ROMAN WOMEN Spring 1999
Study Guide X:
Considerations of the late empire
1. Document the ways in which women (second century CE and later) play public roles by using their private wealth. Use at least three examples that demonstrate, for example, how women influence public events although they are not directly responsible for voting or holding office.
2. Tombstones continue to be the main source of information on the lives, virtues, and occupations of lower class women. Using a variety of examples, at least three, demonstrate the utility of a thorough analysis of tomb monuments, memorials or inscriptions in recovering the stories of ancient women.
3. How do ancient authors such as Plautus, Ovid, Lucan, Apuleius, and Juvenal add to the transmission of women's duties, virtues, and foibles? Discuss at least five examples and consider carefully the genre within which each author writes when assessing the information he offers.
in the reading on Considerations of the Late Empire.
You should learn the starred (*) entries well; they are possible quiz identifications.
Terms, persons, places, divinities, mythological stories that are defined well in your text are not elaborated on here. The page numbers where those definitions can be found are, however, indicated. Other terms, persons, places, divinities, and authors that are assumed to be common knowledge by your textbook are defined here. They will only be defined once in this set of study guides so check back to previous weeks' study guides if you are unfamiliar with something in your textbook. Or look it up in a standard dictionary, an encyclopedia, or, if you are really stumped, check The Oxford Classical Dictionary, edd. Simon Hornblower and Anthony Spawforth, 3rd edition, 1996.
*Historia Augusta: A collection of biographies of Roman Emperors, Caesares, and usurpers from 117 - 284 CE. The author or authors of this collection are unknown but the personal viewpoints expressed in these writings have led several scholars to theorize on the author and his purpose.
*Tacitus (Cornelius, 56 - 115 CE): Historian of the imperial period, known for his Annales, a year by year account of domestic and provincial affairs in the empire. He also wrote the Agricola, a paean to his father-in-law, a famous and successful commander of the legions, concentrating on his achievements in Britain.
*Pliny the Younger (Gaius Plinius Caecilus Secundus, 61 - 112 CE): A writer and orator who published nine books of literary letters, news reports about social, domestic, judicial, and political events. The letters seem more like short essays with character sketches, miniature histories, and topographical notes. He reported an eye-witness account of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.
*Plautus (Titus Maccius Plautus, ?251 - ?184 BCE): A popular dramatist of Roman comedy, most often translation of early Greek New Comedy. His plays are bawdy, full of puns and topical allusions, and often contain soaring passages of very eloquent language. Our own Professor Franko is an expert on this author.
Terence (Publius Terentius Afer, b. 190 BCE): A comic playwright from North Africa, whose style of comic plays vary markedly from Plautus.
Epicurus (341 BCE): An Athenian moral and natural philosopher known for founding the Epicurean school of philosophy. The Epicureans secluded themselves from the affairs of the city and maintained a modest and severe style of living.
*Apuleius (b. circa 123 CE): A renowned poet, philosopher, and rhetorician who wrote the Apologia and the Metamorphoses. The Apologia was written to acquit himself of the charges that he married an attractive and wealthy widow by gaining her attention through witchcraft. The Metamorphoses is the only Latin novel to survive intact and describes a poor man's transformation into an ass and subsequent adventures.
Juvenal (Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis, fl. 110 CE): The last Roman satiric poet who was banished ostensibly for lampooning a court favorite. His poems retained the characteristics of satire but often contained some splendid invective.
*Suda or Suidas: The name of lexicon, a historical and literary encyclopedia, compiled around the 10th c. CE. Not always accurate, it is still an important source since it preserves the earliest authorities in ancient scholarship.
Photius ( fl. 858 - 867 CE): Byzantine patriarch who wrote a lexicon, a compendium of historical and literary information about the ancient world.
Papyrus Oxyrrhuncus: A collection of papyrus (early paper) from the Egyptian site of Oxyrrhuncus which have preserved some hitherto unknown ancient writings.
Soranus (98 - 138 CE): A physician from Ephesus who practiced during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian. He studied in Alexandria and practiced in Rome. Almost 20 of his books are preserved in Greek including the Gynaikeia, a treatise including the topics of midwifery, conception, and childcare.
Columella (36 - 60 CE): A Spaniard who served in the Roman legions and after being settled on estates in central Italy, wrote a treatise on agriculture and trees.
Lucan (Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, 39 - 65 CE): Roman aristocrat who wrote three books on the civil wars.
*Nero (Nero Claudius Caesar, 37 - 68 CE): Was emperor from 54 - 68 CE and famed as the most cruel, extravagant, vain, avaricious, and arrogant of the Julio-Claudians. It is rumored that he set fire to Rome to make room for his expansive Domus Aurea or Golden House. He is implicated in the murder of his mother Agrippina. He was married to Octavia and to Poppaea.
*Constantine (Flavius Valerius Constantinus, 285 - 337 CE): First Christian emperor of Rome. After many political machinations, he attained control of the whole empire, repulsing the Goths at the Danube in 332.
Agricola: Father-in-law of the Roman historian Tacitus, known for his campaigns in Britain.
Domitia Decidiana: Wife of Agricola. See WCW 348.
*Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, 53 - 117 CE): Roman emperor (98 - 117 CE) known for his sound social and financial policy. Trajan's ashes were deposited in the base of his column in the Forum. The column reports in historical relief Trajan's campaigns in Dacia.
