skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Queen of Palmyra, one of the heroines of Antiquity. Her native name was Septimia Bath-zabbai, a name also borne by one of her generals, Septimius Zabbai. This remarkable woman, famed for her beauty, her masculine energy and unusual powers of mind, was well fitted to be the consort of Odainatti in his proud position as Dux Orientis; during his lifetime she actively seconded his policy, and after his death in A.D. 266-7 she not only succeeded to his position but determined to surpass it and make Palmyra mistress of the Roman Empire in the East. Wahab-allath or Athenodorus (as the name was Graecized), her son by Odainath, being still a boy, she took the reins of government into her own hands. Under her general-in-chief Zabda, the Palmyrenes occupied Egypt in A.D. 270, not without a struggle, under the pretext of restoring it to Rome; and Wahab-allath governed Egypt in the reign of Claudius as joint ruler with the title of king, while Zenobia herself was styled queen. In Asia Minor Palmyrene garrisons were established as far west as Ancyra in Galatia and Chalcedon opposite Byzantium, and Zenobia still professed to be acting in the interests of the Roman rule. In his coins struck at Alexandria in A.D. 270 Wahab-allath is named along with Aurelian, but the title of Augustus is given only to the latter; a Greek inscription from Byblos, however, mentions Aurelian (or his predecessor Claudius) and Zenobia together as Augustus and Augusta. When Aurelian became emperor in 270 he quickly realized that the policy of the Palmyrene queen was endangering the unity of the empire. It was not long before all disguises were thrown off; in Egypt Wahab-allath began to issue coins without the head of Aurelian and bearing the imperial title, and Zenobia's coins bear the same. The assumption marked the rejection of all allegiance to Rome. Aurelian instantly took measures; Egypt was recovered for the Empire by Probus (close of 270), and the emperor himself prepared a great expedition into Asia Minor and Syria. Towards the end of 271 he marched through Asia Minor and, overthrowing the Palmyrene garrisons in Chalcedon, Ancyra and Tyana, he reached Antioch, where the main Palmyrene army under Zabda and Zabbai, with Zenobia herself, attempted to oppose his way. The attempt, however, proved unsuccessful, and after suffering considerable losses the Palmyrenes retired in the direction of Emesa (now Horns), whence the road lay open to their native city. The queen refused to yield to Aurelian's demand for surrender, and drew up her army at Emesa for the battle which was to decide her fate. In the end she was defeated, and there was nothing for it but to fall back upon Palmyra across the desert. Thither Aurelian followed her in spite of the difficulties of transport, and laid siege to the well-fortified and provisioned city. At the critical moment the queen's courage seems to have failed her; she and her son fled from the city to seek help from the Persian king; they were captured on the bank of the Euphrates.
Among the traditions relating to Zenobia may be mentioned that of her discussions with the Archbishop Paul of Samosata on matters of religion. It is probable that she treated the Jews in Palmyra with favour; she is referred to in the Talmud, as protecting Jewish rabbis. The well-known account of Zenobia by Gibbon (Decline and Fall, i. pp. 302-312 Bury's edition) is based upon the imperial biographers (Historia Augusta) and cannot be regarded as strictly historical in detail. An obscure and distorted tradition of Zenobia as an Arab queen survived in the Arabian story of Zabba, daughter of Amr b. Zarib, whose name is associated with Tadmor and with a town on the right bank of the Euphrates, which is no doubt the Zenobia of which Procopius speaks as founded by the famous queen. - Malaspina BiographyBooks from Alibris: Zenobia
The New Women! I could barely recognize them as being of the same sex as myself, their buttocks arrogant in tight jeans, openly inviting, breasts falling free and shameless and feeling no apparent obligation to smile, look pleasant or keep their voices low. And how they live! Just look at them to know how! If a man doesn't bring them to orgasm, they look for another who does. If by mistake they fall pregnant, they abort by vacuum aspiration. If they don't like the food, they push the plate away. If the job doesn't suit them, they hand in their notice. They are satiated by everything, hungry for nothing. They are what I wanted to be; they are what I worked for them to be: and now I see them, I hate them.Books from Alibris: Fay Weldon
What is so special about Montana that one of its daughters who is a living icon repeatedly returns to teach, inspire, and speak out against injustice? Patricia Nell Warren, like many others, sees Montana as possibly the "last best place" in America. This best selling author grew up among Montana cowboys, worked as an editor for Reader's Digest for 22 years, and in 1974 completed the most famous book in gay literature, The Front Runner, having sold over 10 million copies in ten languages. Winner of numerous awards, including the Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, her other titles include Harlan's Race, Billy's Boy, The Fancy Dancer, and One Is the Sun.
Patricia Nell Warren speaks of Montana and its legacy like a mother speaking proudly of her growing child. In a two-part series, we will examine the many faces of the author, whose life is like the Montana Big Sky. While interviewing her from her Los Angeles offices, you'd swear she is five people wrapped into one. Not only is she a renowned author, but also a publisher, an advocate for gay teens, a voice of the future for aging gays, an outspoken leader against homophobia and injustice in general. Yet, hiding behind that dynamic exterior lies a spiritual teacher for any with an open mind and an open heart. In other words, she's a walking miracle wrapped inside a suit of armor. She is no Don Quixote charging at windmills. When Patricia Nell Warren charges forth it is not the sound of hoofbeats one hears, but the beat of one's own heart.
