In times of peace, the women of the ancient Mediterranean had few chances to exercise leadership. But when failures of men’s leadership set off crises, many women, then as now, stepped up to lead and defend their communities. In How to Lead When Men Fail, Mallory Monaco Caterine presents a vivid new translation of Plutarch’s The Excellence of Women, a little-known collection of more than two dozen memorable historical stories about brave and clever women who fought wars, settled new lands, resisted tyrants, and did other extraordinary things to protect their people. These dramatic, poignant, and at times humorous stories offer examples of resourcefulness, courage, devotion, integrity, and resilience that will inspire today’s leaders, changemakers, and community-builders.

Plutarch wrote that the goal of The Excellence of Women was to prove that “the virtue of a man and a woman are one and the same”—a radical idea for the second-century CE. The women whose stories he tells are almost unknown today and will be new even to many fans of ancient history. In addition to her translation of Plutarch’s text, the first to be published by a woman, Monaco Caterine provides an enlightening introduction that puts the work in context, and the volume also features the original Greek text on facing pages.

A wonderful edition of an important and unjustly neglected work, How to Lead When Men Fail is an empowering reminder of how women have always used whatever resources they have to fight for what’s right.