Clodia of Rome: Champion of the Republic

by Douglas Boin

A thrilling new history of the late Roman Republic, told through one woman’s quest for justice.


A pioneering political voice, with charisma and power that rivaled many of her male contemporaries, Clodia of Rome was a pivotal figure in the late Roman Republic until a murder trial, rife with corruption, catalyzed her fall from grace. Taking readers inside the courtroom to follow the trial and Clodia’s family’s tumultuous political history, Douglas Boin brings a modern perspective to a long-buried story, full of juicy details and fascinating anecdotes. With countless examples of the surprising roles that Roman women played, followed by the attempts of powerful men to erase their stories, Boin challenges the male-dominated narrative of classical antiquity. Clodia of Rome offers a new understanding of the radical modernity of first-century Rome—one that mirrors our own in its volatile conflicts between forces of change and those of reaction.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Biography, Historical

272 pages, Hardcover

First published August 12, 2025

About the author

Douglas Boin is a Professor of History at Saint Louis University and the author, most recently, of ALARIC THE GOTH (W.W. Norton), named to The Economist's Best of 2020 list. Doug's essays on classical history have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post, and he has spoken about the importance of studying the ancient world on NPR Weekend Edition and NPR 1A. He lives with his husband in Austin, Texas.

Reviews

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clodia was from a political family. She inherited wealth from both her father and her husband, and thereafter lived a relatively independent life. She is most known for her involvement in a notorious trial in which Cicero served as defense counsel. I don’t recall ever hearing about Clodia before. And even after reading this book, I am still not terribly interested in her. However, this book is full of lots of interesting details about Roman life and politics.

The description of elections is right out if today’s headlines. There is campaigning for years, gerrymandering, voter suppression and stalling legislation. I also learned things I didn’t know about many things, including funeral customs, cosmetics (and their resemblance to poisons), and trial procedures. This book definitely presents a feminist perspective on historical events and the role and rights of women.

The author obviously did a lot of research, but the book is entertaining rather than dry. It’s also short and to the point, which I appreciated.

[Allen Walker · Rating 1 out of 5]

This works neither as a bio of Clodia nor as a general history of the time period.

First off, as a general history, it's way too scattered, bouncing around from subject to subject, not alway in a chronological order, and it also just isn't user-friendly enough to understand what it's talking about when it does. Someone without a general understanding of Rome already would not be able to follow the historical parts and someone who already knows the period learns nothing new here. Additionally, even in the first chapter, there are things that are just factually inaccurate. Boin says that Lucretia was sexually assualted by a neighbor and thus killed herself out of shame, rather than the son of Rome's final king, nor does he mention that Lucretia's suicide/assault was the catalyst for the overthrow of the monarchy. He cites Pomponia as the wife of Cicero's friend Atticus, which would be awful since Pomponia is Atticus's sister. Later, when discussing another early Republic woman named Vergilia who also committed suicide to avoid being assaulted, he neglects to mention that the man trying to assault her is Clodia's ancestor. And this in a section where Boin is discussing the illustrious Claudian (or, as he bizarrely put it, Appian) lineage.

And this is where it's so confusing because Boin is clearly well-researched and is a classics professor. But the information he picks and chooses to use is solely to fit the narrative of this book which is: Clodia and her brother--the heinous Clodius Pulcher--were altruistic champions of the lower classes and Clodia's tireless work for the dispossessed was aborted by the ruthless, self-serving Cicero. Cicero went after Clodia for 2 reasons: first, his own rampant misogyny (nevermind that Boin himself uses Cicero's own words for examples of Cicero praising and elevating other women of Rome); second, he was losing a trial and the only way to win was to baselessly slander the noble Clodia, saying that this once stalwart defender of the truth no longer cared about it.

It truely is bizarre. We don't know enough about Clodia, so Boin just says things that normal Roman women would have done and then makes all kinds of logical leaps to extrapolate that Clodia, despite being from one of the noblest, most powerful families in Rome, could not stand the mistreatment of the lower classes and tirelessly worked to better their status. For most of this, he just cites her support of her brother, the odious Clodius. The claim Boin makes, that Clodius was an ardent defender of the poor, and not an enterprising rabblerouser with a vendetta against Cicero is just risible. He glosses over the Bona Dea Incident as pearl-clutching among the senatorial class who only went after Clodius because of his love for the poor, not because it was an act of sacrilege. Elsewhere, Boin calls Catiline a 'reformer' and attributes Cicero's execution of the conspirators to Cicero's ruthless nature, completely ignoring Cato who was the man whose speech convinced the Senate to execute. He treats the accusation that Clodia was sleeping with her brother as absolute fiction while making equally unprovable claims about Cicero.

