This is John Bachelor. The second part of my conversation with Emma Southern, her book A Rome of One's Own,

the forgotten women of the Roman Empire. This time Julia Felix, a entrepreneur, small business owner in Pompeii.

She lost her life with the Vesuvius explosion.

We believe that we found her body inside her complex but Emma's describing what you could

say was a high-end restaurant for those who were not rich but wanted to spend a

night being rich. This is Emma Southern, Julia Felix,

though women of the Roman Empire were said to not be able to own property or

take care of their own affairs they always had to assign

into a father or brother and uncle a husband. Julia Felix is alone and runs

this establishment, a beautiful establishment that's there in Pompey today.

I'm a southern on Dewey Felix, nearly 2,000 years gone.

I think it's more commonplace than the written sources would allow you to believe when you look

at archaeology you find women running all kinds of businesses and being involved in life in their own right, in public life in their own right,

all over.

And Pompeii is one of these places where we can see what kind of small businesses looks

like.

Julia Felix runs this entertainment complex

basically it has a barbs that people can visit which she says are fitted for the well to do. So they're kind of

boosy baths and then she has a hot food restaurant and she has gardens, she has shops and apartments for rent as well and what appears

to be like a little restaurant for people to have a nice meal out as well and so it's right next to the

the amphitheatre where gladiatorial games and theatre was held and so she has a really nice entertainment space that she runs by herself.

More of this later. You're going to be.

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