To be sure, writing Power Women has given me perspective. For example, when prison inmates “strike” because of “cruel and unusual treatment” when their color televisions have been taken away or their leisure time working out in the gym has been withheld, I think of what the Romans would say.

I think of how people rotted in dungeons year after year after cruel torture, not just under Roman rule but also under European rule of the Spanish Inquisition–and many, many other periods of time. I think of how tongues were removed, hands cut off, ears and noses sliced away because people did or did not believe in some sort of religion: Christian, pagan, Jewish, Buddhist, Taoist, or animist.

The great libraries at Alexandria, Pergamum, and Ephesus held the treasures of early literacy. Science, philosophy, poetry, and math filled the scrolls and informed scholars––those who could read––or perhaps those who could pay a scribe to read for them.

Few elite women could read and write. Even fewer––if any––walked the halls of the great libraries, spread out the scrolls before them, and absorbed the knowledge locked up to ignorance.

The ancient mantra of an “eye for an eye,” retribution for a crime, an insult, a mistake, is age-old. Ancient literature documents the punishment women suffered for adultery or rape—real or imagined—was public stoning.

The smug satisfaction of a jealous neighbor who accused the young woman, the self-righteous elders who fancied themselves “guardians of the law,” and the zealous athletes whose accurate aim with the handy stones was a source of pride, all gathered to put the accused “in her place” for her transgression.

Today, former First Lady Nancy Reagan died of congestive heart failure at age ninety-four. From 1981-1989, her tenure as wife of Ronald Reagan, one of the nation’s most respected Presidents, was one of quiet strength, emotional toughness, and support. Through her determination to serve him, her encouragement and influence on the President were monumental. She never sought self-aggrandizement.

Forceful behind the scenes, she was brilliant, charming, and an advisor of last resort. Comforting him during the stressful period of world conflict, attempted assassination, and at last the dreaded Alzheimers that stole his cognizance, she was always there for the President, shielding him from unnecessary criticisms and pressures that only a world leader can know. She brought confidence and peace of mind to a leader under constant stress of global threat.