RAC/TRAC Session 34: Feminist, postcolonial Roman archaeology

Conference Sessions and Abstracts - Friday 12 April 2024

34. Feminist, postcolonial Roman archaeology

Mauro Puddu – Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia

To what extent have feminist theories been integrated as a fundamental component of Roman
archaeology? While the question of gender studies within the field has been discussed since TRAC's inception by Eleanor Scott in 1993, and its aims reinforced by Louise Revell in 2010 and Amy Russell in 2016, feminist theories are still only sporadically applied to the broader understanding of the Roman world, often limited to specific contexts. Our objective is to bring feminist inquiries to the forefront of our understanding of the past. In this session, we seek to reflect on the extent to which postcolonial archaeologies have effectively interacted with, incorporated - or embodied - feminist theories, thus shedding new light on the Roman world.

We intend to challenge the assumption that the histories of women in antiquity are burdened by three layers of subalternity. These layers include 1) the subordination of women to men; 2) the marginalisation of women from subaltern communities (such as farmers) whose stories have been (and continue to be) silenced by the dominant narratives of elites; 3) the disproportionate focus on elite women (such as emperors' mothers and wives, noblewomen) while neglecting the experiences of the majority of women.

Our speakers are encouraged to engage particularly - but not exclusively - with the matter of data biases (e.g. the exclusive representation of white men in a simple web search for Roman Empire images). Additionally, we invite engagement with body theory (i.e. Judith Butler’s body in assemblage), postcolonialism (i.e. the role of women in Antonio Gramsci’s 25th prison notebook, on subalterns), and posthumanism in order to further enrich the discussions. By critically examining the integration of feminist theories and exploring alternative perspectives, this session aims to challenge existing biases, uncover silenced narratives, and contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the Roman world.

Session schedule 

Abstracts 

 Black Feminisms in Roman Archaeology?
Lylaah Bhalerao – New York University

30 years ago, Shelley Haley asked if there is a role for Black feminist thought in Classics. She argued that “through Black feminist thought, classics can be radically transformed from a discipline into a multiracial, multicultural, multivalent field which better reflects the ancient world it studies” (Haley 1993, 38). Now I ask: to what extent, and how effectively, has Black feminist thought been integrated into the study of Roman Archaeology? Whilst feminist thought has gained traction in the field, can the same be said of Black feminist thought, which faces further marginalization and subalternity because of its existence at the intersection of race and gender? Furthermore, how can Black feminist thought help us to tackle the underrepresentation of non-white women in the Roman material record and to better understand their presence? Evaluating a range of evidence from Pompeiian wall-paintings to tombstones in Roman Britain, I will engage with the works of Saidiya Hartman, Sylvia Wynter, Zakiyyah Iman Jackson, and others, to demonstrate the value of integrating Black feminist thought into the study of Roman material culture—it will enable us, in the words of Haley, “to re-member, to re-claim, to re-empower” ancient non-white women. 

Bibliography 
Haley, S. P. 1993. Black Feminist Thought and Classics: Re-Membering, Re-Claiming, Re- Empowering. In: Sorkin Rabinowitz, N. and Richlin, A. (eds) Feminist Theory and the Classics: 23–43. New York: Routledge
Hartman, S. 2008. Venus in Two Acts. Small Axe 12 (2): 1–14
Jackson, Z. I. 2020. Becoming Human: Matter and Meaning in an Anti-Black World. New York: New York University Press
Kamen, D. and Levin-Richardson, S. 2022. Epigraphy and Critical Fabulation: Imagining Narratives of Greco-Roman Sexual Slavery. In: Cousins, E. H. (ed) Dynamic Epigraphy: New Approaches to Inscriptions: 201–22. Oxford: Oxbow Books 
Wynter, S. 2003. Unsettling the Coloniality of Being/Power/Truth/Freedom: Towards the Human, After Man, Its Overrepresentation--An Argument. CR: The New Centennial Review 3 (3): 257–337

 Rewriting the Narrative of Mime-Actresses through Epitaphs: A Feminist Perspective 
Muditha Dharmasiri – Maynooth University