Had this been historical fiction, these might have been interesting takes from Clodia's perspective but this is supposed to be nonfiction, so it boggles the mind how this got past any kind of editing. Had this been a smaller treatise about Clodia unfairly maligned by Cicero in his defense of Rufus, that would also have been interesting. There just isn't enough here to justify the length and contrivances.

I just saw that his other work of note is defending Alaric the Gaul, so I guess Boin just finds people he thinks have been unfairly viewed and becomes their apologist? I don't know.

[Trae Levitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm trying to trade doomscrolling for actual books, so pat me on the back. I actually finished this one.

One of the things that has always fascinated me about Rome and its Republican period is how recognizable it all is to the modern eye -- from daily life to political life. And while the title might overstate what we can expect to learn about Clodia's role as a power broker and activist, it's a readable peek into ancient Rome, and the lives of women, particularly affluent ones.

Aside from helping orchestrate her brother's political career (nearly derailed by his crashing - in drag - a women's gathering intriguingly named the Bona Dea Social Club), Clodia also snagged herself a potentially murderous younger man, and might've asked why the multi-hyphenate Cicero was so (bitterly) obsessed with her. Cicero's letters to their mutual chum Atticus, in which he refers to Clodia as "our cow-eyed Hera," were frankly a little embarrassing. The internet is not the only thing that's forever.

The political climate of the time will also seem, uh, familiar: issues surrounding the vote, women's rights, nationalism and populism... note this part about Rome under the dictator Sulla:

"That so much anti-republican sentiment took hold in less than a decade suggests that greed, extreme self-interest, and a hostility to compromise were less exclusively Sulla's failings than they were symptoms of a widespread civic breakdown. Ordinary Romans, mid-level officials, and spineless senators played their part in this great unraveling" (p.46).

*delicate cough*

Overall: Recommended

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author is clearly very clearly well educated, and the list of further reading in the book does incite my curiosity. However, this book- marketed as a sort of a biography- is really written as a history loosely centered around the Clodia-shaped hole in history.

It was unclear from this book what information we actually have from Clodia's contemporaries about her, because that information was thoroughly mixed in with a lot of "Women from Clodia's time and class all definitely probably had this experience" and "By the age 17, women from Clodia's time and class would have done this thing" (these are not exact quotes. no i am not going to go looking for exact quotes). Which is fine! I am fine with that! It is clear that the primary sources and information that Boin was working with was not a lot, and that not only to fill in the gaps that are missing, but also to understand what information was available, it was necessary to research and present relevant context.

Because of this, and because of many tangents about other people and events, regardless of how directly they are able to be linked to Clodia, this book felt less like a comprehensive biography or even an in-depth history, and more like a conversation with a person prone to leave out important context whose intensive focus was ancient Rome. I think my biggest issue in the reading of this thing was its organization, as I was expecting to be a section laying out what we could reasonably know specifically about Clodia, and then go into more general information regarding the political and historical contexts surrounding her time, as well as more general information about how women of Clodia's class would have lived at that time. This book was not that.

also i definitely feel like a solid 80% of the motivation behind this book was to beef with cicero

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this while in rome, 5/5

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was quite good! the book is titled Clodia of Rome, but given how little we get about her in the historical record a lot of it is context about the end of the Roman Republic as she was living through it. as someone who wasn't super familiar previously, it was an immersive and engaging depiction, and I really liked it. unfortunately a lot of the actual stuff about Clodia was conjecture because of the lack of historical record, so go into this book with a grain of salt...but I think its conclusions are still valid arguments and I'd absolutely recommend this to fans of Roman history, especially fans of Emma Southon's work. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

[T.J. West · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review first appeared on my Substack newsletter, Omnivorous.

In Republican Rome, few women were quite as (in)famous as Clodia. In part this was due to the behavior of her brother, Clodius, who earned a reputation for being a bit of a rabble-rouser and for flouting the various expectations and social niceties of polite Republican society. Among other things, he aroused quite a scandal when, dressed as a woman, he invaded the sacred Bona Dea, a sacred gathering at which only women were supposed to be present. Indeed, the scandal rocked all of Rome, and it even led to Julius Caesar divorcing his wife (leading to the saying that “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion.”) Thanks in no small part to Cicero, who pilloried Clodia while her former lover was on trial, history has largely regarded her as a temptress and an infamous Jezebel-like figure.

