Ancient Women in Science
In the early sixth century, around the year 535, Amalasuintha, the Queen of the Ostrogoths wrote a letter to the pregnant Roman Empress Theodora to wish her good health. It was a letter filled with reverence and deep respect. What is interesting about this is that the Ostrogoths had encroached upon Roman land. But Amalasuintha’s father, Theodoric the Great, died, and Amalasuintha took the throne. She sought to create peaceful relations between the Romans and the Goths. And so, about nine years into her reign, she wrote a letter to Empress Theodora, stating, “Harmony exists not only between those who are in each others’ presence; indeed, those joined together in the charity of the spirit have an even greater respect for each other.”[1] Thus, amidst our histories that are dense with male rulers and their wars, we have insight into an amicable friendship between female rulers and leaders in late ancient and early post-classical history. This letter leads me to wonder what the state of the world would be if more women in history had the chance to obtain leadership roles. And as a woman who once worked in STEM, it also leads me to wonder how different our world of science would be if women had been given easy access to studies in science and mathematics.
Amalasuintha was born in 495 CE, 100 years after Hypatia flourished in Alexandria. For those unfamiliar with Hypatia of Alexandria, she was a prominent professor of mathematics and philosophy. And though Hypatia was one of our earliest female mathematicians, she was not the first. Though Hypatia stands out in history as an exception in an ancient culture that practiced exclusivity, she was not the only woman in this time to make outstanding strides in science.
Pandrosion
One of our earliest known female mathematicians was Pandrosion of Alexandria. Pandrosion was a contemporary of mathematician Pappus. His mention of her in his work Mathematical Collection was written around 320. Thus, Pandrosion was an older contemporary of Hypatia’s father, Theon. As a result, she might have lived long enough to meet Hypatia.[2]
As a mathematician, Pandrosion also taught math and, like Hypatia, had a following of disciples and students who valued her teachings. We are first introduced to Pandrosion by the mathematician Pappus, who wrote about her in the third book of his work Mathematical Collection. Unfortunately, his first reference to her is not pleasant. He appears intent on repudiating her and insulting her. He writes, “Certain people who claim to have learned mathematics from you, set out the enunciation of the problems in what seemed to us an ignorant manner.” Pappus writes that Pandrosion’s students do not understand the material and do not understand the difference between a problem and a theorem. He then adds that academia must censure any teacher who confuses these terms.[3] I know I should not provide a modern-day perspective on this writing, but I can’t help but think that Pappus might have been either intimidated by Pandrosion or just a cranky old man.
Pandrosion had many students who, like Hypatia’s students, went on to become renowned leaders and philosophers. Like Hypatia, she was a mentor to her students and worked side-by-side with her students with a rigor that would be consistent with today’s graduate studies. Thus, she was successful in an industry dominated by men. Through her work, she might have even inspired Hypatia to persist in academia.
Saint Fabiola Of Rome
Focusing on women in science, philosophy, and math within Hypatia’s time, I want to note several other prominent women in science between 200 and 400 CE. One individual who stands out was Saint Fabiola of Rome. Fabiola lived during the same years as Hypatia in the late fourth century and the early fifth century. She was born into wealth and was a noble Roman matron of rank. She worked with Saint Jerome, who preserved her life story through his letters and writings, stating, “Often did she carry on her own shoulders persons infected with jaundice or with filth. Often too did she wash away the matter discharge from wounds which others, even tough men, could not bear to look at. She gave food to her patients with her own hand, and moistened the scarce reading lips of the dying with sips of liquid.” Thus as we can see, in her later life, she was altruistic in her endeavors.
However, as a young woman, she married and endured an abusive husband. Jerome wrote that her husband “possessed such vices that not even a prostitute or a low slave could endure them.”[4] Fabiola divorced her husband. Though these actions were unthinkable to church leaders in the fourth century, Roman law still allowed for divorce proceedings. After her divorce, Fabiola remarried. She believed it was acceptable even though her previous husband was still alive. After her second husband died, Fabiola altered the course of her life.
Jerome writes that on the day before Easter, she “put on (a) sackcloth,” stood before the gates of the Lateran Basilica, and publicly repented for her sins and relationships with men.[5] Upon her confession, the Pope allowed her to have full communion with the church, where she eventually became a member. She then sold some of her estates and used the funds to open a hospital in Rome. The hospital was the first of its kind. Before the church constructed this hospital for Rome, most healthcare providers tended to the ill in private homes. Thus, Fabiola’s act of charity altered the course of medical history.
