Go to Index, Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part X, Part XI, Part XII, Part XIII, Part XIV, Part XV, Roman Coins: Republic and Principate, Roman Coins: Empire, Greek Coins, Coins from the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, Coins from the National Museum in Warsaw, Poland, Coins from the Hunterian Museum
portrait heads of Roman women; Roman, early imperial period
Rome, Vatican Museum (Chiaramonti Corridor). Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
funerary relief of married couple; Roman
The inscription is an excellent example of archaic Roman lettering; the husband, P. Aelius Myron, dedicated the monument to
his wife, Aurelia Agrippina, and their children.
Rome, Vatican Museum. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
funerary cippus of Claudia Piste; Roman
Her husband took the trouble to compose and inscribe on her tombstone a
poem lamenting her loss.
This detail shows how the
stonecutter had to reduce the height of his letters and cramp them at the end to make the
longer lines at the end of the poem fit on the stone, thus leaving some blank space at the
bottom of the stone.
Rome, Vatican Museum (Chiaramonti Corridor). Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
portrait head of a young girl; Roman, c. 15-40 BCE
The marble head was found in Rome near the Via Flaminia and may have come from a statue in a family tomb.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2002
Keywords: funerary
portrait head of a girl; Roman
Rome, Vatican Museum (Chiaramonti Corridor). Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
portrait head of a woman; Roman
Rome, Vatican Museum (Chiaramonti Corridor). Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
funerary relief of a woman and daughter; Roman, from the Euphrates region of Syria, 70-100 CE
side view
The Greek inscription reads "Mimia, too soon, farewell; Koartilla farewell."
The mother wears native Mesopotamian costume; the daughter holds a wreath and wears fashionable Roman jewelry.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2002
bronze statuette of female toddler; Roman, probably from Egypt, c. 100 CE
The little girl is naked and has an incongruously elaborate high-fashion hairstyle.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2002
keywords: child, children, childhood
terra-cotta jug; Roman, early third century CE
The jug, made of African red slipware, is in the form of a caricaturized drunken old woman clasping a wine jug.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2002
keywords: age, elderly
encaustic mummy portrait of elderly woman; Roman, from the Fayum area of Egypt, 300-325 CE
The painter has emphasized the age of the woman through stressing her wrinkles and grey hair.
London, British Museum. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2001
keywords: age, elderly
layered Onyx cameo; Roman
This cameo depicts the wedding of Eros and Psyche. Several typical features of the Roman wedding are included in exaggerated form.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2002
keywords: marriage; Cupid; erotes
sarcophagus relief: man and woman with Muses; Roman
The central panel contains elaborately carved doors, partially open.
On the right is a portrait of the
husband, holding a scroll and flanked by two Muses; beneath his feet is a tragic mask. On
the left is his wife in a very
similar pose (smaller version).
The intent seems to be to stress the learning and culture of both the man and the woman.
Rome, Vatican Museum. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
keywords: learning
bronze sistrum with head of Hathor
This is a nineteenth-century copy of an ancient sistrum in the Hague.
The sistrum was a rattle used in the worshop of Egyptian goddesses, especially Isis and Hathor.
Amsterdam, Allard Pierson Museum. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
Keywords: religion
marble statue of Isis; Roman, second century CE
side view;
detail; head and upper torso
The goddess holds a bucket and sistrum, ritual implements used in her worship.
Rome, Palazzo Nuova (Capitoline Museums). Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
Keywords: religion
grave stele of Sosibia; Roman, from Attica, 160-170 CE
The Greek inscription reads "Sosibia [daughter of] Euboios of Kephissia."
Sosibia is depicted as a devotee or priestess of Isis, holding a sistrum and bucket.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2002
Keywords: religion; funerary
terra-cotta fragment: worshipper of Isis; Roman, made in Egypt, c. 50 BCE - 50 CE
The female devotee of Isis shakes the sistrum, the sacred rattle.
London, British Museum. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2001
Keywords: religion
portrait head of a young priestess; Roman, from Greece (probably Corinth), 100-140 CE
The rolled ribbon on her head indicates that she was a priestess, despite her young age.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2002
Keywords: religion; funerary
gold ring with nicolo intaglio; Roman, third century CE (found in France)
The ring is inscribed TE AMO PARUM ("I love you too little").
London, British Museum. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2001
Keywords: jewelry
black marble head of Livia; Roman, c. 50 CE
view from other side;
The carved hair shows that the head originally wore a diadem, so the portrait dates
from the reign of Claudius, who deified his grandmother.
