Mediterranean Studies at Brandeis University. Her research centers on women and power in ancient Rome.
Gillespie applied the “Page 99 Test” to her new book, Women and Resistance in the Annals of Tacitus, and shared the following:
Page 99 places readers in the midst of a chapter called, “Daring to Die,” which centers on the heroic actions of a freedwoman called Epicharis. Epicharis is one of the only women mentioned by the historian Tacitus in conjunction with the Pisonian conspiracy that threatened the emperor Nero; she is tortured for information, remains silent, and dies by suicide. In his Annals, Tacitus celebrates her as a model of strength, courage, and resilience, and contrasts her with the many elite senatorial men who failed to provide similar examples.Learn more about Women and Resistance in the Annals of Tacitus at the Cornell University Press website.
I conclude that Epicharis offers a model of resistance to Nero through remaining silent and refusing to name her co-conspirators; on page 99, readers are confronted by an individual who, unlike Epicharis, embraces the opportunity to speak out and gain the glory of a confession before execution. This man, a military tribune named Subrius Flavus, had been faithful to the emperor as long as he was deserving; after his arrest, he explains that he exchanged loyalty for hatred after Nero murdered his own wife and mother, among other unconscionable acts. Though unrefined, the soldier’s words have force, and Tacitus considers them no less worthy of publication than those of the philosopher Seneca.
With both Epicharis and Subrius Flavus, the historian celebrates the courage of nonelites, giving voice to the voiceless and memorializing them in his text. Browsers might get the sense that Tacitus grants posthumous glory to those he considers worthy, and severely condemns those who were celebrated without merit during life.
Page 99 does not adequately communicate the central thesis of the book, which centers on narratives of women; rather, it unintentionally points towards the dominance of men in Roman history and scholarship. Likewise, it fails to give a sense of the scope of the argument, the number of individuals and groups of women addressed, or the methods of protest they enact.
My research is driven by the desire to amplify women’s voices and experiences in the ancient Roman world, particularly women from outside of the ruling family. Nevertheless, readers may understand from page 99 that the overarching argument is not strictly limited to those of the female sex. Epicharis is an unexpected model of courage due to both her sex and status. Her death by suicide is a declaration of personal autonomy. In her case, suicide is a political statement connected to the concepts of exemplarity and Roman memory.
What I hope readers derive from page 99 is that there are innumerable individuals whose lives and deaths deserve further study. The women of Tacitus’s Annals engage in unexpected and subversive acts of protest and resistance, using ingenuity and creativity to speak truth to power. Though they might fail to achieve their immediate aims, their acts of resistance eventually give birth to glory.
--Marshal Zeringue