Quote from: lady amarant on November 05, 2008, 04:47:17 AM
Chris, something tells me you're a fan of Marcus Aurelius - maybe I'm just psychic. Yeah, I'd love to meet Boudica and Hypatia of Alexandria, both SUCH powerful women in times when there weren't many opportunities for females. More recently, the steampunk geek in me would LOVE to meet Ada Lovelace - hell, I wouldn't mind giving her and Babbage a nudge in the right direction as far as computing goes. Mind you, imagine if one coulda given Da Vinci that same nudge ... 
~Simone.
Fan, indeed I am; but there are many others to. It is so hard to find people from antiquity who aren't villians, or more commonly, "heroes" who had also done great evil (like Constantine the Great, who had his own son murdered) in the name of the state or otherwise. Aurelius to me was the best that the empire had to offer in the golden age of emperors...Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, M. Aurelius (the Antonines). Never before and never since would the ancient Romans do so well as under them.
I like reading of Boudicca...and she most certainly qualifies as the dominant female personality from Roman Britain. But I would never, NEVER, piss her off! My favorite woman from the past is probably still Elizabeth I, the very best Merry England had to offer male or female. Remember many woman ruled or sub-ruled without the actual title, and ruled very well indeed...ie Theodosius' sister Pulchera comes to mind.
Through it all...I like the thinkers, male or female. Spinoza, Kant, Copernicus, Gallileo, Newton, Locke, Hume the list goes ever on.
I find it interesting no one has mentioned the openly transgendered Roman Emperor Elagulabus (AD218-222), very interesting but bizarre story. He actually wanted his physician to give him a sex change, but was told it was impossible. I will recount the story if anyone wants to read it.
Chris