The Imperial Women of Rome: Power, Gender, Context

405 Pages·2021·43.796 MB·English

by  Mary T. Boatwright

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Imperial Women of Rome
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Imperial Women
of Rome
Power, Gender, Context
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MARY T. BOATWRIGHT
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© Oxford University Press 2021
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Boatwright, Mary Taliaferro, author.
Title: Imperial women of Rome : power, gender, context /
Mary T. Boatwright.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020050573 (print) | LCCN 2020050574 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780190455897 (hardback) | ISBN 9780197567036 (epub) |
ISBN 9780190455910
Subjects: LCSH: Upper class women—Rome—History. |
Upper class women—Rome—Social conditions. | Marginality, Social—Rome—History.
Classification: LCC HQ1136 .B535 2021 (print) |
LCC HQ1136 (ebook) | DDC 305.48/210937—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020050573
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020050574
DOI: 10.1093/ oso/ 9780190455897.001.0001
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Printed by Integrated Books International, United States of America
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To my family:
To those no longer with us— Boat and Billy, Bill, Jack and Dorsey,
and to the present and future—Paul, Sammy,
Joseph, Amelia, and Isaac.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
Map: The World of Rome’s Imperial Women xiv
Introduction: Subjects and Sources 1
1. Rome’s Imperial Women and Rome’s Imperial Power 10
2. Crimes and Punishments of Imperial Women 47
3. Imperial Women within the Imperial Family 83
4. Imperial Women on Coins and in Roman Cult 119
5. Imperial Women’s Mark on the City of Rome 167
6. Models and Exemplars: Statues of Imperial Women 211
7. Imperial Women Abroad, and with the Military 248
8. Conclusions: Agency and Constraints 281
Appendix 1: Imperial Women and Their Life Events 289
Appendix 2: Genealogical Tables of Imperial Families 297
The Julio- Claudian Family 298
The Flavian Family 299
The Second- Century Imperial Family 300
The Severan Family 301
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Appendix 3: List of Divae 303
Consecrated Males until 235 CE 313
Bibliography 315
Index Locorum 339
Index 355
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Acknowledgments
Writing this book has been a great pleasure. Duke University’s generous
research funding enabled assistance from keen- eyed students including Melissa
Huber, Adrian Linden- High, Elizabeth Needham, Evangeline Marecki, Michael
Freeman, and Zihan Chu (my genealogical wizard), as well as supported the
book’s illustrations and maps. My department encouraged me to teach semi-
nars that improved my knowledge and understanding specifically and generally,
from Mack Zalin’s exploration of Alexander Severus to the stunning team- based
Claudium project by Adrian High, Katelin McCullough, Henrietta Miers,
Mariangela Morelli, and Crystal Terry. Most recently, a first- year undergraduate
seminar in 2019 on “Imperial Women of Rome” reminded me— yet again— of
the vital importance of clarity, conviction, and absurdity.
Many others have provided support, suggested different avenues to explore,
or reviewed parts of my work. Absolving all for my infelicities and omissions,
I  thank here Richard Talbert, Eve D’Ambra, Judith Evans Grubbs, Emily
Hemelrijk, Tom McGinn, Corey Brennan, Clare Woods, Lucrezia Ungaro,
Cynthia Bannon, Jeremy Hartnett, and Kent Rigsby. Stefan Vranka has been a
patient and encouraging editor. Roger Ulrich generously provided the beautiful
image of Sabina as Ceres from Ostia, and Susan Wood helped locate a photo of
Matidia the Younger. I am grateful to countless others for guidance and interest
over the years.
I profited enormously from testing select topics in papers whose lively inter-
locutors encouraged me to refine or broaden my arguments. At the Classical
Association of the Midwest and South I presented “Domitia Longina and the
Criminality of Imperial Roman Women.” Signe Krag and Sara Ringsborg kindly
invited me to a conference in Aarhus, Denmark, on women and children on
Palmyrene funerary reliefs (part of the Palmyra Portrait Project), allowing me
to focus on the exemplarity of the imperial family. At the Women’s Classical
Caucus panel at the Society for Classical Studies I spoke on “Imperial Mothers
and Daughters in Second- Century Rome.” Lucrezia Ungaro’s gracious invitation