Women in Public in Ancient Pompeii

FAIN: FT-264916-19

Brenda J. Longfellow
University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA 52242-1320)

Preparation of a book on the public life and art patronage of women in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii.

I am applying for an NEH summer stipend in order to undertake field research at the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in Italy, where I will study the architectural, decorative, and epigraphic remains of Pompeian tombs built by women as well as the funerary equipment awarded to Pompeian women by the town council. This research will provide the source material for a chapter in my single-author book titled Women in Public in Ancient Pompeii. Women comprise half of the known tomb builders in Pompeii and received more than one third of the tomb plots awarded to individuals by the city council, and so female economic agency and civic connections are more visible in the cemeteries than anywhere else in the city. This research and chapter will further our understanding of the historical nature of female involvement in the larger community and outside of the domestic sphere.