Now, Clodia is at last getting her due in Clodia of Rome: Champion of the Republic, the new biography by Douglas Boin. As he has done in his other books, Boin draws out the complexities of the real story. In his energetic and unsparing voice we learn about her ancestry, her life, and the world around her. As a result, we get a much more nuanced appreciation of Clodia and the role that she played in the last few decades of the Republic. Far from being a simple Jezebel and a maneater, Boin illustrates that she was a woman ahead of her time who, as a result, was looked at with suspicion by the powerful men who surrounded her and ruled over Rome.

Particularly notable was the fact that Clodia, unlike many other women, did not remarry after the death of her husband but instead set herself up as a wealthy widow. This isn’t to say that she didn’t take lovers, because she most certainly did, including the very man that she would later publicly accuse of attempting to poison her. It was this whole event that led to her impugning by Cicero, who also wanted to damage her brother who, for his part, also wanted to damage Cicero. Much of the subsequent condemnation of Clodia, Boin argues, can be traced directly back to Cicero’s scathing speech Pro Caelio.

Indeed, Boin goes even further, suggesting that it was thanks to Cicero’s speech that subsequent generations of Roman men were so insistent on ensuring that other women stayed in their place. Who could forget, for example, Augustus’ strenuous efforts to impose his own very prudish definitions of morality onto the Roman state that he had already re-made in his own image? In some ways, Clodia’s life story was only made possible by the nature of the Republic and the foment that was taking place all around her at all levels, from the agitation of the various city-states of Italy for full participation to the rabble-rousing of some politicians–including Clodius–to make life better for those who occupied the lower ranks of the social ladder.

Thus, as much as the book is about Clodia and her highly controversial career as one of the most famous women of Republican Rome, it’s also about the Republic itself and its last years. Boin skillfully moves between the various social classes that comprised Roman society, showing how the institutions that had governed Roman society for so long were beginning to creak and crumble under relentless pressure from both without and within. He also has a keen eye for material culture, and he gives us a good idea of the kind of luxuries with which Clodia would have been surrounded and which she would have used. If you were living in the late Republic, there were few places that you would rather live than on Palatine Hill.

At the same time, Boin also situates Clodia in the midst of both her own family and the other remarkable women of antiquity who preceded and succeeded her. Clodia hailed from one of the most august families in Rome, with ancestors who were responsible for some of the most notable public works of the Republic, including the magnificent road known as the Appian Way. Given this pedigree, and the family’s commitment to the public good, is it any wonder that Clodia and her brother became so involved in the various political causes and factions that attempted to make life better for the masses?

Just as importantly, we also gain insight into the many fascinating women of antiquity whose lives, and works, have largely vanished from history. These were women who wrote poems and jokes and plays, who showed that they were just as capable of being creative as any man. However, their lives and works–and even the statues made to celebrate them and their accomplishments–were ultimately consigned to the mists of history. Today only fragments survive of their corpus, and it’s often only an accident that we have them at all. Just as our knowledge of Clodia’s life tapers off towards its end, so these women remain shrouded in mystery.

If I have one complaint about this book, it’s that there are times when Clodia herself sometimes recedes into the background, obscured by the times in which she lived and the other great figures that were staking their claim on posterity. To some degree this is understandable, since there’s relatively little known about Clodia from the sources. Even her position as Lesbia, the muse of the tortured and lustful Catullus, isn’t 100% certain (and Boin seems to think it more likely that Catullus’ inspiration was another Clodia altogether). Still, I would have liked to see some more biographical detail about Clodia herself.

For all of that, I did find myself devouring this book. Boin has the knack for being both accessible and rigorous in his discussion of ancient Rome. He amply shows how one woman could be a key part of the world that surrounded her while also giving us some important insights into who she was and why she behaved the way that she did. Antiquity was a lot more than just the venerable old men that got to write most of the histories, and thank goodness for books like this one, that restore these women to the prominence they so richly deserve.

[MoonlightCupOfCocoa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you so much to Netgalley and W. W. Norton for the advance copy. As always, everything I share below is 100% my own.

'Clodia of Rome' by Douglas Boin is an excellent exploration of the late Roman Republic. While Clodia Metelli is the primary focus, with few historical records of her surviving to modern day, at times we must turn our attention to understanding Rome as a whole to better understand or guess at her motivations or actions. There are times when she lurks in the background, but I personally didn't mind because every detail the author introduced helped me understand this strong and brave woman more.