Perhaps it is her own Native American roots, growing up on a ranch in Deer Lodge, Montana, where she first saw the best in humanity. Tiny Deer Lodge, she loves to tell, once served as a trading center among Montana's First Nation people as well as its metis (mixed bloods). It was the metis who fostered the tradition of tolerance in the area. Then came white trappers who understood and respected the Native and mixed-blood tradition of esteeming all traders. For a tribe could suffer or flourish depending on whether traders ferried needed supplies around the Big Sky's river networks. Warren recognizes that Montana's legendary attitude about "live and let live" stems from these Native roots. It isn't until missionaries invaded the area that we begin to find discord and judgment separating "savage" from "the saved." - [Adapted from OutSpoken]Books from Alibris: Patricia Warren
At the age of 15, the Parisian painter Elisabeth-Louise Vigee-Lebrun was earning enough money from her portrait painting to support herself, her widowed mother, and her younger brother. For a decade she was Marie Antoinette's favorite painter; European aristocrats, actors, and writers were also her patrons; and she was elected a member of the art academies in 10 cities.
Trained by her father, the portraitist Louis Vigee, she joined Paris's Academy of Saint Luke at 19. Two years later she married Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Lebrun, a painter and art dealer who helped her gain valuable access to the art world. Blessed with an ability to please even the most demanding sitters, Vigee-Lebrun soon came to the attention of the French queen, who in 1783 appointed her a member of Paris's powerful Royal Academy. As one of only four female academicians, Vigee-Lebrun enjoyed a high artistic, social, and political profile-too high, once the French Revolution came, forcing her to flee the country with her nine-year-old daughter.
During the next 12 years the artist was commissioned to create portraits of the most celebrated residents of Rome, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Berlin. After brief, highly successful stays in England and Switzerland, Vigee-Lebrun returned to France for good in 1809 and divided the last 33 years of her life between her Paris residence, where she held glittering salons, and her country house at Louveciennes. Scholars estimate that Vigee-Lebrun produced more than 600 paintings; her memoirs, originally published in 1835-37, have been translated and reprinted numerous times. [Adapted from National Museum of Women in the Arts]Books from Alibris: Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun
Ain't I a Woman?
Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?
Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? (member of audience whispers, "intellect") That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say. - A speech by Sojourner Truth, delivered 1851 at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio.Books from Alibris: Sojourner Truth
Down to the sixteenth century obstetrics was almost exclusively in the hands of midwives, who were trained for it as for a trade. Only in rare cases was a surgeon called in. All the achievements of ancient times seemed forgotten, and it was only after anatomical studies had been resumed and surgery had made some progress that things began to improve. The most important accounts of the condition of ancient operative obstetrics are found in the Hippocratic writings (position of the child, version or turning, dismemberment of the fetus, parturition chair for facilitating delivery) and in later times in the works of Soranus of Ephesus (second century A.D.; protection of the perinaeum), Galen, Celsus, Atius, and in those of the female physician Trotula of Salerno. Trotula gained repute as a physician and obstetrician, leaving behind at least one manuscript. She wrote works on obstetrics and gynaecology which remained authoritative for several centuries, this illumination comes from a manuscript of De Passionibus mulierum (on the sufferings of women) in the Wellcome Collections. Trotula was an early advocate of balanced diet, regular exercise, cleanliness, and a low stress lifestyle. - Malaspina BiographyBooks from Alibris: Trotula
Alma W. Thomas had her first one-woman show at the age of 68 and developed her signature style seven years later. Despite her belated start, Alma Woodsey Thomas went on to have retrospectives at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the National Museum of American Art, both in Washington, D.C.; she was the first African American woman to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art; and she exhibited her paintings at the White House on three occasions.
Thomas was born and raised in Columbus, Georgia. In 1907 she moved with her family to Washington, D.C., into the house where she spent the remaining seven decades of her life. After graduating from high school, where she excelled at art, Thomas earned a teaching certificate and, later, a master's degree in art education. Throughout her life, Thomas concentrated on her career; she painted part time while supporting herself by teaching art, notably at Shaw Junior High School, where she worked from 1924 until her retirement in 1960.
Thomas's early art was realistic. However, at Howard University, where she was the Art Department's first graduate in 1924, she became fascinated by abstraction, based on the influence of her professors Lois Mailou Jones and James V. Herring. When she was invited to exhibit her art at Howard in 1966, Thomas decided to experiment with a new approach, the type of painting for which she is best known today: large canvases filled with dense, irregular patterns made by brushes heavily laden with bright colors. Thomas's mature work has been compared with Byzantine mosaics, the pointillist technique of Georges Seurat, and the paintings of the Washington Color School, yet her work is quite distinctive.
A lifelong political activist, Thomas offered weekly art classes to children from Washington's poorest neighborhoods even when she was suffering from severe arthritis. In her 80s, neither a broken hip nor a heart ailment prevented her from continuing to paint. - Malaspina BiographyBooks from Alibris: Alma W. Thomas
To most people in Awe [Aawe] I was known only in the role of researcher.. A relatively small group of women, ranging in age from about twenty five to forty, became my friends. We used the term “Ore” [oore] (literally, “friend”) as one would use a personal name. This was the group of women with whom I often exchanged visits and presents, for whom I did special favors . with whom I gossiped, to whom I went for advice ... whom I reported most of my movements, and whenever I was away from the town, it was from them that people made inquiries about my whereabouts. Ore [Oore] were the only ones in town who regularly called me aside to give me advice on personal matters.. If I wanted straightforward information on anything going on in the town, I went to ... my special friend. Whenever anything happened about which they thought I had not heard, they would send someone to inform me. - Sudarkasa, Niara. “Female Employment and Family Organization in West Africa.” The Black Women Cross-Culturally. Ed. Filomina Chioma Steady. Cambridge: Schenkman Publishing Company, Inc., 1981, (205-206)Books from Alibris: Afro-American Anthropology
