Women and Politics in Ancient Rome - Richard A. Bauman [pdf]

Bauman delineates not only the influential and manipulative role of Roman women in the business of government, law and public affairs in general, but also the emergence of womens' political and liberationist movements.

From the preface:
The writer, having spent many years teaching and writing about both Roman history and Roman law, attempts in the present work to apply that accumulated experience to the role of Roman women in the business of politics, government, law, and public affairs in general. The theme offers both a special view of Roman history and a special view of Roman women. Although never allowed to hold office or to vote, Roman women played an important, and often—in spite of determined resistance—decisive role in public affairs. The work covers a longer time span than has been adopted in recent years. The discussion runs from c. 350 BC to AD 68, from the middle years of the Republic to the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty which presided over the first hundred years of the Principate.