Women of Pompeii and Herculaneum

Problems of EvidenceThe amount of tangible evidence on women in the cities of Vesuvius is limited and fragmentary. Evidence of women in art is usually a male depiction and therefore often idealized

We draw from predominantly female spaces such as houses, the Forum, bedroom paintings, Temples, street graffiti, shops and workshops . The limitations of such evidence lies in the fact that it is still largely interpretive, coloured by the authors own context

An example is the misinterpretation of the painting of Terentius Neo and his wife, assumed to be aristocrats because of the literate depiction with stylus and book.

Other problematic areas are with prostitution, where occupations associated with the serving of food and drink have been traditionally associated with prostitution. These are currently being reinterpreted.The historian is limited in that the female voice is a silent one.

Upper Class WomenIn line with Roman women, provincial women were taught to read and write. Sabina Poppaea, who became the wife of Nero came from a Pompeian family

In Herculaneum, the wife and daughters of the pro consul Nonius Balbus had statues exhibited in the Basilica

Upper class women also played a significant role in religion. Eumachia and Mamia were both priestesses. The funerary monument dedicated to Mamia reflected her significant status in society.Although women were forbidden to enter political life, they could use their wealth through building and architecture to reflect their status and identity.

Eumachia, daughter of Lucius [Eumachius], public priestess, in her own name and that of her son, Marcus Munistrius Fronto, built with her own funds the porch, covered passage, and collonade and dedicated them to Concordia Augusta [Peace] and to Pietas [Piety].

Women were subservient to the paterfamilia

Religious roles

independentPolitical

promotionArchitecture as self promotion

Women could own property and be independently wealthy

Local elite expressed the loyalty to the Imperial family by imitation- see Livia statue and dedication

Inscriptions as evidence for the role of women

Eumachia was priestess and prominent citizen of the city of Pompeii. She was patroness of the guild of fullers (cleaners, dyers, and clothing makers), one of the most influential trade-guilds of the city because of the importance of the wool industry in Pompeii's economy. Although her ancestry was humble, the fortune she inherited from her father, a brick manufacturer, enabled her to marry into one of Pompeii's older families. She provided the fullers with a large and beautiful building which was probably used as the guild's headquarters.

Inscription from a seat at the tomb of the public priestess Mamia, Porta Ercolano, Pompeii

Mamia- a Public priestess and woman of status

Tomb inscriptions ILS 6373. Naevoleia L.l. Tyche for herself and C. Munatius Faustus, Augustalis and paganus [countryman?], for whom the city council by public consent decreed a bisellium [honorific seat] on account of her/his merits. Naevoleia Tyche made this monument during her lifetime for her own freedmen and freedwomen and those of C. Munatius Faustus. Front of the tomb of Naevoleia Tyche, with the inscription. The scene below the epitaph presumably represents the family's business activities. The figure above is probably a funerary mask, something which would normally be associated with aristocrats rather than ex-slaves like these.Another scene from the tomb. It probably represents the family's involvement in overseas trade, although some people have claimed that it symbolizes the voyage to the after-life.

Tomb inscriptions give weight to the importance of familial roles for women.“ Pomponia Decharcis, wife of Alleius Nobilis, mother of Alleius Maius”.

Nearly one third of the worshippers of the Cult of Isis, named in the inscriptions are female. Wall paintings in Pompeii and Herculaneum clearly show women participating in rituals. It is thought that Isis was particularly appealing to women because of the myths of Isis emphasizing her role as wife and mother

Representations of the ideal Roman Matrona

Initially assumed to be Proculus and his wife because of the assumption of literacy, it is now believed to be the portraits of the baker Terentius Neo and his wife.

Representations of Roman Beauty

jewelry and coins found with woman's skeleton outside Pompeii

Business WomenOften in partnership with their husbands, women could earn profits, run shops and engage in crafts and trades.

In Herculaneum women could engage in buying and selling, but were not allowed to become money lenders.

