Roman Women
This book examines the daily lives of Roman women by focusing on the mundane and less celebrated aspects of daily life - family and household, work and leisure, worship and social obligations - of women of different social ranks. Using a variety of sources, including literary texts, letters, inscriptions, coins, tableware, furniture, and the fine arts, from the late Republic to the high Imperial period, Eve D'Ambra shows how these sources serve as objects of social analysis, rather than simply as documents that recreate how life was lived. She also demonstrates how texts and material objects take part in shaping realities and what they can tell us about the texture of lives and social attitudes, if not emotions of women in Roman antiquity.
- Emphasizes image and ancient textual sources, even when they disagree
- Makes the material accessible without oversimplifying or losing complexity
- Gives a sense of the texture of lives with discussion of unusual artifacts, such as girls' dolls or women's cosmetics
Reviews & endorsements
'While the book is intended to serve as an introduction, it provides detailed and concise information with avenues for more in-depth studies and will make an excellent textbook for any college course on women in Rome.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review
'This book offers a good introduction to a large topic for an audience with no prior knowledge and it provides valuable background material for the Cambridge Latin Course.' Journal of Classics Teaching
'D'Ambra has succeeded in writing an accomplished guidebook full of interesting details and concrete examples that make aspects of a Roman woman's life easily understandable. The book is written in clear language, which makes it also accessible to readers not familiar with the use of academic jargon.' Arctos
Product details
April 2007Hardback
9780521818391
238 pages
234 × 159 × 18 mm
0.59kg
42 b/w illus. 57 colour illus.
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. Gender and status
- 2. Marriage and family
- 3. Women's work
- 4. Public life
- Glossary
- Roman authors
- Selected bibliography.