Fabiola’s dedication to those in need far exceeded her monetary contributions. She devoted her life to humanity as she waited on prison inmates, fed them, and dressed their wounds. She gave money and clothing to the poor and continued to provide copious amounts of funding to the church. She committed her life to helping the homeless, the sick, and the unfortunate. Fabiola’s lifestyle choice was a determined and personal resolution driven by a passion for altruism.
In 395, Fabiola lived in Jerusalem and studied from Jerome for a brief while. However, after the Huns infiltrated the area, she moved back to Rome, where she continued to assist the ill and the less fortunate. Jerome appointed several monks to continue her work and conduct her monetary contributions as she grew old. In 399, Fabiola died in her sleep. In 537, the church canonized her as St. Fabiola.[6]
Sosipatra of Pergamum
Sosipatra of Pergamum was a prominent female philosopher who lived in the late fourth century and early fifth century. She was born in Ephesus and lived out her later years in Pergamum, a city now known as Bergama, in Turkey.
Sosipatra worked as a secondary advisor to a professor named Chrysanthius. Chrysanthius taught Eunapius, a renowned historian whose works outlined Neoplatonism and its history. Eunapius wrote Universal History and The Lives of the Sophists and Philosophers, a collection of twenty-three biographies, including Sosipatra’s biography.
Eunapius wrote that Sosipatra was born into wealth. When she was five years old, her father entrusted two men, who were Chaldeans, to watch his farm and raise Sosipatra while he went away. When he came back, the two Chaldeans disappeared. The biography suggests that the two men were supernatural beings and raised Sosipatra to learn about the mysteries of religion and philosophy. Eunapius noted that Sosipatra
“… had no other teachers, but ever on her lips were the works of the poets, philosophers, and orators; and those works that others comprehend but incompletely and dimly, and then only by hard work and painful drudgery, she could expound with careless ease, serenely and painlessly, and with her light swift touch would make their meaning clear.”[7]
When Sosipatra was older she married Eustathius who was a student of Iamblichus. The philosopher Eunapius wrote about her, stating that “the renowned Eustathius married Sosipatra, who by her surpassing wisdom made her own husband seem inferior and insignificant.”[8]
However, Eustathius passed away five years after their marriage. After that, Sosipatra moved to Pergamum with her three children, where she taught in Aedesius’s school and surpassed the teaching skills of Aedesius.[9]
Since Sosipatra married an Iamblichan pagan, it is likely that Sosipatra also adhered to Iamblichan philosophies. She had extensive knowledge of philosophy, poetry, and rhetoric. Additionally, Sosipatra only provided teachings in a private setting within her home. She did not have a pedagogy or educate her students with a structure. Regardless, Sosipatra was a prominent member of philosophical academics who pursued and persisted in a time when society expected most women to remain at home to raise their children.
Metrodora
Metrodora was a Greek physician and gynecologist who hails out of Egypt. She was one of history’s first noted gynecologists. Historians estimate that Metrodora lived sometime between 200 and 400 CE. There is no information about where she was born and where she lived. Much of her work covers gynecology and other areas of medicine. She authored many works, including On the Uterus, Abdomen and Kidneys and the treatise On the Diseases and Cures of Women, which, at the time of the writing of this book, historians consider the oldest medical text written by a woman.[10]
On the Diseases and Cures of Women currently survives in two volumes, which hold sixty-three chapters. Hippocrates and his work Hippocratic Corpus inspired Metrodora, and so she referenced his work directly.In her extensive body of work, Metrodora wrote about all facets of gynecology and included the first known alphabetized medical encyclopedia.[11] Metrodora’s research was so broad that it advanced medical understanding of theory and etiology, which covers the causation of diseases.[12]
Of the intellectual women in science of this time, Metrodora had a similar acumen and intellect as Hypatia. Metrodora devoted her life to her clinical practice, preserving her findings, serving her patients, advancing science, and promoting the science of gynecology.
Asclepigenia
Finally, there is Asclepigenia, who was born fifteen years after Hypatia’s death. Asclepigenia was born in Athens and was the daughter of the well-known philosopher Plutarch. Like Hypatia, Asclepigenia’s father raised and educated her to follow his vocation. Also, like Hypatia, Asclepigenia, along with her brother Hierro, took over her father’s school after Plutarch’s death. Academics and students revered Asclepigenia for her philosophical intellect.