The book does a fantastic job taking the reader through the dramatic daily life of Clodia's contemporaries. We're exposed to the harsh political landscape plaguing the final days of the Roman Republic. It was eye-opening to compare politics then and now and meditate over the similarities and differences.

While watching Clodia grow up, we are introduced to the political and societal influences that helped shape her upbringing and education, as well as that of her brothers especially Clodius. The book helps us understand the reasons the two of them challenged the status quo, be it when it comes to their personal lives or attempting to rectify and stand up for marginalized voices. Not just that, but the author does a great job sharing many daily life details, small ones that I personally hadn't known, that made me feel as if I lived there. Cicero, Clodia's eventual cross-examiner, is also introduced to the readers painting the full picture of his biases and motives that, by the time the trial is explored, one is fully aware of the driving forces behind his words.

By the end of the book, and after reading through Cicero's speech that for years unjustly framed Clodia's reputation, Clodia herself seems to vanish into the shadows. The ending felt abrupt because unfortunately there is simply no way for us to know what happened next to her. It was painful to say goodbye to this vivid woman. But I am thankful that I got the chance to learn more about her, her world as well as her progressive views and attempts at shaping a better Rome.

While I can't say I read much political history, this is one I made an exception for. I am glad I did, and I think you should read it, too.

You can also find me on: Instagram

[Gayle (OutsmartYourShelf) · Rating 4 out of 5]

For centuries, Clodia has been vilified as a promiscuous woman who murdered her husband, all thanks to one of Cicero’s most famous speeches during the trial of her ex-lover. The truth is in fact much more complex & nuanced & this book examines the contemporary evidence to remove the caricature & see the real Clodia underneath.

There's a great deal of well-researched history here about subjects such as voting procedures, careers in office, through to skincare routines, & there were chapters about notables such as Sulla, & Spartacus to name but two, but not so much about Clodia directly. Clodia herself remains very much in the shadows as a lot of what the author posited about her daily life is gleaned from general sources about a wealthy Roman woman's life rather than direct evidence, as I assume it hasn't survived.

I think that Clodia should be viewed in this book as a window from which the reader looks into the heart of ancient Roman society & sees the misogynistic laws which allowed slander rather than the truth to be heard. It also highlights how the small but very real gains towards female independence & social mobility were snuffed out for the generations following immediately after Clodia, & how that patriarchal status quo was maintained. For me, it was a really informative read in that context.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, W. W. Norton & Company, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

[Joffrey Gielen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find this a difficult book to write a review about due to the many assumptions it makes. Let me be clear, the author did phenomenal research and writes like a true erudite about the last decades of the Roman Republic. This work should be on every interested party's "to-read-list" just by this merit alone.
Any criticism and statements along the lines of "The author clearly has beef with Cicero," or "The author is choosing sides," should also be disregarded. They are true, but the author is upfront about this being the case. Failing to read this in the intro is a mistake on part of the reader, not the author. I commend the author for his clear mission statement and adherence to this in a research era that has always been - or should have been - about neutrality; this ever so ephemeral of goals that only a few actually succeed in.
So, what is the difficult part? Well, the assumptions. This is no failing of the author, in fact despite the limitations and missing sources, the author paints a clear picture of the world Clodia would have lived, worked and survived in. It is saddening how many parts of her life, like her death, will forever be lost to us due to lacking sources. Due to all this, the author should be commended for the work he did, the sources he bundles, and the context he manages to recreate in vivid, and sometimes frustrating, clarity.

[Collin Stiglbauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to both NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for the ARC!

The story of Clodia Metellii, an often overlooked driving force behind many progressive voices in the final days of the Roman Republic. Covering her upbringing, education, and first marriage to Metellus, the first half of the book examines the political scene in Rome that influenced Clodia's youth and helped shape her and her brother's progressive tendencies. In the latter half of the book, following the death of Metellus, the book covers the evolving political landscape of Rome as the republic inches closer to collapse, with Clodia driving and supporting progressive voices clashing against the traditionally conservative Senate, most vocally represented by Cicero.

Boin does an excellent job providing context for this, especially when pulling from sources that often refused to recognize the agency of women in politics, and in general. The book is also filled with dozens of facts about every day Roman life that are often overlooked in denser history tomes.

For all of that, the ending does feel abrupt, following a lengthy speech from Cicero. Despite this, Boin shows how even powerful women in Rome, and across the Mediterranean, were effectively excluded from public life in so many ways.

