Clodia: Champion of Democracy (With Douglas Boin)

Ancient History Fangirl

History, Society & Culture

4.5 • 518 Ratings

🗓️ 4 June 2026

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Due to changing marital laws (among other things), the late Roman Republic saw a rise in a certain kind of wealthy elite woman with more independence and power than her foremothers. These women were financially independent, highly educated, sexually liberated, and unafraid to seize the reins of power. One of those was a woman named Clodia. Daughter of the aristocratic Claudii, Clodia (and her brother Clodius) changed her name to reflect a more plebeian status. A fierce populist, she was vilified by Cicero even as she was the victim of a murder plot. And she was an unlikely champion of true democratic values. Join us as we discuss her fascinating life with author and biographer Douglas Boin—and explore what her life tells us about the state of the patriarchy then and now. Sponsors and Advertising: This episode is sponsored by Taskrabbit. Get $15 off your first task at Taskrabbit.com or the Taskrabbit app using promo code FANGIRL. This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to advertising@airwavemedia.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.
0:06.9	This episode is brought to you by our Patreon members. Thank you so much.
0:12.0	Join our Patreon for extra episodes, interviews, extra content, and to help support the podcast
0:17.4	and help us continue to do the work we do.
0:20.0	Go to patreon.com slash ancient history fangirl to learn more.
0:24.7	I just can't stand the confident heirs of that woman. I'm Jenny Williamson.
0:43.5	And I'm Jen McVenemy.
0:45.0	And this is Ancient History Fan Girl.
0:47.3	We are so excited today to welcome Douglas Boyne to the podcast.
0:51.5	Douglas Boyne is the author of Alarick the Goth, an outsider's view of the fall of
0:55.3	Rome, and also more recently, Clodia of Rome, champion of the Republic. He's also a professor
1:00.6	of history at St. Louis University. Welcome, Doug. It's good to be back with y'all. Thank you for
1:06.1	having me. Thank you so much for coming on. Thrill to be here. It's wonderful to be back.
1:11.4	We had such a fun conversation talking about Alarick's romances last time that I needed to,
1:17.2	you know, we needed to come back and do it again.
1:19.2	Absolutely.
1:19.8	I am always down to talk about the real Alaric and what kind of scandalous things he was doing.
1:25.7	Always.
1:27.3	So I have to say this. Before we get into
1:30.4	Clodia specifically, I made a note to ask you this. I was fascinated and horrified to read about how
1:36.9	elections worked in ancient Rome. And please correct me if I'm wrong, what I gathered,
1:42.2	reading your book, regions or towns voted together in a system
	...

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