This book begins with a study of the few ancient texts that provide the source material for all subsequent accounts of the seventh-century British queen Boudica and her ferocious yet ultimately unsuccessful rebellion against the Romans. It shows how this information was assembled over centuries to create the entity we know as Boudica as an individual, including her appearance, personal ties and home life. It follows by discussing their opinions on the atrocities she suffered and committed, their assessment of her fitness for command and chances of victory, and the spiritual, political and...

The author here reassesses the concept of 'masculinity', and argues that it cannot be seen as an absolute standard, but only as the product of perpetual conflict between competing and unstable models.

The argument is sustained by a close reading of the problematic conflict between gendered values in eighteenth-century classical learning. Pope's Homer ensured the continuation of the tradition of using the Iliad and Odyssey to teach privileged boys how to become more 'manly'. This book examines this pedagogy in its socio-literary context, and concludes that...

The author here reassesses the concept of masculinity, and argues that it cannot be seen as an absolute standard, but only as the product of perpetual conflict between competing and unstable models.

The argument is sustained by a close reading of the problematic conflict between gendered values in eighteenth-century classical learning. Pope s Homer ensured the continuation of the tradition of using the Iliad and Odyssey to teach privileged boys how to become more manly . This book examines this pedagogy in its socio-literary context, and concludes that Pope s...