Ancient Women

Few personalities from classical antiquity are more famous - yet more poorly understood - than Cleopatra VII, queen of Egypt. In this major biography, Duane Roller reveals that Cleopatra was in fact a learned and visionary leader whose overarching goal was always the preservation of her dynasty and kingdom. Roller's authoritative account is the first to be based solely on primary materials from the Greco-Roman period: literary sources, Egyptian documents (Cleopatra's own writings), and representations in art and coinage produced while she was alive.

This time, the sacrifice is too great to ask of anyone—even a daughter of the sky. In this thrilling conclusion to the Touch the Sky series, Jennifer once again experiences visions of the past. This time, she sees life through the eyes of the young girl Alyona, captured by the Mongolian soldiers of Genghis Khan in AD 1224. Alyona’s journey is one of pain, heartbreak, and courage as she rises above the brutal world of the Mongolians. As Jennifer is drawn deeper into Alyona’s life, she can’t escape a feeling of foreboding. Each time she returns to the present and Derek’s loving arms...

The Peloponnesian War drags on and on with no end in sight, and the tough-minded Lysistrata has had enough. Men! - always making stupid decisions that affect everyone. Women's opinions are never listened to. Taking matters into her own hands, Lysistrata convenes a meeting of women from warring city-states across Greece and calls for a sex strike. It's a hard sell, but in the end, it is agreed: They will withhold sex until the war is brought to hasty a close.

In Rachel & Leah, Orson Scott Card paints vivid portraits of four celebrated women—Laban's daughters, Rachel and Leah; Bilhah, the orphaned servant; and Zilpah, an ambitious member of Laban's household. Into the desert camp comes Jacob, a handsome and charismatic kinsman who is clearly destined to be Rachel's husband. But that doesn't prevent the other woman from vying for his attention. Tracing their lives from childhood to maturity, Card shows how these women change in relationship to each other and how they are changed again by the holy books that Jacob brings with him.

Traditionally, the Orthodox Church has appointed forty days of rest and seclusion after childbirth for mothers to recover from the rigors of birth and get to know their new babies. In the modern world, it can be difficult to understand how to use this time to the fullest in the way it was intended. The authors of A Sacred Beginning—a therapist and a pediatrician who are both mothers themselves—come to the rescue with a resource that addresses the spiritual, emotional, and physical aspects of a mother's recovery from birth and embarkation on her new life.

The great city of Troy is under siege as Greek heroes Achilles and Agamemnon wage bloody war over a stolen woman. In the Greek camp, another woman is watching and waiting: Briseis. She was a queen of this land until Achilles sacked her city and murdered her husband and sons. Now she is Achilles' concubine: a prize of battle. Briseis is just one among thousands of women backstage in this war - the slaves and prostitutes, the nurses, the women who lay out the dead - all of them voiceless in history.

In seventh-century Ireland, then the light of reason in a darkening world, Fidelma - a religious, advocate of the Brehon courts and sister to the king of Muman - is an increasingly notable figure often called upon for her wisdom, legal knowledge, and devotion to the truth. While journeying with companion Eadulf to visit the new archbishop of Canterbury, their ship is blown badly off course, and the pair find themselves on the coast of modern Wales, in the kingdom of Dyfed.

In 43 CE Roman conquest of Britannia seems all but certain - until a chance meeting between King Prasutagus of the Iceni and a runaway slave of royal decent from the Aedui tribe in Gaul changes the fate of the British islands forever. Rise up for liberty with the true story of Boudicca: Britain's Queen of the Iceni and discover one of the most inspiring stories in history!

Pregnancy is not just a trek from one medical appointment to another but a journey of the heart. Here at last is a guidebook through its sacred terrain. For each week, Orthodox doula Laura Jansson provides a new reflection on a theme specific to the ground covered at that stage. From one milestone to the next, she helps us unearth the spiritual treasures buried within the physical experiences of childbearing. These are gifts of love from a merciful God who reaches out to us, making a perilous expedition into a path of salvation.

When was the last time you felt truly seen and deeply connected in your closest relationships? If conversations have started to feel shallow, if the emotional distance is growing, or if you're longing for more closeness with the people you love most, you're not alone. Many people quietly carry the ache of disconnection, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. Rooted in both timeless wisdom and real-life application, How to Live Your Faith Loving Others is a refreshing and hope-filled guide for anyone ready to grow closer in love and connection. This book gently combines timeless biblical ...

