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Women in Author(s): Elizabeth Lyding Will Source: , Vol. 32, No. 5 (September/October 1979), pp. 34-43 Published by: Archaeological Institute of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41726375 . Accessed: 19/03/2014 08:08

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This content downloaded from 170.24.130.117 on Wed, 19 Mar 2014 08:08:22 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Wfomen

in

Pompeii

by Elizabeth Lyding Will

year 1979 marks the 1900th anniversary of the fatefulburial of Pompeii, Her- The culaneum and the other sitesengulfed by the explosion of in a.d. 79. It was the most devastatingdisaster in the Mediterranean area since the on Thera erupted one and a half millenniaearlier. The suddenness of the A well-bornPompeian woman drawn from the original wall in theHouse Ariadne PierreGusman volcanic almost froze the bus- painting of by onslaught instantly ( 1862-1941), a Frenchartist and arthistorian. Many tling Roman cityof Pompeii, creating a veritable Pompeianwomen were successful in business, including time capsule. For centuriesarchaeologists have thosefrom wealthy families and freedwomen. exploited the Vesuvius disaster,revealing detailed evidence about the last hours of the town and its doomed inhabitants.Excavation has also uncov- ered factsabout the lives of Pompieans in happier evidence about the female membersof society.It times,when the rich soil on the slopes of Mount is an importantsource of information,in fact, Vesuvius yielded abundant harvestsof grapes, about the women of antiquityin general. Yet ar- , fruitsand vegetables. In those days, a vol- chaeology is a source that has gone largelyuntap- canic holocaust had seemed an impossibility.After ped. Studies of the women of ancient timeshave all, Pompeii had flourishedsafely for six hundred tended to draw theirevidence fromliterature, years,basking in the sun of southern . Within even though the remarksabout women in ancient three days, however,the entire citywas buried by literatureare few in number and often lack objec- . Eventuallyeven its verylocation was tivity.Since Pompeii provides more archaeological forgotten.As layersof rich soil accumulated over evidence about women than most other ancient the site,what had been a thrivingcity became fer- sites except itself,the failureto come to tile countryside. grips withthe evidence is all the more regrettable. The men and women of Pompeii abandoned Although the great nineteenth-centuryPom- everythingin the wake of disaster.They leftbe- peianist,Johannes Overbeck, frequentlyrefers to hind a wealth of unedited public records, mostly women, later scholars like , Amedeo in the formof inscriptions.But while men such as Maiuri and R.C. Carrington,consider women's M. Holconius Rufus and L. Caecilius Jucundus, activitiesless worthyof record. Their workswere who were of only local importance,have taken writtenin periods which saw historyas being - their place in Roman historybecause of Pompeii's guided by politicaland militaryevents areas unique historicalposition, the women of the where women's participationtraditionally has been have been largelyignored. They are overlooked in minimal. More recent studies of Pompeii based on studies of Pompeii as well as in historiesof women this research perpetuate the tendencyto overlook in antiquity.But archaeology provides abundant women, or to referto them only incidentallyin

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This content downloaded from 170.24.130.117 on Wed, 19 Mar 2014 08:08:22 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions " " Domina orwoman of rankfrom the Hall of theMysteries in the Villaof the Mysteries in Pompeii. It is possiblethat thepainting represents IstacidiaRuf ilia, a public priestesswhose family probablyowned the sometime in itshistory .

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This content downloaded from 170.24.130.117 on Wed, 19 Mar 2014 08:08:22 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Frescoof Venusfrom the House of Marina in Pompeii. The painting covers a largepart of the back wall of the garden . Venus was the patron divinity of Pompeii .

