Ancient Universal History

I find it interesting that Hemans precedes the poem Wife of Asdrubal with an excerpt of her history from Ancient Universal History.  If it's fair to assume that Hemans' intended audience is of a feminist leaning (at least to a greater degree than previous, non-romantics), I think that this inclusion speaks to the unbalanced education received by men over women; most classically educated readers would have been familiar with the historical Hasdrubal.  This serves a feminist perspective in that Hemans suggests that, with even a cursory education, women are capable of both generating and appreciating great artistic works.