Epic Journeys Reimagined: Discover the Untold Stories of History's Most Powerful Women Step into the world of ancient epic and discover the untold stories of the women who shaped ancient myth and history. In The Other Odyssey: Women's Epic Journeys you'll encounter legendary figures like Penelope and Helen, as well as lesser-known but equally fascinating figures like Briseis, Penthesilea, and Creusa. Explore the lives and journeys of these extraordinary women: Penelope: The weaver whose cunning and resilience kept her kingdom safe. Briseis: A queen turned war prize, who navigates the ...

Sister Fidelma - an Eognacht princess and sister to the king of Cashel, a religieuse of the Celtic Church and an advocate of the Brehornn court-is one of the most interesting and compelling figures in contemporary mystery fiction. In this collection of short mysteries, Tremayne fills in many of the background details of Fidelma and seventh-century Ireland not found in the novels, and weaves his always-beguiling mix of history and mystery.

In the big-sky country of Montana, the past doesn't always stay buried. Circumstances have a way of forcing secrets into the open, sometimes bringing hearts together in unlikely ways, and sometimes tearing them apart. Dear Lady is Book One in the Coming to America series about women who come to America to start new lives.

Love’s Ancients A Spiritual Quest for Enlightenment In Book 4 of The Love Series, Kaathi, the healer, and Jacob, the warrior, embark on a quest to find the Ancients who have been communicating with Kaathi since she was a child. They encroach on the territories of lions, crocodiles, baboons, a race of diminutive hairless people, a new colony of mutants, a married couple of gigantic stature, and people resembling Neanderthals. Their encounters elicit danger, injury, and death. Intrigued by the depth of love inherent in someone as young as Kaathi, some from the new races seek sanctuary with ...

Every monastery exudes the scent of holiness, but women's monasteries have their own special flavor. Join Constantina Palmer as she makes frequent pilgrimages to a women's monastery in Greece and absorbs the nuns' particular approach to their spiritual life. If you're a woman who's read of Mount Athos and longed to partake of its grace-filled atmosphere, this book is for you. Men who wish to understand how women's spirituality differs from their own will find it a fascinating listen as well.

I may have hoped for fireworks when I turned fifty, but lighting up the entire Pyrenees Mountains in France and battling a necromancer wasn’t exactly the type of fanfare I had in mind. Now I’ve been summoned to the headquarters of the shadowy Federation for magical peoples. It's an honor, I'm told, but Romaine begs me not to go. A curse, he calls it, and I won't lie. I have nightmares of adepts in red hoods conducting magical dissections on my body. All around me ancient forces are awakening, each one more extreme than the last, and all of them are hell bent on establishing a new world ...

There are many paths to power. They all come with a price. Neferura, princess and high priestess of Kemet, knows her duty is to her people. When your mother is the great Pharaoh, it is hard to forget. But Neferura's unique position at court comes with high stakes for her country, especially when she's forced to serve her vile half-brother, a man determined to stop Neferura's potential rise.

In 40 CE, in the Au Lac region of ancient Vietnam, two daughters of a Vietnamese Lord fill their days training, studying, and trying to stay true to Vietnamese traditions. While Trung Trac is disciplined and wise, always excelling in her duty, Trung Nhi is fierce and free spirited, more concerned with spending time in the gardens and with lovers. But these sister's lives—and the lives of their people—are shadowed by the oppressive rule of the Han Chinese. They are forced to adopt Confucian teachings, secure marriages, and pay ever‑increasing taxes.

After a tragic loss, Tsega—a gifted healer in ancient Ethiopia—is cast out by her people. Her path crosses with Philip the Apostle, leading her on a spiritual journey through pain, faith, and redemption. Inspired by early Christian tradition and Ethiopian heritage, this powerful historical novel explores the transformative power of love, healing, and divine purpose. For readers of inspirational fiction, biblical retellings, and soul-stirring journeys of hope.

In the sacred grove of Julius Caesar, something deadly stirs in the undergrowth - a serial killer, who haunted the gardens for years, has claimed another victim - in Lindsey Davis' next historical mystery, The Grove of the Caesars. At the feet of her adoptive father, renowned private informer Marcus Didius Falco, Flavia Albia learned a number of important rules. First and foremost - always keep one's distance from the palace, nothing good comes from that direction. But right behind it - murder is the business of the Vigiles, best to leave them to it.