discussionsof brothels,jewelry and mixed bathing. robed. Venus was a fertilitysymbol, stern city - But withthe growingcontemporary emphasis on guardian and overseer of people's lives in es- economic and social history,such attitudesseem sence, she ruled as the "Great Mother." In her more and more out of date. Although women's honor, Pompeii erected a temple so impressive historyis stillin its infancy,and ways to organize that it contained nearly 300 columns before it was and present the factsare largelylacking, there is damaged by an earlier earthquake in a.d. 62. The littledoubt that it is preciselyin the contextof dual nature of the Pompeian Venus may in some economic and social historythat women's ac- way indicate the attitudeof Pompeians about - complishmentsmust be seen and understood. One women generally females are both motherand must look for the specificrole women played temptress,wielding universal power over society. during antiquity.In this search, archaeology must As child-bearers,women were of pivotal im- be used as a primarytool, and the women of portance in the home throughoutantiquity. But at Pompeii must be recognized as a major source Pompeii somethingmore has emerged. There is of evidence. strongevidence that during the last two centuries of the city'shistory many women were activelyin- volved outside the home in civic and religiouslife ne way to approach the studyof Pompeian as well as in business. The best documentation women is to consider the city'spatron deityfirst. comes frominscriptions carved, scratchedand Venus, the prototypeof femininity,was desig- painted on tombs,temples and houses. Several nated Pompeii's guardian divinityby the Roman particularinscriptions at Pompeii mentionthe of- general afterhe made the citya Roman col- fice of public priestess.This duty must have been ony in 80 b.c. The Venus of Pompeii, as repre- held in high esteem since it is mentioned promi- sented in sculptureand painting,is at once seduc- nentlyon tombstonesand elsewhere. But only a tive and dignified.She is both coquette and mater few women are actuallyreferred to by name. Oné familias,at times unclothed and other times heavily public priestessnamed Mamia was accorded the

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This content downloaded from 170.24.130.117 on Wed, 19 Mar 2014 08:08:22 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions rare honor of burial on land donated by order of Unlike M. Tullius, however, Mamia is rarely the municipalcouncil of Pompeii. Mamia was a mentioned in discussionsof Pompeii. Another memberof a prominentold family,a leftoverof public priestessnamed Eumachia is more well the Samnite nobilityonce in controlof Pompeii known. Like Mamia, Eumachia died long before before it became a Roman . She probably the fatal eruption of a.d. 79. She was a priestess died some time during the firstquarter of the of Benus or of Ceres, the Roman agricultural firstcentury after Christ. The special plot where deity.Although the temple of Ceres at Pompeii she was buried lay close to the gates of the city- has not yet been identified,the prestigeof this a place of honor where veryfew persons were cult and its exclusivelyfemale leaders must have buried. Her tomb can stillbe seen today on the been as great as the one in Rome itself.Eu- Via dei Sepolcri, or Streetof Tombs, just outside machia's rise to a position of religiousauthority the Gate. The sepulcher is in the was surelyfacilitated by her wealthyfamily's busi- shape of a semicircularbench inscribedon the ness interestsin which she activelyparticipated. In back withlarge letterscommemorating the honor fact,as early as the firstcentury after Christ, paid her by the city. women in the cityof Rome were risingto posi- What had Mamia done to meritsuch public tions of power in trade and industry,although no honor? Another inscription,found in the direct politicalpower was gained. Perhaps Eu- of Pompeii, provides an explanation. On the east machia combined business activitywith her high side of the Forum lies a small building which is priestlyduties. most often referredto as the "Temple of Her father,L. Eumachius, was apparentlyof " or the "Temple of the of the Greek extractionand had evidentlynot risen out Emperor." An inscriptionfound there almost of slavery,but mighthave been a descendant of certainlynames Mamia (one letterof the name is one of the Greek colonistswho came to the area damaged) as the donor of a temple to the genius of Pompeii some time afterthe sixthcentury b.c. (the name for the tutelarydeity or "soul") of an By the latterhalf of the firstcentury b.c., his es- emperor, perhaps Emperor himself. tate was so extensivethat he was able to export The block of stone on which the inscriptionap- Pompeian , doubtless the famous Vesuvinum, pears exactlyfits the cornice of the temple'scella . all over the Mediterranean.Wine bear- The giftof this importantbuilding led the Pom- ing his trademarkhave been found as far away as peians to honor the priestessMamia, just like they , , , Athens and probably did when the cityofficial M. Tullius donated the . Numbers of bricksstamped withthe Temple of Augusta in 3 b.c. He was name L. Eumachius and the name of one of his buried at public expense outside the Stabian Gate freedmen,have been discovered at Pompeii. in a tomb in the shape of a semicircularbench. Dishes made by him have also been found in Rome.

Tombof Mamia on the Via deiSepolcri from a watercolorbyAlberto . Mamiaapparently donated an importantbuilding to Pompeii.When she died , thecity honored her by grantingland so thatshe couldbe buried just outside theHerculaneum Gate.