Julia Felix was a successful business woman in Pompeii, using her extensive villa as guest accommodations with its own private bathing establishment.

Inscriptions concerning property-owning women ILS 5723. To let, on the property of Julia Sp.f. Felix , a ladies' and gentlemen's bathing establishment (?) [balneum Venerium et nongentum], bars, lock-up shops, rooms. Five-year lease from August 13th ....   The House of Julia Felix

 Tomb inscriptions of priestesses ILS 5053.1. Clodia A.f. sacerdos publica of Ceres, by decree of the city council. 5053.2. Lassia M.f. sacerdos publica of Ceres, by decree of the city council. 5053.5. Clodia A.f. (built) this monument at her own expense for herself and her heirs. 6369. For Mamia P.f. sacerdos publica. The burial place was given by decree of the city council. 6370. Istacidia N.f. Rufilla sacerdos publica. 6371. Alleia daughter of Cn. Maius, sacerdos publica of Venus and Ceres, by decree of the city council at public expense.

TradeswomenOf somewhat lower status women worked independently in making and mending clothes. They were also employed in the Fuller industry, both slave and free.

Penelope Allison looks to the atrium house as a multipurpose space. Livy describes women spinning in this central area and Virgil says children played there. Originally interpreted as a formal greeting single purpose space, Allison, has questioned this interpretation.

Wives of craftsmen and tradesmen would run the shop while their husbands attended to other aspects of the business. A painting in the shop of M. Veculius Verecundus, manufacture of cloth, shows his wife sitting at the counter while a young man chooses a pair of slippers from the shelves.

Bars and Tavern OwnersWomen could own and operate taverns, inns and bars, which also served as food outlets

Graffiti advertisements tell us that Valeria Hedone was an innkeeper; “ Hedone says ‘ You can drink here for one as, if you give two, you will drink better; if you give four, you will drink Falernian.’”

Women as MidwivesThere is a substantial amount of written evidence which records the part played by women in the medical profession.  Their professional status was recognized by law, and their fees were subject to regulation.  Many women worked as midwives, physicians or doctors, and, surprisingly, very few of them were freeborn.  There is even mention of a number of husband-and-wife medical teams, of which the wife was essentially the midwife.

Pliny's descriptions of childbirth practices chiefly concern ways to hasten and ease labor.” Boys, he says, are more easily delivered than girls.(6)  According to Pliny, fumigations with the fat from hyaena loins produce immediate delivery for women in difficult labor; placing the right foot of a hyaena on the woman results in an easy delivery, but the left foot causes death.(7)  A drink sprinkled with powdered sow's dung will relieve the pains of labor, as will sow's milk mixed with honey wine.(8)  Delivery can also be eased by drinking goose semen mixed with water or "the liquids that flow from a weasel's uterus through its genitals”

Working Women

Political RolesIt is worth noting that although women could not stand for political office, 14.5 % of electoral graffiti are by women urging the support of candidates. One elite woman , Taedia Secunda, declared her support for her grandson L Popidius Secundus for the office of magistrate( aedile ) in AD 79

Women in election graffiti ILS 6408a. I beg you to make Pupius duumvir. Appuleia with her neighbour Mustius (asks), and Narcissus asks you. 6414 [written on bakery (?) wall]. We beg you to make M. Casellius and L. Albucius aediles. Statia and Petronia ask. Such citizens (would be?) in the city forever. 6431a. I ask you to make A. Vettius Firmus aedile. He is worthy. Caprasia asks with Nymphius, together with the neighbours. (We) ask you to vote for him. CIL iv 7863 [from a thermopolium]. (Make) C. Lollius Fuscus duumvir for looking after the roads (and) the sacred (and) public buildings. Asellina's (girls?) ask you, not without Zmyrina. D'Avino, p.28. I beg you to make Cn. Helvius Sabinus aedile. I beg you to make L. Ceius Secundus duumvir. Recepta (asks), not without Talamus. D'Avino, p.29. I beg you to make Ceius Secundus duumvir. Sutoria Primigenia with her family asks. Are you asleep, Astylus?

