Flavius Josèphe et le rôle des femmes en politique, de Cléopâtre à Antonia

Abstract

This paper aims at showing how Flavius Josephus represents three major networks of political influence between women: the first between Alexandra, mother of Mariamme and Cleopatra; the second between Salome, Herod’s sister and Livia; and the last one between Berenice and Antonia. Josephus shows these networks operate, namely through messengers and letters, and establishes a kind of feminine political network, parallel to men’s relationship, but sometimes involving men as well. The most important constatation is that Hellenistic women and Roman women of the Principate used the same kind of network, all over the Roman world: political action for women went through the same channels, in both the Hellenistic and imperial courts.