THE WORLD OF CLASS

Slaves waiting on their mistress

Women experienced class structure both directly, as it qualified them for certain social privileges and for entry into the few religious offices open to them, and indirectly, as women's status derived from males with whom they were most closely associated. From the time of the kings, Roman citizens (excepting women and children) were registered in the census by tribe and class, originally for purposes of taxation and military service; the quinquennial census enrolled new citizens and monitored class criteria, which had social and political implications for the entire citizen family. Although the divisions and qualifications of class changed over time, the hierarchical concept did not, as it translated into wealth, privilege, and office. An upper-class woman's identity was tied to her social status, as her single name for much of the Republic was a feminized version of her gens name, setting the many Claudias, Aemelias, and Julias apart from the crowd. As sisters, wives, and daughters, elite women shared in the prestige and glory of their male kin, jealously guarding their privilege and jockeying for primacy. They claimed rank through dress, jewelry, public display, and reputation as respectable matronae, watching each other carefully for lapses. Polybius, a 2nd century BCE Greek historian of Rome, noted that Aemilia, Scipio Africanus' sister, dressed opulently and rode in an elaborately decorated carriage when she participated in women's ceremonies; she brought with her sacrificial baskets, cups, and utensils made of gold or silver and was accompanied by a retinue of servants larger than any other woman's. She reasoned that such state was fitting for one who had shared the life of the great Africanus (Histories 31.26-27 ). Because we have fewer visual and literary sources for the lives of lower-class citizen women and freedwomen, it is less clear how class and social distinctions within class affected their lives. No doubt they were required to work in the house with little or no help; many also worked outside the home to contribute to family resources. They, too, must have experienced the benefits and disadvantages of close community oversight of virtue, family honor, and wealth. See Social Class and Public Display, Companion bibliography and Images of Class below for further information.

IMAGES of CLASS

Pudicitia Pose of the Elite Roman Matron: Example 1: a female statue with a portrait head. Capitoline Museums: Palazzo Nuovo, Rome; Example 2: female statue with a fringed cloak (from a Hellenistic type). Capitoline Museums: Palazzo Nuovo, Rome; Example 3: a funerary sculpture from the late Republic or early Empire. Altemps Museum, Rome; Example 4: a limestone funerary relief bust of Haliphat, a fashionable bejeweled woman of Palmyra's prosperous merchant class who died in 231 CE. Washington, DC, Smithsonian: Freer-Sackler Gallery.

Philematium: marble funerary relief of Aurelia Philematium and her husband Aurelius Hermia portrayed as Roman citizens. It is one of earliest tombstones to commemorate the legitimate marriage of freedpeople. Rome, from a tomb on Via Nomentana, c. 80 BCE. London, British Museum.

Elderly Woman: encaustic mummy portrait reproducing wrinkles and grey hair; the absence of jewelry and fine clothes suggests she belongs to the lower classes. Roman, Fayum Egypt, 300-325 CE. London, British Museum

Drunk: an African red slipware jug, shaped in the form of a comically drunken old woman clasping a wine jug. Roman, early third century CE. Boston, Museum of Fine Arts.

Mosaic of two elegantly dressed women seated on chairs (cathedrae) in conversation. Trier, Landesmuseum.

Maria Auxe: marble tombstone with a portrait relief of a freedwoman with an inscription by the dedicator, Gaius Domitius Agathopus. Rome, Baths of Diocletian.

Antonine Woman: marble bust, perhaps a member of the imperial family (Faustina minor, wife of Marcus Aurelius, or his daughter Lucilla). Late 2nd century CE. London, British Museum.

Matrona: marble statue of an elderly woman of the early Antonine period (side view). 130-50 CE. Rome, Museo Montemartini.

Matrona: Marble bust of a young woman. 3rd century CE. Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum.

Flavian Woman: bust of an aristocratic woman of the late 1st-2nd century CE. Rome, Palazzo Nuovo.

Caltilia Moschis, a freedwoman of Ostia; relief detail from her funerary altar. Santa Monica, Getty Museum.

Female slaves in relief styling the hair and helping their mistress, seated in a throne-type wicker chair, complete her toilette; detail from the side of a large marble family tomb monument in Neumagen. Trier, Landesmuseum.

Funerary relief in marble of a family of freedpersons who practiced medicine: CLODIA HILARA ( right ); CLODIUS METRODORUS MEDICUS (center ); CLODIUS TERTIUS MEDICUS (left). Roman, last third of 1st century BCE. Paris, Louvre Museum.

Clothing: Roman clothing was a clear sign of status; for more details click here.

Mosaic: detail of a female slave pouring wine from an amphora into a pot or bucket set on a bronze stand in the shape of a satyr (full image). From a Roman villa at Centocelle near Rome, 2nd century CE. Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum.

Street game: a painted terracotta mold of of two women crouching, playing with knucklebones they hold in their hands. Capua, 340-330 BCE. London, British Museum.

Portrait in colored mosaic of an elegant woman from Pompeii, 1st century CE. Naples, National Archaeological Museum.

Grave relief in marble of a freedman couple, a young woman with a much older man, both in civic dress, depicted in the marriage pose iunctio dextrarum. Below their portraits is inscribed: P[ublius] AIEDIVS P[ubli] L[ibertus] AMPHIO; AEIDIA P[ubli] L[iberta] FAVSTA MELIOR. Found on the Via Appia, Rome, c. 30 BCE. Berlin, Pergamon Museum.

Ladies: a painted terracotta pair of elegantly dressed women seated on a couch and sharing close conversation. From Myrina. 100 BCE. London, British Museum.

Two Women, girl and mother(?), in a quiet moment on a fragment of a pastel wall fresco; their upper class is evidenced by their rich clothing, jewelry, hairstyles. Roman, 1-75 CE. Malibu, Getty Villa, 2007.

Young Etruscan : life-size terracotta torso (smaller) of an elegantly dressed girl wearing elaborate jewelry, perhaps molded on real pieces. Late 4-early 3rd century BCE. NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Tanagra figurine: white-painted terracotta mold of an elite woman elegantly dressed and posed on a bench, holding an apple/ pomegranate? She reflects life and tastes of the Greek Hellenistic period that Romans came to admire. From Tanagra (Boeotia), late 4th century BCE. Copenhagen, Glyptoteck Carlsbad.

Hedone dedicated a votive bronze plaque to the goddess Feronia, worshipped particularly by freedpersons; inscribed: HEDONE/ M. CRASSI ANCILLA/ FERONIAE V[otum]S[olvit] L[ibens] M[erito]. Roman, 2nd century CE. London, British Museum.

All images are courtesy of the VRoma Project's Image Archive.