Amsterdam, Allard Pierson Museum. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
Keywords: empress
detail: fresco depicting mysteries associated with Dionysus; Roman, first century CE
An older woman holding a rolled scroll looks down at
a child reading an open scroll.
Pompeii, Villa of the Mysteries. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
Keywords: religion; learning
marble bust of a young man; Roman
Amsterdam, Allard Pierson Museum. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
Keywords: portrait sculpture
banking scene; Roman, third century CE
The banker is shown with a client; the plaque was probably a shop sign.
Rome, Vatican Museum, Chiaramonti Corridor. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2007
Keywords: money, economics, commerce
milky sard intaglio; Roman, late first century CE
detail of impression;
The intaglio portrays Octavian/Augustus as Neptune, driving a chariot pulled by hippocamps;
amid the waves is the head of a man, representing Sextus Pompey or Mark Antony,
both of whom he had conquered in naval battles.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2002
Keywords: Augustan symbolism
marble votive relief; Roman, from Asia Minor, first - second century CE
Helen stands between her brothers Castor and Pollux. The Greek inscription reads
"Lucius Velius Fronto [dedicated this] to the Dioscuri."
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2002
keywords: religion; mythology
silver statuette of Jupiter; Roman
detail;
part of a hoard of silver statuettes and coins buried in Mâcon, France after 260 CE;
may have come from a sanctuary.
London, British Museum. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
Keywords: Zeus, thunderbolt
stairs and podium of the Temple of Mars Ultor; Roman, end first century BCE
detail: capitals;
Rome, Forum of Augustus. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2004
Keywords: city of Rome, Augustus, religion
statue of a woman
with a young girl, probably her daughter; Roman, 50-40 BCE
detail, child;
detail, child from front
Rome, Museo Montemartini (Capitoline Museums). Credits: Barbara McManus, 2004
Keywords: sculpture, women, mother
funerary altar for Minicia Marcella; Roman, 105-106 CE
Minicia Marcella was the daughter of C. Minicius Fundanus; her death was described in a letter
by Pliny the Younger (5.16). She lived 12 years, 11 months, 7 days.
Rome, Terme Diocleziano, (National Museums). Credits: Barbara McManus, 2004
Keywords: sculpture, tombstone, children
funerary altar for Marcella Statoria; Roman, 105-106 CE
Marcella was the mother of Minicia Marcella and wife of C. Minicius Fundanus (suffect consul 107 CE).
Rome, Terme Diocleziano, (National Museums). Credits: Barbara McManus, 2004
Keywords: sculpture, tombstone, Pliny
funerary altar for a young girl; Roman, first century CE
detail: portrait of Minucia;
Tiberius Claudius Suavis erected this altar for his daughter Minucia Suavis, who lived 14 years, 8 months, 23 days.
The inscription
shows that despite her young age she was already married.
Rome, Terme Diocleziano,(National Museums). Credits: Barbara McManus, 2004
Keywords: sculpture, tombstone, children
sarcophagus of a young girl; Roman, early third century CE
The central portrait shows a young girl with a "melon" hairstyle. Her portrait is held by two flying cupids.
On either side is a representation of
Cupid and Psyche;
this detail shows
Psyche with a melon hairstyle echoing that of the deceased girl.
Rome, Terme Diocleziano,(National Museums). Credits: Barbara McManus, 2004
Keywords: sculpture, tombstone, children
marble portrait bust of a
young girl; Roman., second century CE
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts.
Credits: Barbara McManus, 2002
Keywords: sculpture, children
statue of an
elderly woman in headdress; Roman, c. 135-140 CE
She is shown performing
a sacrifice and may have been a priestess.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts.
Credits: Barbara McManus, 2002
Keywords: sculpture, women, religion,
ritual
terra-cotta
roundel with facing portrait busts of a married couple; Roman, c. 330-60
CE
The Latin inscription means "May you grow old together."
Boston,
Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2002
Keywords: marriage,
love
Gilt bronze
mirror back; Roman, second century CE
Depicts two women bathing before
a statuette of Venus.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts. Credits: Barbara McManus,
2002
Keywords: beauty
marble relief of
Vestals banqueting; Roman, end first century BCE-beginning first century CE
smaller version.
This relief may pertain to the altar which stood inside the Ara Pacis; the male may be the Pontifex Maximus.
Rome, Museo Montemartini (Capitoline Museums). Credits: Barbara McManus,
2004
Keywords: religion, Vestal Virgin
so-called
“laudatio Turiae”; Roman, 8-2 BCE
Fragment of the opening
lines of a long inscription containing a funerary eulogy by a husband in praise
of his wife (possibly named Turia), who saved his life during the
proscriptions.