The Power of Women
The letter that Queen Amalasuintha wrote to Roman Empress Theodora is more than just a letter wishing her good health. She also seeks to remind her that a beautiful spirit connects them, and that spirit is a sisterly bond that has always prevailed among humans and the creatures in our animal kingdom.
Clearly these women persevered and remained in academia and science despite any obstacles they might have encountered. They lived in a society that expected them to devote their complete lives to their children and their spouses, but never to a chosen occupation. Thus, having been written into history, their roles in academia and science were overtly evident to society, their male contemporaries, the government, and the church.
These impressive female scientists and philosophers may or may not have known each other. If they did know each other, I often wonder if they encouraged each other, much like Amalasuintha encouraged Theodora? Or did the substantial male-to-female ratio in philosophy, science, and math in late antiquity possibly lead these women to feel as though they were alone in their endeavors? For Hypatia, if she had become aware of another female contemporary in Rome, would this have inspired her to continue in her endeavors? Likewise, did she embolden and motivate others?
Even in our current era, it is common for women to feel outnumbered by men. All too often, as a woman surrounded by men in the lab, it can feel isolating and lonely. I have experienced this myself.
Hypatia, Pandrosion, Sosipatra, Fabiola, Metrodora, and Asclepigenia, had even fewer female contemporaries. Regardless, these women forged unimaginable paths for other women to pursue academics, science, math, and philosophy. Their actions required much courage in a church-based society filled with vitriol towards pagans and women who did not acclimate to their societal expectations.
Though minimal and new to the world, this sisterly inspiration was a powerful movement. Even though their advancements may have wavered for thousands of years they never gave up. And so, I wonder how different the world of science would be today if women, 2000 years ago, were given a chance to pursue math and science. Would the encouragement and support back then have changed the state of science today? Unfortunately, we cannot fully immerse ourselves in history to understand how we got to where we are today. But it is certainly stirring to learn that these women and female leaders from our histories were intent on developing amicable and respectful relationships with each other while pursuing a life outside of the realms of societal expectations. It is equally reassuring to see women in science today do the same. Here is to women in science! May we continue to galvanize the hearts of other women and embolden them with opportunities as they forge a larger path in science.
Until next time carpe diem!
[1]. Marcelle Thiebaux, ed., The Writings of Medieval Women, , Marcelle Thiebaux (New York: Garland Publishing, 1987), 22–23, https://archive.org/details/writingsofmediev00thie.
[2]. Michael A.B. Deakin, Mathematician and martyr: A biography of Hypatia of Alexandria (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2007), 132.
[3]. Edward J. Watts, Hypatia: The Life and Legend of an Ancient Philosopher (Oxford: University Press, 2017), 94.
[4]. Jerome and Eusebius S. Hieronymus, “Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, Vol. VI, Letter LXXVII. To Oceanus,” The Tertullian Project, last modified January 26, 2018, http://www.tertullian.org/fathers2/NPNF2-06/Npnf2-06–03.htm#P3291_863505.
[5]. Jerome and Eusebius S. Hieronymus, “Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, Vol. VI, Letter LXXVII. To Oceanus,” The Tertullian Project, last modified January 26, 2018, http://www.tertullian.org/fathers2/NPNF2-06/Npnf2-06–03.htm#P3291_863505.
[6]. Molly Glentzer, “Fabiola: The face that launched a legion of paintings,” Houston Chronicle, December 30, 2016, https://www.houstonchronicle.com/entertainment/arts-theater/article/Fabiola-The-face-that-launched-a-legion-of-10826646.php.
[7]. Philostratus, Philostratus and Eunapius: The Lives of the Sophists, trans. Wilmer C. Wright (London: William Heinemann, 1922), e‑book, 409.
[8]. Philostratus and Eunapius, Lives of the sophists (London: William Heinemann, 1922), 400–401, https://archive.org/details/philostratuseuna00phil_0.
[9]. Philostratus, Philostratus and Eunapius: The Lives of the Sophists, trans. Wilmer C. Wright (London: William Heinemann, 1922), e‑book, 409.
[10] Margaret Alic, “Chapter 2: Women and Science in the Ancient World,” in Hypatia’s Heritage: A History of Women in Science from Antiquity Through the Nineteenth Century (Boston: Beacon Press, 1986), 32, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hypatia_s_Heritage/mxu9RxX1mDgC?hl=en&gbpv=0.
[11]. Judith P. Hallett and Marilyn B. Skinner, Roman Sexualities(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997), 199.
[12]. Sharon L. James and Sheila Dillon, A Companion to Women in the Ancient World (Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2012), 123.