The Ancient Roman public's hunger for gladiatorial combat has never been greater. The Emperor Domitian's passion for novelty and variety in the arena has given rise to a very different kind of warrior: the Gladiatrix. Sole survivor of a shipwreck off the coast of Asia Minor, Lysandra finds herself the property of Lucius Balbus, owner of the foremost Ludus for female gladiators in the Eastern Empire. Lysandra, a member of an ancient Spartan sect of warrior priestesses, refuses to accept her new status as a slave. Forced to fight for survival, her deadly combat skills win the adoration of the crowds, the respect of Balbus. But Lysandra's Spartan pride also earns her powerful enemies: Sorina, Gladiatrix Prima and leader of the Barbarian faction, and the sadistic Numidian trainer, Nastasen. When plans are laid for the ultimate combat spectacle to honor the visit of the emperor's powerful new emissary, Lysandra must face her greatest and deadliest trial. This is a thrilling first novel that combines fascinating historical detail with blistering action.

The companion volume to the BBC documentary to air on the Discovery Channel describes the excavation of the burial ground of a first-century Roman gladiator, the revelation that the remains were that of a female warrior, and what the discovery meant in terms of reassessing the role of women in Roman society and the blood sports popular at the time. Original.

In 1946, while Rosy the Riveter was taking her shop apron off and setting down her wrench for the last time, Millie Uher got into a U.S. Army surplus Jeep and drove up into the hills southwest of Maracaibo, Venezuela. In this biography written by her son, we learn she was much more than a working mother. She was a woman of the world and a rare trendsetter that changed the world without design and perhaps intent. The development and education expert would live 100 years and break ground and gender barriers as an athlete in basketball, tennis, golf, and especially alpine skiing as she trekked the globe. She dared to go where others, including men, dared not go, living her life at full speed and never once touching the brakes. From immigrant's child to global diplomat, from rural schoolchild to urbane single mother, and from first-generation high school graduate to Ph.D., this is the story of a traditional American girl who became a bona fide adventurer.

Little is known about the female gladiators who battled in the bloody arenas of ancient Rome. Amazonia is a gladiatrix who is forced to fight for her life in the Roman Colosseum. However, when she befriends a gypsy slave, Amazonia is torn between self-preservation and the desire to save the young woman from the cruelties of the arena.