A study of the education of upper-class women in Roman society in the central period of Roman history, from the second century BC to AD 235. The author explores the place of Roman upper-class women in the world of the educated. She reconstructs their opportunities to acquire an education; the impediments they faced; the level of education they could reach and the judgement on educated women in Roman society. She also examines the role of women as patronesses of literature and learning and Roman women's writing.