Slave WomenThis class had a wide range of duties, including personal attendants, for the wealthy, household slaves who did cooking and cleaning, nannies and wet nurses. Slave women who earned their freedom could then own their own slaves.Slaves could be freed by a brief ceremony called manumission.

Two wax tablets wrapped in cloth were found ,together with some silver vessels in the furnace area of the Palaestra Baths. They relate to a business deal between two women dating to AD 61. A freedwoman Poppaea Note has borrowed money from Dicidia Margaris.As security she has temporarily transferred ownership of two of here slaves to her creditor. The tablet implies that Poppaea did default on her payment

“ Poppaea Note, freedwoman of Priscus, has sworn that the slaves Simplex and Petrinus are hers and that she owns them and that these slaves are not pledged to anyone, nor does she share them with anyone else………..”

EXCAVATIONS in Pompeii have unearthed fresh evidence for what may have been an "upwardly mobile" caste of former female slaves, who instead of being freed were "kept" as lovers by their masters in ancient Rome.Archaeologists said the evidence was contained in a bag of sophisticated jewellery that had come to light in a new dig. The jewellery was found with the remains of a man and a woman who had been trying to escape from a hotel as Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD.Some were inscribed in a way that left little doubt that the couple were a master (dominus) and his female slave (ancilla), turned-lover. "Dominus suae ancillae" was the inscription on one gold bracelet in the form of a snake, which weighed a pound and had diamonds for eyes. The collection of jewellery included a similar bracelet, a gold-chain belt, rings, and a bracelet made of gold ball bearings weighing nearly two pounds.Prof Antonio De Simone, the archaeologist who found the couple's remains, said: "The idea of a master giving presents to a female slave is entirely new. It makes us think that in ancient Rome there were not only matrons and married women, but also those who were favoured but not freed by their owners. This would have represented an upward social step for a slave."

Political RolesIt is worth noting that although women could not stand for political office, 14.5 % of electoral graffiti are by women urging the support of candidates. One elite woman , Taedia Secunda, declared her support for her grandson L Popidius Secundus for the office of magistrate( aedile ) in AD 79

Prostitution( lupae )Some women earned a living by prostitution. Early archaeologists suggested that there were more than 30 brothels ( lupararian) but a reassessment as identified only 9 buildings .

” My conclusion is that there is little archaeological or epigraphical evidence that proves that hospitality businesses frequently doubled as brothels, or that women associated with them were prostitutes.”

DeFelici. Roman Hospitality; The Professional women of Pompeii

. Prostitution was recognised as an occupation and full time prostitutes had to be registered and pay tax.

“ Hermeros….here with Philiteros and Caphisus’

‘ Sollemnes, you….well

Evidence suggests that there were different types of prostitutes; slaves freedwomen and foreign. Patrician and Equestrian women were forbidden to become prostitutes. High class courtesans were kept by their lovers and often lived in expensive homes

It is thought that Pompeii’s port function accounted for the thriving service industry

Found in the Inn of Salvius

Foreign WomenWe know from the names of women written in graffiti around the town that Pompeii had a significant number of foreign women, involved in trade. Freedwomen, from the East, frequently sold luxury items or exotic merchandise, such as dyes and perfumes

Skeletal Evidence

Examine the work done by Sara Bisel in Herculaneum and Estelle Lazer in Pompeii. What evidence does it provide about the lives of women in these cities.

What limitations exist ?

•priestesses played a civic and religious role (Eumachia, Mamia); dedicated public buildings •property owners (Poppaea Sabina, name inscribed on lead pipes) •dedication of funerary monuments to family members (husbands, children) • Business; financial transactions: landlords, waitresses, saleswomen, and of course, prostitutes •political supporters

Roles of women

ConclusionsEvidence from both written and archaeological sources suggest a strong presence of women within the societies of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Although largely interpretive, paintings, tomb inscriptions and graffiti suggest that women , like their Roman counterpart were active in their familial, economic , religious and political roles.