Fulvia is based on a lesser-known yet fascinating historical figure from the later years of the Roman Republic. What drew you to her story?
I first encountered Fulvia in a footnote. I was researching for one of my ancient history subjects in university, and nestled at the bottom of the page in fine print was a quote about her which said: “She was a woman who took no thought in spinning or housekeeping. She wanted to rule a ruler, and command a commander.” I was immediately intrigued, and ended up writing my entire essay about her.
What shocked me the most, was that her life intersected with a period of history I had been studying for years at that point (the fall of the republic), and yet I had never heard of her. Though I had unknowingly heard of her deeds — she was a sort of invisible hand guiding many of the events that happened, and shaped the future of Rome. Even once my essay was submitted, she never left me. I thought about her constantly, and wondered why no one had ever written a book about her. Then one day I decided to do it myself.
How did you navigate any gaps in the historical record, and approach potentially biased narratives when researching Fulvia?
This is one of the great challenges with writing about history. None of what we know about Fulvia is in her own words. And what we do have, was written by men who lived in a patriarchal society that quite literally feared the idea of women in politics, even women as independent entities scared them.
One of the advantages of writing historical fiction, is the ability to ‘fill in the gaps’ — to speculate about who this woman might have been. What did she fear, what did she yearn for, what was her favourite food? I wanted to humanise her, make her feel real, while also resisting the urge to project modern values and characteristics onto her. It was a years-long process to find her voice. I drew from as many ancient sources as I could, and let my imagination do the rest.
Given that historical fiction set in Ancient Rome so often centres on powerful male figures, did you feel a sense of purpose in reclaiming space for a woman like Fulvia?
Yes, very much so. I think it is so important for us to give voice to those people silenced by recorded history — women, enslaved people, queer people, disabled people, colonised people. With a woman like Fulvia, I felt that sense of responsibility to tell her story in particular because she was such an extraordinarily successful and powerful woman in a time when women were legally considered to be property. She was a contemporary of men like Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Emperor Augustus, Cicero — these were her friends, enemies, rivals, lovers. People know all of their names, but no one knows about her. I really wanted to do what I could to change that.
Fulvia is the beginning of a two-part story. Did you always envision her narrative unfolding across two books?
I realised pretty early in the process that her story would need two books — in my view, there are two distinct ‘eras’ of her life, and each of them is fascinating and rich enough to need its own book. The first book, Fulvia, is about how she acquires her power. The second book, To Rule a Ruler, will be about what she does with that power once she has it.
Fulvia by Kaarina Parker
In Fulvia, we meet a young woman from a modest Roman family who, after her father’s death, ventures to the city in pursuit of power and security. As she rises through the ranks of Roman society, Fulvia discovers that ambition in the Republic comes with a steep and sometimes devastating price.
This article originally appeared in Fashion Quarterly‘s Winter 2025 issue.
Photography: Apela Bell and Karen Ishiguro.
Words: Natalia Didovich
