Changes in Roman Thought Flashcards
What is continuous in the study of women in ancient G AND Rome?
lack of lower class female insight
What was the political change for women in Roman world?
More influence
Why did the role of women change in politics in Imperial Rome?
shift in politics from republic to imp era= from senate to an imperial family. Reproduction was central to its continuity as well as the security of the household for the maintenance of power - women have imp roles in these.
What were three legal changes that effected the female experience in Roman world?
More legislative control in private lives, greater awardfor those who called out for adulterers, and 3 child rule that brought benefits for a mother
When were the moralising leges juliae passed by Augustus?
18-17 BC
What were the two most influential leges juliae for women from Aug passed and when?
Lex Julia de adulteriis coercendis, 17 BC. Lex Papia Poppaea, AD 9.
What did the Lex Julia de adulteriis coercendis do? (2)
made adultery punishable with banishment and legally enabled fathers to kill adulterous daughters and their lovers or husbands to kill the lovers
What did the lex Pappia Poppaea do? (3)
promoted marriage by introducing penalties for celibate ppl, provided women with legally free status once enough children had been produced out of marriage (3 for those in Rome, 4 for those in Italy, and 5 for those in the provinces), and inhertiance was restricted for married ppl (orbi) without children
What was the paterfamilias? What powers did he have?
Head of the household. Ultimate power over all within it
What was the reality of the moral changes in Imperial Rome?
likely very little changed but rather it was exaggerated by later writers who used the narrative of a golden age of previous periods
Many people opposed the degree of intervention Augstus was imposing in their private lives.
Why did Augustus focus on morality in his political regime?
Morality became politicised because it was a supposed characteristic of the imperial family but was lacking in the late republic era. Idea of him taking on the ‘reformer’ emperor type
Who was Sulpicia?
Elite woman of the 1st cent BCE. Composed six or eleven love poems.
Was Sulpicia unusual in her writing of poetry? Evidence?
She was likely not that unusual in elite circles. Cicero, Pro Caelio 27.64 shows his wife wrote poetry; Ovid’s Tristia 3.7 is addressed to a Perilla who wrote poems.
Why do scholars doubt the first 5 of Sulpicia’s attributed poems? How does Hallet(2002) dispute this?
They have v knowledgble references that the later ones lack and so seem to have been written by a learned man. She emulated Cattallus’ elegaic poetry.
Who was Cornelia?
Elite Roman women of 2nd century BCE of whose letters to her son Gaius Gracchi we have.
What was the content of Cornelia’s letter to her son?
urges Gaius not to seek the office of tribune, but to think of her sorrowful plight instead
Why do scholars think Cornelia’s letter to be a forgery? (2)
Only appears once in historical records (Cornelius Nepos’ manuscripts) and has a very harsh tone unusual for expectations of women
What was the tradition of laudatio funebris? What was the role of women in this genre?
The speech in honour of the dead at a funeral. Often a conduit for the purpose of promoting her male kin.
What form are the laudationes Turiae and Murdiae in? Around what period were they created?
Stone private grave inscriptions, both fragmentary. Augustan.
What are the themes of the laudatio Turia?(3) Who was it written/originally read (laudator) by?
Exceptional events she faced with determination and aptitude.
Concordia of her marriage.
Her adoption of more masculine characteristics and efforts in political sphere for the sake of her husband.
laudator: Her husband.
What are the shared listed ideal female characteristics in both the laudationes turiae and murdiae? (5)
modesty, chastity (sexual morality), obedience, wool-working, and diligence (to both family and religion)
What are the themes of laudatio murdia? (2) Who was it written/originally spoken (laudator) by?
Her respectable management of her inheritance from two marriages.
Praise for her fairness in treatment of three sons, one being from an earlier marriage, and her one daughter.
First born son.
What are the three archetypal female roles shown in the laudationes of the two women that we have?
Idealised: Wife, mother, and woman in general.
From what time were boys men expected to have sexual experiences? What was the general moral view on this?
puberty. There was a discomfort in the thoughts of young boys engaging in the acts w prostitutes or slaves unlike in Greece where sexual encounters esp w elder men are somewhat encouraged
What practice of gender fluidity was banned for Roman citizens?
being a eunuch
