Ancient Women Writers of Greece and Rome

The Classical Association of the Middle, West and South (CAMWS) has awarded UMW Classics Professor Angela Pitts and co-authors the 2023 Bolchazy Pedagogy Award for their book, Ancient Women Writers of Greece and Rome, published by Routledge in June, 2022. The Bolchazy-Carducci Pedagogy Award recognizes a book in the field of classical studies of outstanding quality and potential for broad impact for use in the classroom.

Ancient Women Writers of Greece and Rome features the extant writings of major female writers from the Greco-Roman world, brought together for the first time in a single volume, in both their original languages and in translation.  The book provides Greek and Latin vocabulary and commentary, as well as introductions for each author, that help to provide social, historical, literary and scholarly context. It is a valuable teaching tool for those interested in ancient literature, history, women’s writings and gender studies.

Pitts co-authored the book with Bartolo Natoli (Randolph Macon College) and Judith Hallett (Emerita, University of Maryland-College Park).

The award selection committee described the publication as ” a sourcebook that offers clear, concise, and much-needed introductory commentaries for a wide selection of ancient Greek and Latin texts written by women authors in the ancient Mediterranean world. Each section of text and commentary (organized by ancient author) is followed by lucid translations of the passages. Moreover, the book incorporates more than the literary tradition by tapping into epigraphic sources, like the Vindolanda tablets, allowing the reader to learn also about marginalized segments of Greek and Roman literary society. Some of the texts and authors that this book includes are difficult to find in extant teaching resources (e.g. Moero of Byzantium), and the co-authors present all the material in a nicely edited and accessible format. These efforts ensure that students and future generations of students will more easily read and consider the writings of women within the ancient world. The volume has the potential to engage students in important conversations happening within our discipline (and within humanities in general) about gender, sex, and authority, across many centuries of the ancient world. The CAMWS committee offers congratulations to the co-authors for creating this excellent, affordable, and accessible sourcebook.”

Pitts’ research interests include Ancient Greek Lyric and Epic Poetry, Mythology, and Gender Studies.