*Special Episode* – The Thread of Women’s Representation

In this specialepisode, we're joined by Liz Smith, who has recently completed herdoctoral research of the representation of women's dress in statuaryat Macquarie University. Together we'll trace the threads of evidencefor women's attire in the Roman world.The Thread of Women's Representation with Liz SmithLiz's research includes the fashion of women's dress in ancient representations in order to investigate what we can learn about the representation of women. This means considering how representations of women in statuary were often mediated by a male perspective and asking what this might reveal about women's lived experience. The Importance of Material EvidenceA consideration of material evidence, especially when combined with inscriptions offers an alternative to the literary sources for thinking about women and daily life in the ancient world. Our evidence in this episode dates from the third century CE, which means we're thinking about a Rome embroiled in empire and imperial rule.In this episodewe'll be considering the head coverings on statues in the round andsepulchral depictions of women. We explore the implications of topicssuch as:drapery in statues and reliefsthe colour of statuarythe stolathe palladress as statusEpiktesisEpiktesis outlives her family. We consider the monument she dedicates to her husband, her children, and herself. Liz takes us through the pose adopted by Epiktesis – the Large Herculaneum Woman Type – and its implications. Grave stele dedicated by Epiktesis to her family, from Prilep, Macedonia. Skopje Archaeological Museum, inv. AMM 41. Photography © Skopje – Archaeological Museum of Macedonia. Photograph: Ortolf Harl 2017 November. The husband remainsunnamed in this relief as do the children. This in itself is somewhatunusual but this evidence goes to the next level when we considerthat the children are represented as divinities!With Epiktesisherself depicted in a very modest, unrevealing style and her daughterassuming the quite revealing Bathing Aphrodite Type, thisrepresentation has a lot to offer in terms of thinking about themeaning conveyed by poses and attire.Liz explains howsize plays a role in the representation of family in this monumentand we consider what this might have suggested to an ancient viewer.We also consider the unique aspects of this piece in terms of itsarrangement of the figures and their poses.Aurelia Eutychia “Iam Prosperous” c. 250s CEWe consider thesarcophagus dedicated by Aurelia to herself and her husband MarcusAurelius Marino which can still be seen today in Ferrara. Liz takesus through the significance of the statuesque features of thisartefact.Social status is aparticular feature at play in all these representations and thecapacity of Aurelia to have for a sarcophagus where the figuresdisplay a range of statuesque features tells us a lot about how shewanted to be understood by her community. Sarcophagus dedicated by Aurelia Eutychia to herself and her husband Marcus Aurelius Marino. Originally in Voghiera, then moved to Ferrara, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Italy. Front panel. Ferrara, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Italy. No inventory number. DAIR Inst. Neg. Rom. 64.2022 Sarcophagus dedicated by Aurelia Eutychia to herself and her husband Marcus Aurelius Marino. Side panel.Liz explores theimplications of Aurelia's personal representation of herself. Wediscuss the potential implications of being veiled versus not beingveiled.Here's the inscription found on the sarcophagus:Aurelia Eutychia built this sarcophagus while alive for herself and her husband Marcus Aurelius Marino a veteran of Syrian lineage at the behest of the patron and her most dutiful husband with whom she lived for forty-three years by order of the patron out of his own funds. If someone after the death of the both opens it they will deposit a thousand sesterces to the tax authorities.Translation ~ Liz SmithJoin us for a livelyexploration of women's representation through statuary andinscription!Addendum: In exciting news, in the time between our chat with Liz and the release of this episode, we can confirm that Liz has passed her doctoral examination and joins us as a full academic. Congratulations Dr Liz Smith!Edit: Since conducting this interview, further analysis of the sarcophagus dedicated by Aurelia has revealed the insight that Aurelia would have been Marcus Aurelius Marino’s enslaved property, before he freed and married her. As his freedwoman, Aurelia would have been bound by custom and law to respect Marcus and give him services (operae), even after her manumission. Accordingly, it is all the more interesting that Aurelia represented herself as an equal partner to her husband through the statuesque elements we see on the front and lateral sides. For further reading:Peter Stewart 2003. Statues in Roman SocietyFor our full show notes and edited transcripts, head on over to https://partialhistorians.com/Support the showPatreonKo-FiRead our booksRex: The Seven Kings of RomeYour Cheeky Guide to the Roman Empire Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.