14 May 2023

This week we’re sort of putting the Greek and Roman worlds in perspective, looking at how the Hellenistic world, which the Romans absorbed, looked at gender and the responsibilities people had as men and women toward the strength and persistence of their society. What essential ideas stand out to you about the complementary roles of men and women in the Hellenistic world? How much of that carried over to the Greco-Roman world that came after?

Also this week you’re completing your position papers. What did you learn from your research and analysis that you’d like to share with the rest of us? How has your perspective on gender in the ancient world changed or been reaffirmed as you explored your topic?

Looking forward to an interesting discussion. Please make sure to attend and help bring our semester’s worth of explorations and insights together into focus. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

7 May 2023

This week we’re discussing the ways in which women were involved the Roman religion. The religious practices and superstitions of the Romans themselves are interestingly peculiar, and the special cult of priestesses known as the Vestal Virgins, who were entrusted with the guardianship of the eternal flame, is distinctive. What do you think the existence and importance of the Vestals tells us about how the Romans thought about gender and the gods? The Chief Vestal is an unusual figure, too, representing the pure separateness of the Vestals and the status and responsibilities of a Roman noble matron. What else strikes you as telling about the prominence of women in Roman religion?

Personal letters are a great resource for historians because they offer a subjective, unguarded, and first-hand view of cultural norms and idiosyncratic relations to them. What stands out to you from Pliny’s letters about how he talks about women he admires?

Finally, Cato’s speech on the Oppian Law is in defense of conservative values, but it has an impact on wealthy women in Rome, who had been agitating politically to wear ornamentations again, even appearing in mass demonstrations in the Forum. What’s Cato afraid of?

Looking forward to an interesting discussion. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

30 April 2023

Hi folks, this week we’re attempting to get at the Roman sense of gender division and gender norms below the upper classes. How do you think things are different for women below the nobility? What do documents like the Twelve Tables tell us about how genders and families related to each other? What’s your sense of what ideas the Romans in general shared when it came to the importance of women to the survival of Rome?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and reactions. See you Tuesday!

Note: Quiz #8, originally slated for this week with a due date of May 7, has been canceled. Please use the time to work on your Position Papers!

Link to Schedule page