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This content downloaded from 170.24.130.117 on Wed, 19 Mar 2014 08:08:22 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions The familyestate included a potteryfactory large of Livia in a.d. 22, an occasion on which the altar enough to produce bricks,shipping jars and of Pietas Augusta in Rome was dedicated in grat- dishes for internationalexport. Afterher father's itude for the life of the empress. Decorations in death, Eumachia probablycarried on the family the Building of Eumachia also seem to suggest the business withthe help of her husband, M. later Augustan or Tiberian period; Augustus NumistriusFronto, who was apparentlya diwvir, ruled from 27 b.c. to a.d. 14 and Tiberius ruled one of the two annually elected chief magistrates froma.d. 14 to 37. The massive frontdoor, for at Pompeii in a.d. 3. example, is bordered by a marble acanthus leaf decoration that rivalsthe delicacyof the stylized floraldecoration on the famous Ara Päcis or Altar of Peace in Rome dedicated in 9 b.c. Johannes ^A/hatever the source of her money,Eumachia Overbeck regarded the Corinthiancolumn capitals donated a huge and curiouslydesigned building found in the Building of Eumachia as the purest to Pompeii some time during the firstquarter of and most elegant found in Pompeii. A series of the firstcentury after Christ. It is located next four small rectangularniches on the façade seem to the Building of Mamia at the southeast to honor the heroes of Rome. , the son of corner of the Forum. Inscriptionsnaming Venus who came to Italy afterthe fall of Troy, Eumachia as the donor can stillbe seen on the ar- and , Aeneas' descendant who founded chitraveover the columns across the frontof the Rome, were representedby statuesand inscribed building and above a door at the side of the eulogies in two of the niches; the two other niches building. Both inscriptionsstate that Eumachia may have been dedicated to the dictatorJulius erected the building in her own name and, in (ca. 102-44 b.c.) and the Emperor Au- smaller lettersin one inscription,is the name of gustus (63 b.c. -a.d. 14). A similarseries of niches her son, the younger M. NumistriusFronto. She located in the Forum of Augustus in Rome, con- dedicated the entire structureto Au- secrated in 2 b.c., may have served as the ar- gusta and Pietas,both personificationsof Livia, chitect'smodel. There, as here, the mythicalan- the wife of the Emperor Augustus. This dedica- cestorsof Augustus were among those honored. tion may referto the severe illnessand recovery A statue of Concordia Augusta holding a

Façadeof a shopin Pompeiiwith the heavily robed figure of VenusPompeiana on theleft side. Cloth and felt were made and soldin theshop; the unexcavated part of the building can beseen through the entrance.

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This content downloaded from 170.24.130.117 on Wed, 19 Mar 2014 08:08:22 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Inscriptiononfront of the tomb of Naevoleia Tyche reading: "Naevoleia Romanrelief showing ship from the Naevoleia Tyche,freedwoman ofLucius , for herself and GaiusMunatius Fans tus , Tychetomb in Pompeii. Naevoleia Tyche was a successful Augustalisand suburban official , to whom the municipal council with the freedwomanwho erected a tombfor herself her husband consentof the people voted a biselliumfor his services , this monument and herhousehold. NaevoleiaTyche made while she was still living for her freedmen and freedwomenand thoseof Gaius Munatius Faustus." Above the epitaph is a portraitof Naevoleia; underneath is a funeralscene .

