Wyke Maria. The Roman Mistress: Ancient and Modern Representations

Oxford University Press, 2002. — 463 p.From Latin love poetry's dominating and enslaving beloveds, to modern popular culture's infamous Cleopatras and Messalinas, representations of the Roman mistress (or the mistress of Romans) have brought into question both ancient and modern genders and political systems. The Roman Mistress makes an important and original contribution simultaneously to feminist scholarship on antiquity, the classical tradition, and cultural studies.