[bookcookery]

Clodia of Rome: Champion of the Republic is a relatively short, highly readable account of the limited information available about Clodia Metelli, though a more accurate (if less catchy) title might have been Lives of Upper-Class Roman Women in the Time of Clodia. Boin’s writing flows, but the preface feels stylistically at odds with the rest of the book. It reads almost like a memoir of a modern socialite (think Paris Hilton or a Real Housewife) with flourishes like rendering “quadrantaria Clytemnestra” as “knockoff Clytemnestra”. After that, the tone shifts to a drier, though still accessible, summary of the period. I would’ve loved to see more of Clodia herself, even if only through more gossipy excerpts from Cicero’s correspondence.

Thanks to W. W. Norton & Company and Goodreads for providing an advance reading copy.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clodia of Rome by Boin offers an engaging and richly contextualized portrait of one of the most enigmatic women of the late Roman Republic. Reviewers agree that, while the historical record leaves many gaps about Clodia herself, I think Boin effectively situates her within the broader political and social upheavals of the era. The book intertwines Clodia’s life with the Republic’s decline, illustrating how elite families like hers navigated a society in flux. I enjoyed his writing style with his depiction of everyday Roman life, and his sensitivity to the ways women’s voices have been silenced in historical accounts. Though, I think Clodia occasionally fades into the background amid the larger narrative, the book’s exploration of gender, politics, and culture is widely admired. I did think the ending was a bit abrupt, but I did enjoy it overall.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-written historical account of the life and influence of one Roman woman, Boin's book cracks open a multitude of neglected realities and perspectives in Roman antiquity. For years as a Classics major I wondered and marvelled at the conspicuous absence of the female perspective, but this book has filled some of the too-long empty gaps in that historical knowledge. I especially love the sobering characterization of Cicero as a self-serving mysoginist and jerk - well, because we all suspected it but now have the proof it's true. :) If you enjoy ancient history, political intrigue, and a well-informed Feminist perspective, I highly recommend this book.

[Cinzia Cera · Rating 5 out of 5]

I studied the ancient history of Rome in school, and I learned a lot more about it from this book. The author presents the story of Clodia, and the backdrop of first century B.C. Rome in a very readable way. It was somewhat terrifying to read that issues of inequality, disenfranchisement of voters, and unfair redistricting were problems 22 centuries ago.
The amount of research was impressive but still did not turn out anything in Clodia's own voice, which is missing. I would have loved to hear her speak in her own voice.

[Kristen Derr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clodia of Rome: Champion of the Republic reimagines the life of one of ancient Rome’s most controversial women. Often remembered through the hostile lens of male historians and poets, Clodia is reborn as a woman of intellect, strategy, and passion, fighting not only for her own survival but for the future of the Republic itself.

This book will appeal to readers who enjoy strong female protagonists, Roman history, and stories that challenge conventional narratives.

[Nicole Perkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Douglas Boin clearly did extensive research into the history of Rome and Roman politics as well as the key players in major historical events. His writing is clear, factual, and easy to follow, even for someone that has little in-depth understanding of political processes like myself. That being said, I expected this book to be about Clodia herself, not a history of Roman politics with asides regarding her family (who were very active in the Senate). If you are a political history fan, this book is for you.

[Rose Rutkowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. It’s real history that is really interesting—sort of a real housewives of Rome. Seriously, well written but not simple. Provides a concise view of Clodia’s time, as far as we can tell, and positions her in the Roman Republic…which I learned was after the Roman Kingdom and before the Roman Empire.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a fascinating book about brilliant, strong and strong women,who flouted social norms and prevailing systems of inequality and injustice that prevailed in the First century BC Rome. She was punished by the powerful men she challenged, most notably Cicero. I thoughtfully enjoyed and highly recommend to anyone who loves later Roman Republic history !

[mykieangelno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boin constructs a view of Clodia's life, and the lives of classical women, giving her agency that Roman authors wanted to take away from her. plenty of good info about the lives of Roman women and the struggles they faced to be heard

[Meg Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Key words for this book: might, could, may, possible, similar, potential

Clodia is the excuse this author used to write about a specific time period in Rome.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It takes an awful lot of padding to make book length what should have been an article. By the middle of the book I forgot to even care about the subject of interest.

[Andrew Rules · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate that it was probably a thankless task to do a microhistory of a woman who lived in ancient Rome - well done

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but wasn't really about Clodia for the most part. Either way, reading more stuff about Rome is never gonna be a loss lol