gilded cornucopia was found in the centralapse wool traders.The most convincingsuggestion yet, of Eumachia's building. The head of the statue is by the French scholarJean Andreau, interprets missing,but it may well have been a likenessof the building as a club for all the businessmen(and Livia. It stood in a huge open courtyardseparated businesswomen?)of Pompeii, perhaps particularly fromthe Forum by an outer colonnaded porch or the shippers and export traders. Since Eumachia chalcidicumadjoining the Forum colonnade, and herselfwas probablycarrying on the familywine by a four-sidedinner colonnade or porticus. Be- and potteryenterprises in the traditionof some of hind the porticuson three sides ran a covered hall her female contemporariesin Rome, she may or cryptawith windows opening onto the porticus. have been more aware of the need for such a A statue of Eumachia herselfstood in the middle center where high level business discussionsand of the rear wall of this hall; it is dignifiedand arrangementscould take place. idealized in the Augustan manner withtraces of The exact purpose of Eumachia's large build- reddish color stillvisible in the hair. The original ing, measuring 60 by 40 meters,still raises heated can be found today in the National Archaeological discussion and controversy.If the structureis too Museum in , while a copy stands in the large to have served as a shrine for the personifi- Building of Eumachia. On the pedestal one can cations of Livia, whose names were inscribedon read that the statue was dedicated to Eumachia, the marble façade and over the side entrance, daughter of Lucius and public priestess,by the perhaps it was intended as a partlycovered exten- fallonesor launderers. The fullonescleaned, dyed sion of the Forum itself.The Building of and pressed clothes and prepared newlywoven Eumachia would then take on the nature of a cloth. There were four laundries in Pompeii, but oriented more toward commercialthan one can only guess what connection this group judicial activities.Excavations in Pompeii have not may have had withEumachia. yet uncovered a place where traders,both foreign This inscriptionand the odd floor plan have and domestic,could congregate and negotiate. given rise to an extraordinarynumber of in- Perhaps the fulloneswere simplygrateful to terpretationsof the building's purpose. The large Eumachia for her enlargementof the city's open court and narrow corridorsof the structure facilities.She was also the head of a large house- do not suggesta temple, marketor basilica, or in- hold and staffand would have been, one sup- deed any other type of public building. Was it a poses, a valued client of the fullonesas well. In laundryor a marketfor wool goods, or was it the any case, the structure'selegance, and its clear headquarters for a guild of fullones?Perhaps it association withthe Imperial familywould seem was a combinationof market,fullones head- to argue against its having been used only by the quarters and business club cateringespecially to fullones.Eumachia's familyconnections and prob-

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This content downloaded from 170.24.130.117 on Wed, 19 Mar 2014 08:08:22 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Womanpainting in her studio from Pompeii , the House of the Surgeon , now in the National Archaeological Museum , Naples. A holdsthe picture of the herm of Dionysus as thewoman mixes colors on her palette. She is apparently copying the statue bust on the right.

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This content downloaded from 170.24.130.117 on Wed, 19 Mar 2014 08:08:22 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Outercolonnade and front door of the Building of Eumachia as seenfrom the Forum at Pompeii.The dedicatory inscription can beseen on thearchitrave , part of which rests on theground. Three of the four small rectangular niches which containedstatues and eulogies honoring the heroes of Rome appear on eitherside of the entrance. The function of this structureis still undecided , but it mayhave been used as an informalmeeting place for businesspeople.

able business interestssuggest a much more ; Mulvia Prisca,who erected an elaborate general purpose for the structure. tomb for her young son C. Vestorius at The importantlocation as well as the scale and her own expense on a plot given by the cityout- beauty of the Building of Eumachia reveal a sense side the Vesuvian Gate; Servilia,whose tomb for of Eumachia's personality.Her tomb, located her husband outside the Herculaneum Gate im- south of the cityclose to the Nucerian Gate, is mortalizeshim as her "soul's friend."Across the similarlygrandly conceived. It was not, moreover, , Alleia Decimilla, another public priestessof builtat cityexpense but was erected by Eumachia Ceres, set up a huge sepulcher on land provided for herselfand her household, as two inscriptions by the cityfor her husband, the distinguished on the retainingwall reveal. Even in and politicianM. Alleius Luccius Libella, and her deprived of the altar and columns that were young son of the same name. Even in ruins,the originallyits superstructure,the monumental tomb suggeststhe splendor of the Via dei Sepolcri hemicycleor semicircularrecess on its high terrace before the eruption of a.d. 79 buried the dead for is impressive.It was by far the largestand most a second time. Closer to the Herculaneum Gate, sumptuous tomb in the area, if not in all Pompeii. the public priestessIstacidia Rufillawas buried with membersof her familyin an elaborate mausoleum adjacent to the grave of Mamia. There is evidence, including a seal and a graffito It is worthyof record that the small 20,000 person found in the structure,that the familyof the Is- town of Pompeii produced two such ambitious tacidii may have been the owners of the famous women as Eumachia and Mamia at the same time. ""which lies down the hill, Pompeii produced many other women whose ac- northwestof the familytomb. In the "Hall of the tivitiesextended beyond the household. Successful Mysteries"inside this villa, it is temptingto look women who lived in Pompeii come alive through for Istacidia Rufilla herselfin one of the 20 inscriptionsin an endless procession: Arellia Ter- women portrayedin the Dionysiac frieze. Perhaps tulia, whose funeralexpenses were paid for by the she is seated beside a small boy and holds a book city;Aesquillia Polla, dead at age 22, whose hus- scroll in one hand and a writingstylus in the band Herennius Celsus, twiceduovir, built a beau- other. Or perhaps she is the "Domina" or woman tifultomb outside the Nolan Gate, marked by an of rank attiredin purple and gold, sitting exedra and a tall marble column crowned withan thoughtfullywith a writingtablet beside her.

