Priestesses, empresses, a queen without a crown and the doctor who changed school for ever.
Rome's history books are full of men: kings, emperors, popes. But walk through the city's museums and you meet the women who shaped it, from the mother of Romulus to the women who wrote Italy's constitution.
In ancient Rome a woman could not vote or hold office, yet some had enormous power behind the scenes. Livia, the wife of Augustus, advised the first emperor for more than fifty years. Agrippina put her son Nero on the throne. The six Vestal Virgins, Rome's most respected priestesses, could own property and sat in the best seats at the games. Later, Rome became a city where women chose their own path: Queen Christina of Sweden gave up her throne and moved here, Paolina Borghese posed for Canova as a goddess, and Maria Montessori, one of Italy's first women doctors, opened a school for poor children in San Lorenzo. In 1946 Roman women voted for the first time, and 21 women helped write the new constitution.
Pick a colour to follow one story. Every moment shows where you can still see it.
The legend says Rome began with a woman: Rhea Silvia, a priestess forced to give up her twins, Romulus and Remus. A she-wolf found the babies and fed them.
See it at: Capitoline MuseumsSix priestesses guard the sacred fire of Rome for at least thirty years. If the fire goes out, disaster will follow. In return they are free of their fathers' control, a rare thing for Roman women.
Livia, wife of the emperor Augustus, has an underground dining room in her villa painted as a garden full of birds, fruit and flowers. It was a cool place for hot summer days.
See it at: National Roman Museum - Palazzo Massimo alle TermeOn the Altar of Peace, the emperor's family walks in a procession: men, women and even small children pulling at their mothers' clothes. One woman is often identified as Livia.
See it at: Ara Pacis MuseumAgrippina the Younger made her son Nero emperor and even appeared with him on coins. Nero grew tired of her advice and had her killed.
Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, travels to the Holy Land in her seventies. Relics she brought back are kept in the church built in her palace: Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.
Beatrice and her family are executed by the Sant'Angelo bridge for killing her violent father. Many Romans saw her as a victim, not a criminal, and her story is still told today.
See it at: Palazzo BarberiniChristina of Sweden gives up her throne, becomes Catholic and settles in Rome. Her palace fills with scientists, musicians and books.
See it at: Palazzo Corsini, RomeNapoleon's sister Paolina, married to Prince Borghese, poses for Antonio Canova as the goddess Venus. The marble statue caused a scandal, and her husband kept it hidden for years.
See it at: Galleria BorgheseMaria Montessori, one of the first women in Italy to qualify as a doctor, opens a school for children in the poor district of San Lorenzo. Her method is now used all over the world.
In the film Rome, Open City, Anna Magnani plays a woman of the people of Rome in wartime. Ten years later she becomes the first Italian actress to win an Oscar.
On 2 June 1946 Italian women vote for the whole country for the first time, and choose between king and republic. 21 women are elected to write the constitution.
The museums and places where this story comes alive.
Meet the bronze she-wolf, Rome's most famous mother, and look at the portraits of Roman women with their very complicated hairstyles.
Step inside Livia's painted garden, taken from her villa outside Rome. It is like walking into a summer afternoon 2,000 years ago.
Look for the women and children in the procession of the emperor's family. One little boy holds his mother's dress.
Find the portrait that is said to show Beatrice Cenci, the young woman Romans never forgot.
The fortress by the bridge where Beatrice Cenci's story ended. Legend says she walks on the bridge every year on 11 September.
The palace where Queen Christina of Sweden lived and died. Today it is a picture gallery, with her garden behind it.
Canova's Paolina, lying on her marble bed. Book ahead: visits are by time slot.
If the fire of Vesta went out, Romans believed disaster would follow.
She lies on a couch holding the apple of Venus.
Her first Casa dei Bambini, a school for children of the district.
On 2 June 1946, in the vote between king and republic.