Re-examining women in the Roman empire

St Augustine of Hippo is one of the most influential Christian thinkers of the past 2,000 years – and his work also offers fresh insights into the lives of women in the late Roman empire. That’s the contention of the historian Kate Cooper, who has drawn on his Confessions to tell the stories of Augustine’s mother, his lover, his fiancée and the Roman empress Justina, in her Cundill History Prize-shortlisted book Queens of a Fallen World. She speaks to Rob Attar about this unique window into the 4th century.

Kate Cooper is the author of Queens of a Fallen World: The Lost Women of Augustine's Confessions (John Murray Press, 2023)