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This content downloaded from 170.24.130.117 on Wed, 19 Mar 2014 08:08:22 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Interiorof the Temple of Vespasian probably donated to Pompeii by the public priestess Mami a .

Another tomb on the Via dei Sepolcri marks bisellium(an honoraryottoman awarded to out- the finalresting place of Naevoleia Tyche. Not a standingcitizens) refers to her husband's ac- well-bornpublic priestess,she neverthelessbuilt a complishments.In death, both husband and wife monumentthat illustratesthe position to which equally recorded theirachievements on opposite even a freedwomancould aspire in a provincial sides of theirtomb. Unfortunately,Eumachia and Roman cityduring the firstcentury after Christ. Mamia do not give similarinformation on their The tomb which she erected for herself,her hus- tombs,but theirhigher social standingno doubt band G. Munatius Faustus, and her household is put constraintson such self advertisement. both imposingand well preserved. Naevoleia Another type of advertisementwas practised crowned the tomb inscriptionwith her own "un- by at least one other prominentwoman of Pom- retouched" fullfacelikeness - not an immodest peii. Julia Felix was not, as far as we know, a pub gesture,but also not vain. The direct,earnest gaze lie priestessnor has her tomb been located. is strikingand one could imagine her to be a no- Perhaps she perished in the eruption of a.d. 79. nonsense businessperson.A reliefon one side of Her huge and elaborate villa lay northof the am- the tomb depicts a large woman sittingin the phitheaterand was one of the firstbuildings exea sternof a ship, who gesturestoward an energetic vated in Pompeii during 1755-57; it was reexca- group of sailors. It has been suggested that this vated nearly two centurieslater. Digging revealed figurerepresents Fortuna, the Roman goddess of an imaginativelylaid-out and elegandy decorated good luck. Since the Greek word for Fortuna is domestic setting.On an outside wall of the house, Tyche, the figuremay be a pun on part of however,a ratherstartling painted announcemen Naevoleia's name or may even represent informspassers-by that withinthe estate a bath, another portraitof Naevoleia herself. shops and flatswere available for rent. The as- Naevoleia was not necessarilyan anomaly sumption is thatJulia Felix found it necessary, during her time. Women were quite activelyen- perhaps owing to financialreverses stemming gaged in business,including the shipping industry, fromdamage sufferedin the earthquake of a.d. during the firstcentury after Christ. During his 62, to add to her income by opening part of the - rule, the Emperor (a.d. 41-54) even gave house to the public an unusual step for a financialincentives to female shippers who-would well-born woman. support his shipbuildingprogram. Rather than Privilegedwomen livingin Pompeii thus interpretingthe ship on Naevoleia's tomb as sym- involved themselveswith the outside world as bolizing the soul's finaljourney, one may view it as circumstancesand opportunitiesdictated. We en- a direct referenceto the woman's shipping inter- counter them in communityservice, business, reli ests,as Overbeck suggested many years ago. gion and even in real estate. Although theylacke* Similarly,the reliefon the frontof the tomb, a the politicalrights of male citizens,such as the

