Women in Rome
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The place of the matrona (a Roman woman) in the society was taking care of the family and household. She was under the protection of the pater familias (the master of the house), either the father or the husband. She was not entitled to have any public office or to participate in any political activities. Travel, even accompanied, was all but impossible. Women's individual identities even are often hard for a historian to disentangle as a look at the list below confirms. Due to this background position in the society, women referred by name in the ancient sources are scarce.
Some women (i.e. the Vestal Virgins) were able to gain respect and honor as priestesses. The primary task of the Vestal Virgins was to maintain the sacred fire of Vesta; priestesses' presence was considered necessary in certain rituals. Wealthier women could also gain respect by funding these ceremonies. (See Mary Lefkowitz's article, "A Woman's Place Was in the Temple", Wilson Quarterly, Winter '93).
Other women like Livia Drusilla, (58 BC-AD 29), Augusta (honorific), was the wife of Caesar Augustus and the most powerful woman in the early Roman empire, acting several times as regent and being Augustus' faithful advisor.
Other exceptions are:
- Aemilia Scaura (1st century BC), second wife of Pompey and stepdaughter of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the dictator
- Agrippina Major (1st century), wife of Germanicus, mother of emperor Caligula
- Agrippina Minor (1st century), wife of emperor Claudius, mother of emperor Nero
- Antonia Major, grandmother of Emperor Nero
- Antonia Minor, mother of Emperor Claudius
- Aurelia Cotta, mother of Julius Caeser (last century BC)
- Caecilia Metella, the women of the Caecilius Metellus family
- Calpurnia Pisonis, third wife of Julius Caesar
- Claudia Julia (1st century),
- Claudia Pulchra, wife of Varus
- Claudia Marcella, nieces of Caesar Augustus
- Clodia (1st century BC), Catullus's Lesbia
- Cornelia Africana (2nd century BC), mother of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus
- Cornelia Cinna (1st century BC), wife of Julius Caesar
- Cornelia Metella (1st century BC), fifth wife of Pompey
- Cornelia Sulla, daughter of Dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla, first cousin to Julius Caesar and mother of Pompeia Sulla
- Domitia Decidiana - wife of Roman General Gnaeus Julius Agricola and mother-in-law to historian Tacitus.
- Domitia Lepida Major - aunt of Emperor Nero
- Domitia Lepida - sister of the following, Mother of the Empress Valeria Messalina
- Domitia Longina - wife of Emperor Domitian
- Domitia Lucilla - mother of Emperor Marcus Aurelius
- Domitia Paulina - female relatives of Emperor Hadrian
- Fulvia (1st century BC), wife of Publius Clodius Pulcher and Mark Antony
- Galla Placidia, (5th century)
- Julia Antonia
- Julia Caesaris, the women of the Julii Caesares family
- Julia the Elder, daughter of Augustus
- Julia (aunt of Caesar and wife of Marius)
- Julia (daughter of Julius Caesar)
- Juliae Caesares (sisters of Julius Caesar)
- Julia Domna (3rd century), wife of Septimius Severus
- Julia Maesa (3rd century), grandmother of Elagabalus and Alexander Severus
- Livia Drusilla (1st century BC), wife of Augustus Caesar
- Livilla (1st century), granddaughter of Livia
- Messalina, Emperor Claudius' wife
- Mucia Tertia (1st century BC), wife of Pompey
- Octavia, the women of the Octavii family
- Plautia Urgulanilla, Emperor Claudius' first wife
- Pompeia Sulla, granddaughter of the Dictator Sulla and second wife of Julius Caesar
- Saint Procula wife of Pontius Pilate
- Servilia Caepionis (1st century BC), Julius Caesar mistress, mother of Brutus
- Vipsania Julia, Granddaughter of Augustus
[edit] External links
- FEMINAE ROMANAE: The Women of Ancient Rome (2001-2006).
- Dr. Susan Martin, Private Lives and Public Personae, 1997.
- WomenintheAncientWorld.com (2005).
