In Homer's Odyssey, Penelope famously unpicks the threads of a shroud at night to put off marrying a hapless suitor. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Philomela weaves the story of her rape into a tapestry after she is deprived of the power of speech. Male writers were generally happy to imagine mythological women turning their daily chores into creative exercises in self-expression. It did not always occur to men that real women might be up to something just as interesting. These women, the missing thread in the tapestry of ancient history, are the focus of this book.

Proceeding from Minoan Crete to Mycenaean Greece, from Lesbos to Asia Minor (modern Turkey), from the Persian Empire of ancient Iran to the royal court of Macedonia, from Dido's Carthage in Africa to Cleopatra's Egypt via Rome and its growing empire, this story covers a stretch of almost 3,000 years of classical history. Written with Daisy Dunn's lively prose and compelling storytelling skills, this is an epic journey through a hidden side of ancient history.