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This content downloaded from 170.24.130.117 on Wed, 19 Mar 2014 08:08:22 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions rightto vote or hold politicaloffice, the ar- 1975), a fascinatingdiscussion of 479 Pompeian chaeological evidence shows them playingactive familiesand individuals (includingwomen) who roles in spheres other than .They often composed them, and the parts they played in the won officialrecognition for theirservices and, in city'shistory; Michele D' Avino, The Womenof Pom- some instances,women's voices were heard even peii (translatedby M.H. Jones and L. Nusco, Lof- in politics.In electoral notices scratchedor fredo, Naples 1967), listsby occupation about 250 painted on the walls of Pompeii, most of them Pompeian women named in various kinds of in- dating aftera.d. 62, women's names are fre- scriptions.Comments are briefand D'Avino's per- quentlysigned to appeals for chosen politicalcan- spective is anythingbut feminist,but the book is a didates. The scratchedgraffiti and painted dipinti veryuseful compilation; Mary R. Lefkowitzand attestto the livelypolitical concerns of some Maureen B. Fant, Womenin Greeceand Rome women. Caprasia, Iunia, Lollia, Petronia or Statia, (Samuel-Stevens,Toronto 1977), presentsthe for example, "requested" that so-and-so be elected translatedtexts of a small but well selected group by runningthese public notices. Many of them of ancient readings (literature,inscriptions, papyri) were signed by women fromthe less privileged bearing on the topic of women's lives in antiquity. classes of society.Even withoutthe wealth and Eumachia's inscriptionsare included; Sara B. power of Eumachia and Mamia, these women still Pomeroy,Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves expressed involvementwith the world around (Schocken Books, New York 1975), finds the evi- them. In Pompeii, the workingclass women, many dence from antiquitymore negative than positive. of them slaves or formerslaves, spent theirlives Her bibliographyis excellent and Pompeian playingintegral parts in the city'seconomy as women active outside the home are discussed shop keepers,waitresses, prostitutes, actresses, briefly. paintersand musicians.Asellina, Fortunata,Gly- On referencesto Pompeian women specifically cera and Phoebe were doubtless the models for (especiallyEumachia): Jean Andreau, Les affaires many of the women's faces one findsin the wall de MonsieurJucundus ( Ecole françaisede Rome, paintingsfrom Pompeii. The figuresare depicted Rome 1974); Robert Etienne,La vie quotidienneà dancing, painting,playing the lyreor flute,recit- (2nd edition, Hachette, Paris 1974); ing or thinking. Michael Grant, of Vesuvius:Pompeii and Her- Even in the small provincialcity of Pompeii, culaneum(Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London 150 miles south of Rome, women from all levels 1971); Theodor Kraus and Leonard von Matt, of societyfelt free to reach out beyond the home translatedby R. E. Wolf,Pompeii and Herculaneum: and to involve themselvesin the life of the com- theLiving Cities of theDead (Harry N. Abrams, New munity.If one multipliesthe female inhabitantsof York 1975); , Pompeii(translated Pompeii by all the women in the Roman world, it by V. Priestly,Itinerari dei musei e monumenti is clear that a balanced historicalperspective of d'Italia, no. 3, 7th edition, InstitutoPoligrafico Roman historywill only be attained if the ac- dello Stato, Rome 1965); August Mau, Pompeii,its complishmentsof women are added to the record. Lifeand Art(translated by F.W. Kelsey, 2nd edi- Their activities,both major and minor,communal tion, Macmillan,London and New York 1902); and domestic,had a directbearing on economic Johannes Overbeck,Pompeji in seinemGebäuden, and social events. Failure to consider women only Alterthümernund Kunstwerken(4th edition,Wilhelm distortshistory. By refocusingour attitudesto- Engelmann, Leipzig 1884). ward women in antiquity,we can gain a better On Pompeii in general: R.C. Carrington,Pom- understandingof the role of women today. peii (Clarendon Press, Oxford 1936); L. Richardson,Jr., "Pompeii," PrincetonEncyclopedia of ClassicalSites (Princeton UniversityPress, For Further Reading on Pompeian women and Princeton 1976); John Ward-Perkinsand Amanda women in antiquity:J.P.V.D. Balsdon, Roman Claridge, PompeiiAD 79 (Imperial Tobacco Ltd., Women(Bodley Head, London 1962), is chatty, London 1976 and Boston Museum of Fine Arts, livelyand learned but does not strayfar from the Boston 1978); the two latterare both excellent evidence in ancient literature.There are, there- briefcommentaries; A. W. Van Buren, A Com- fore,few referencesto Pompeian women. Readers panion to theStudy of Pompeii and Herculaneum(2nd withaccess to back issues of the London Evening edition, American Academy In Rome, Rome Standardcan consult Balsdon's short articleon 1938), an old but stillvery useful summaryof Pompeian women, "A Woman's Life: Shopping, primaryand secondary sources. Bathing and Hairdressing,"in the special "Pom- On the Building of Eumachia: Walter O. peii A.D. 79" edition of November 15, 1976; Moeller, "The Building of Eumachia: a Reconsid- Paavo Castrén OrdoPopulusque Pompeianus. Polity eration,"American Journal of Archaeology and Societyin RomanPompeii (Bardi Editore, Rome 76(1972):323-327, for a recent discussion.

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