the regions devastated by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. His work, the Natural History, is a 37-volume collection of art, history, and science of the ancient world.

One Proud Olympic Mama! Aelian, Var. Hist. 10.1

Name:  Aelian Date:      175 – 235 CE Region:  Praeneste [modern Italy] Citation:      Various History 10.1

The Olympic Games did not allow women spectators, but there are several stories of women who challenged this law in order to watch their family members compete. You can see another example here.

Pherenike brought her son to the Olympic games. When the judges forbid her from attending the games, she countered them, saying that not only was her father an Olympic champion, but her three brothers were and now even her son was, too.  She was able to win over both the people and their laws (which forbid women from watching the Olympics).

 

Pherenice filium suum ad Olympia certaminis causa adduxit: & quum Hellanodicae prohiberent eam a spectaculo ludorum, ad ius cum ipsis descendit, dicens se patrem habere victorem Olympiorum, atque tres fratres, itemque filium adduxxisse pugilatorem. His rationibus & populum & legem superavit, quae feminas a spectaculis arceret, & Olympia spectavit.

Φερενίκη τὸν υἱὸν ἦγεν ἐς Ὀλύμπια ἀθλεῖν. κωλυόντων δὲ αὐτὴν τῶν Ἑλλανοδικῶν τὸν ἀγῶνα θεάσασθαι, παρελθοῦσα ἐδικαιολογήσατο πατέρα μὲν Ὀλυμπιονίκην ἔχειν καὶ τρεῖς ἀδελφοὺς καὶ αὐτὴ παῖδα Ὀλυμπίων ἀγωνιστήν: καὶ ἐξενίκησε τὸν δῆμον [p. 108] καὶ τὸν εἴργοντα νόμον τῆς θέας τὰς γυναῖκας, καὶ ἐθεάσατο Ὀλύμπια.

Translated into Latin by Joannis Schefferi  (1662)

 

Aelian  [Claudius Aelianus; 175 – 235 CE, modern Italy] was a famous scholar from Praeneste [modern Italy] who lived during the second and early third century CE. He is known for two famous works, a scientific work On the Nature of Living Things and his collection of anecdotes called the Various Histories.