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Freeborn women in ancient Rome were citizens (cives), but could not vote or hold political office. Because of their limited public role, women are named less frequently than men by Roman historians. But while Roman women held no direct political power, those from wealthy or powerful families could and did exert influence through private negotiations. Exceptional women who left an undeniable mark on history include Lucretia and Claudia Quinta, whose stories took on mythic significance; fierce Republican-era women such as Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, and Fulvia, who commanded an army and issued coins bearing her image; women of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, most prominently Livia and Agrippina the Younger, who contributed to the formation of Imperial mores; and the empress Helena, a driving force in promoting Christianity.
Mary R. Lefkowitz is an American scholar of Classics. She is the Professor Emerita of Classical Studies at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, where she previously worked from 1959 to 2005. She has published ten books over the course of her career.
Marriage in ancient Rome was a monogamous institution: Roman citizens could have only one spouse at a time. Many other ancient civilizations typically allowed elite males multiple wives. Scheidel believes that Greco-Roman monogamy may have arisen from the relative egalitarianism of democratic and republican city-states. Early Christianity embraced the ideal of monogamous marriage, and perpetuated it as an essential element in later Western culture. Augustine called it a "Roman custom".
The architectural form of theatre in Rome has been linked to later, more well-known examples from the 1st century BC to the 3rd Century AD. The theatre of ancient Rome referred to as a period of time in which theatrical practice and performance took place in Rome has been linked back even further to the 4th century BC, following the state’s transition from monarchy to republic. Theatre during this era is generally separated into genres of tragedy and comedy, which are represented by a particular style of architecture and stage play, and conveyed to an audience purely as a form of entertainment and control. When it came to the audience, Romans favored entertainment and performance over tragedy and drama, displaying a more modern form of theatre that is still used in contemporary times.
Edith Hall, is a British scholar of classics, specialising in ancient Greek literature and cultural history, and professor in the Department of Classics and Centre for Hellenic Studies at King's College, London. She is a Fellow of the British Academy. From 2006 until 2011 she held a Chair at Royal Holloway, University of London, where she founded and directed the Centre for the Reception of Greece and Rome until November 2011. She resigned over a dispute regarding funding for classics after leading a public campaign, which was successful, to prevent cuts to or the closure of the Royal Holloway Classics department. She also co-founded and is Consultant Director of the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama at Oxford University, Chair of the Gilbert Murray Trust, and Judge on the Stephen Spender Prize for poetry translation. Her prizewinning doctoral thesis was awarded at Oxford. In 2012 she was awarded a Humboldt Research Prize to study ancient Greek theatre in the Black Sea, and in 2014 she was elected to the Academy of Europe. She lives in Cambridgeshire.
Childbirth and obstetrics in Classical Antiquity were studied by the physicians of ancient Greece and Rome. Their ideas and practices during this time endured in Western medicine for centuries and many themes are seen in modern women's health. Classical Gynecology and obstetrics were originally studied and taught mainly by midwives in the ancient world, but eventually scholarly physicians of both sexes became involved as well. Obstetrics is traditionally defined as the surgical specialty dealing with the care of a woman and her offspring during pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (recovery). Gynecology involves the medical practices dealing with the health of women's reproductive organs and their breasts.
Phintys was a Pythagorean philosopher, probably from the third century BC. She wrote a work on the correct behaviour of women, two extracts of which are preserved by Stobaeus.
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is ὑποκριτής (hupokritḗs), literally "one who answers". The actor's interpretation of a role—the art of acting—pertains to the role played, whether based on a real person or fictional character. This can also be considered an "actor's role," which was called this due to scrolls being used in the theaters. Interpretation occurs even when the actor is "playing themselves", as in some forms of experimental performance art.
Myia was a Pythagorean philosopher and, according to later tradition, one of the daughters of Theano and Pythagoras.
Galeria Copiola was an ancient Roman dancer (emboliaria) and actress whom Pliny includes in a list of notable female nonagenarians and centenarians in his Natural History. Because of Pliny's notice, Galeria is one of the few performing artists in classical antiquity whose career milestones can be precisely dated.
Caelia Macrina was a Roman woman who lived in Tarracina around 150 AD.
Volumnia Cytheris was an ancient Roman actress and mimae dancer. She is foremost known as the mistress of several famous Romans.
Dionysia, was an ancient Roman dancer-actress.
Sociae Mimae was a guild for female stage artists, mimae, in Ancient Rome. It is the only Ancient Roman guild exclusively for women of which there is currently any information. The guild financed its own burial ground and was apparently not in any lack of funds but rather well off.
Fabia Arete was a dancer, actress and singer in Ancient Rome.
Bassilla, was a dancer, actress and singer in Ancient Rome.
A concubinatus was an institution of quasi-marriage between Roman citizens who for various reasons did not want to enter into a full marriage. The institution was often found in unbalanced couples, where one of the members belonged to a higher social class or where one of the two was freed and the other one was freeborn. However, it differed from a contubernium, where at least one of the partners was a slave.
Ekaterina Panayotou, was a Greek stage actor. She belonged to the pioneers of the modern Greek theater of the 19th century, and was one of the first professional actresses in Greece.
Athena Filipaki, was a Greek stage actress. She belonged to the pioneers of the modern Greek theater of the 19th century and was one of the first professional actresses in Greece.
Hymnia was an epithet of the Greek goddess Artemis under which she was worshipped throughout Arcadia. She had a temple someplace between Orchomenus and Mantineia. We know from the geographer Pausanias that Orchomenus at least used to hold festivals in her honor.
References
- ↑ Mary R. Lefkowitz, Maureen B. Fant: Women's Life in Greece and Rome: A Source Book in Translation., Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005
- Mary R. Lefkowitz, Maureen B. Fant: Women's Life in Greece and Rome: A Source Book in Translation., Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005
- Matthew Dillon, Lynda Garland, Ancient Rome: A Sourcebook
- Edith Hall, Rosie Wyles, New Directions in Ancient Pantomime
- Pat Easterling, Edith Hall, Greek and Roman Actors: Aspects of an Ancient Profession
- War, Women and Children in Ancient Rome (Routledge Revivals)