*Plotina: Wife of Trajan, admired for her simplicity, dignity, fidelity, and virtue. Became diva Augusta in 105 CE and was honored on coins.
*Paulina: See WCW 348.
Agorius: See WCW 348.
*Ummidia Quadratilla: See WCW 349 - 350.
*Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus, 76 - 138 CE): Roman emperor (117 - 138 CE). Known for his philhellenism, he erected and refurbished many buildings in Rome and Athens, notably the Pantheon at Rome.
Matidia: Trajan's niece. His sister's daughter. One of the first women to recieve imperial titles while not being directly related to the emperor, as daughter or mother. See WCW 350 - 351.
Marciana: Trajan's sister. See WCW 350 - 351.
*Sabina: wife of Hadrian the emperor. She accompanied Hadrian on all his travles; in 130, she and a companion, Julia Balbilla, had five epigrams cut on the "colossus of Memnon" in Egypt. Sabina was consecrated as diva Augusta after her death in 136 Ce.
Septimius Severus (Lucius Septimius Severus, 145 - 211 CE): Emperor of Rome from 193 - 211 CE. His wife was Julia Domna, with whom he bore two sons Caracalla and Geta, who had endless enmity for each other.
Julia Domna: Wife of Septimius Severus.
Julia Balbilla: s.v. Sabina.
Julia Maesa, Julia Soaemias, Julia Mamaea: The Severan Julias who had great sa in the succession and removal of emperors.
*Marcus Aurelius (121 - 180 CE): Roman emperor from 161 - 180 CE and Stoic philosopher whose writings, The Meditations, still survive. Even thought he espoused peace and the quiet life of contemplation in his philosophy, war dominated his reign.
*Faustina: Wife of Marcus Aurelius, known for her feisty temperment. After she died, Marcus consecrated her memory and founded a charity in her memory, puellae Faustinianae.
Commodus (Lucius Aelius Aurelius, 161 - 192 CE): Roman emperor from 180 - 192 CE, eldest son of Marcus Aurelius.
*Apuleius and Pudentilla: See under Authors, Apuleius.
Cassia Cornelia Prisca: See WCW 362, 364 - 365.
*Plancia Magna: See WCW 363 - 364.
Pamphila of Epidauros: See WCW 368.
Metilia Acte and Junius Euhodus: See WCW 371 - 373.
Boudicca: See WCW 386.
Zenobia: See WCW 386.
*Alcestis and Admetus: Admetus was visited by Death and offered the chance to live if he could get someone to die for him. Lo and behold, his wife, Alcestis, agreed to die for him. Hercules wrestled Death and regained Alcestis for Admetus. See WCW 371 - 372.
*Venus (Aphrodite): Goddess of love, fertility, and procreation.
*Ceres (Demeter): Goddess of grain, agricultural, and fertility of the natural world. Her daughter was Persephone, who was bride of the god of the underworld.
Salus: Goddess of safety and well-being.
*Diana (Artemis): Goddess of the wild, natural world. Huntress, protectress of animals, virgin goddess, often associated with random acts of violence against humans who have transgressed the natural world.
*Hygeia: Goddess of health.
*Mars (Ares): God of war, hostility. The paramour of Venus.
*Mercury (Hermes): Messenger god; associated with markets, commerce, and travel.
*Hercules (Herakles): Saviour hero; civilizer of wild landscapes; performed 12 labors to gain entrance into the Olympian pantheon.
*Isis: Egyptian goddess adapted to the Roman pantheon. She was loosely associated with Artemis and many of her rituals were attended to and staffed by women.
*orbis terrarum: literally, "the circle of lands." For the Romans, the whole world conquered by the Roman legions.
*diva Augusta: The title for a deified female member of the imperial family. After the time of Hadrian, a title always given to an empress after her death.
divus Augustus: The title for a deified male member of the imperial family, most often the emperor.
mater Senatus: Honorary title for an empress, meaning she is "mother of the Senate."
Danube
Phrygia
M.T. Boatwright. (1991) "Imperial women of the Early Second Century." American Journal of Philology 112: 513 - 540.
M.T. Boatwright. (1999) "Plancia Magna of Perge: Women's Roles and Status in roman Asia Minor." in Women's History and Ancient History. ed. by Sarah Pomeroy. 249 - 272. Chapel Hill, N.C.
Keith Bradley. ((1986) "Wet-nursing at Rome: A Study in Social Relations." in The Family in Anicent Rome: New Perspectives. ed. Beryl Rawson. 201 - 229. Ithaca, N.Y.
Glenys Davies. (1985) "The Significance of the Handshake Motif in Classical Funerary Art." American Journal of Archaeology 89.4: 627 - 640.
Elizabeth P. Forbis. (1990) "Women's Public Image in Italian Honorary Inscriptions." American Journal of Philology 111: 493 - 511.
Natalie Boymel Kampen. (1991) "Between Public and Private: Women as Historical Subjects in Roman Art." in Women's History and Ancient History. ed. by Sarah Pomeroy. 249 - 272. Chapel Hill, N.C.
A. Marshall. (1989) "Ladies at Law: The role of Women in the Roman Civil Courts." in Sutdies in Latin Literature and Roman History. ed. by Carl Deroux, 35 - 54. Callection Latomus 206. Brussels.
Susan Wood. (1978) "Alcestis on Roman Sarcophagi." American Journal of Archaeology 82: 499 - 510.