In an era where the re-evaluation of history through feminist lenses is gaining prominence, it is vital to explore the significance of feminist inquiries and alternative perspectives in reshaping our understanding of mimae. The marginalisation of the female performer in Rome from the dominant narratives of the elites erased the narrative of the talented performer. The Roman perspective on them, illuminated how legal constraints and societal perceptions relegated them to the lowest strata of society, often equating them with prostitutes. However, in their epitaphs, the dedicators honored and acknowledged the profession of the deceased woman as a significant part of her identity when remembering her. They were addressed with terms such as docta, erodita, and even with titles like archimima. They are presented differently, but why are they presented differently? Butler states how gender performativity and body politics emphasize the constructed nature of gender identity and the impact of societal norms on women’s experiences and bodies. Thus a study of their epitaphs helps to a certain extent to uncover this unwritten history in the dominant literary culture. This framework sheds light on how the male gaze and objectification hindered the accurate portrayal of these performers, underscoring the necessity of feminist inquiries and alternative perspectives. 

 Visualising women in history: How new technologies can help us go from atomised stories to actual women integration
Ludovica Xavier de Silva – Università degli Studi di Macerata

The traditional male gaze of historians and archaeologists – still predominant, especially in exhibitions and dissemination content – together with a consistent discrepancy in the amount of data available for Roman men compared to women, have led us to the visualisation, both in research and in dissemination – from documentaries to museum exhibitions – of environments with few to no women. Especially when producing dissemination content, the impression is that we can safely assume men were everywhere. Still, if we want to represent a woman in a specific context or engaged in a productive activity – other than cooking or retouching makeup – we should be able to defend that choice with solid data. In other words, plausibility is not a choice when talking about ancient women. Starting from the case of a Virtual Reality experience developed for the Republican ceramic kilns at Pollentia-Urbs Salvia (Italy), this paper will try to address the possibility that new technologies, such as AR and VR applications, also combined with experimental archaeology, could serve as starting point to embrace a new perspective on historical reconstructions. Especially when concerned with artisanal activities, this new perspective, forced to overcome the limit of data, could more easily adopt a feminist, postcolonial approach. 

 Provincial coins with women on the obverse: the Roman Empire’s “Hi Barbie.” 
Raffaella Bucolo – Università degli Studi di Verona        
Julia Lenaghan – Università degli Studi di Verona

This paper examines the obverses showing women, imperial family members, on the provincial coins of the Roman Empire (now readily available on-line in the RPC database). Cities, throughout the Empire, especially in the Greek East, created such coins with greater variety than the imperial mints and with increasing regularity from the first to the third century. These coins were of low denominations but of frequent use, thus systematically disseminating an image of a woman to every level of the city’s population. The elite body of men responsible for the conception of the coins, viewed the role of women as essential in the political power structure and fundamental to society. From the period of Augustus to Septimius Severus, the coin portraits demonstrate both a set of highly desirable female roles which were inextricably linked to male roles, and that the individuality of the woman represented was of little relevance within the provincial city. Oftentimes the portraits of the different women are distinguished only by legends and they assume the physiognomies of their husbands. Yet, the high visibility of the portraits testifies to inclusivity and indicates that women handled coins, especially small monies, routinely. Society depended on these female roles and men were not complete without them. 

 Women and Money in Ancient Rome
Josy Luginbühl – Universität Bern        
Christian Weiss – Universität Bern

Roman coinage has been studied for hundreds of years. While for a long time the coinage itself was at the centre of numismatic research, in recent decades attention has increasingly been paid to coin use: How great was the monetization of everyday life? Were coin images used as a means of communication for imperial propaganda? Do we have to see hoarding as a ritual as much as a financial activity? At the same time, since the seventies of the last century, feminist approaches have increasingly become prominent in classical studies. What was the purpose of the life and work of Roman women? Where did they appear as an independent agent, where were they restricted in their activities by their gender? In our paper, these two topics are combined by exploring the question of money in the life of women in ancient Rome: by analysing the contemporary written sources, we are able to define areas and situations in which Roman women had money on their own (and to what degree). The combination of the written sources with the corresponding archaeological record leads to new perceptions of Roman coin hoards and coin finds in general.

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