Rome, Terme Diocleziano, (National Museums). Credits: Barbara
McManus, 2004
Keywords: women, marriage
sarcophagus for a young boy; Roman, beginning second century CE (Trajanic period)
This is one of the earliest known sarcophagi for a child, a boy who evidently died as a toddler. The course
of his short life is shown from right to left. He is first shown as a
swaddled infant in his mother's
arms, riding in a carriage in the countryside. His
father sits next to them with his
arm tenderly around his wife's shoulder. The
central scene depicts the boy
pushing a wheeled frame as he learns to walk, and playing with a pet goose as a slightly older toddler. The left side shows the
same family in a carriage, but now the
boy is a toddler sitting on his
father's lap; the winged Cupid flying above the horses indicates that the boy has died and this carriage ride is his journey to the Underworld.
Rome, Terme Diocleziano, (National Museums). Credits: Barbara McManus, 2004
Keywords: family life, infant; funerary
marble relief showing
a mother suckling an infant; Roman
A young man and a woman veiled like a
priestess look on; the temple pediment suggests a religious context.
Rome,
Chiaramonti corridor, Vatican Museum. Credits: Barbara McManus,
2003
Keywords: religion, baby, family
marble
sarcophagus of Metilia Acte; Roman, c. 161-170 CE
Metilia Acte was a
priestess of the Magna Mater from Ostia; the relief depicts scenes from the
myth of Alcestis, including the dying mother saying farewell to her
children.
detail inscription
Rome, Chiaramonti corridor, Vatican Museum. Credits: Barbara
McManus, 2003
Keywords: religion, funerary, family
marble statue of a
seated girl; Hadrianic copy of a Hellenistic original dating back to
280-270 BCE
Rome, Museo Montemartini (Capitoline Museums). Credits: Barbara
McManus, 2004
Keywords: sculpture, women
altar dedicated
by the priestess Claudia Syntyche; Roman, first century CE
detail of relief and
inscription
The relief depicts Claudia Quinta, whose story is told by
Ovid (Fasti 4.247-348), using an infula (a sacred band) tied to
the ship's rostrum (beak) to pull the ship Salvia that bears the
image of the Magna Mater which came from Phrygia in Asia Minor.
Rome, Museo
Montemartini (Capitoline Museums). Credits: Barbara McManus, 2004
Keywords:
religion, Cybele, legend
wall painting from the
villa at Stabiae; Roman, 30-50 CE
A partially draped female wearing a
wreath reclines on a couch and holds a drinking horn.
London, British
Museum. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
Keywords: women, leisure,
entertainment, banqueting, lectus
tomb of the wealthy
businesswoman Naevoleia Tyche; Roman, first-century CE
The name of
Naevoleia Tyche indicates that she was probably a freedwoman; the inscription
states that she set up the tomb for herself, for her husband, C. Munatius
Faustus, and for her freedmen and freedwomen.The relief probably relates to the
family's business activities.
Pompeii, Street of Tombs. Credits: Barbara
McManus, 2003
Keywords: women, funerary, liberta, liberti,
libertini
detail of relief from funerary monument; Roman, third century CE
close-up of man writing on tablets.
This relief depicts a commercial scene, probably the selling of goods and keeping accounts. The man on the left is arranging a stack of coins. This detail is from the so-called "circus
monument" from Neumagen.
Trier, Landesmuseum. Credits: Barbara McManus, 1988
Keywords: economy; commerce; literacy
glass cameo with
bust of Livia; late first century BCE – early first century CE
The
wife of Augustus is shown veilend and wearing a diadem.
Philadelphia,
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology. Credits: Barbara McManus,
2004
Keywords: empress
model of the
Portico of Octavia and surrounding area; (plastico of Rome in the fourth
century CE
The view includes the Tiber and Pons Fabricius, the Theater of
Marcellus, and the Theater of Balbus.
model of the Portico of
Octavia—front view;
model of the Portico of
Octavia—side view
EUR (Rome), Museum of Roman Civilization.
Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003; 2007
Keywords: city of Rome; leisure
model of the Aqua
Claudia aqueduct and surrounding area; (plastico of Rome in the fourth
century CE
The view includes the Temple of the Deified Claudius, the
Colosseum, and the Bather of Trajan.
closer view
EUR (Rome),
Museum of Roman Civilization. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
Keywords: city
of Rome; engineering, water
model of Tiber Island, viewed from northwest on the water; plastico of Rome in the fourth century CE
same view from above;
Temple of Aesculapius from the water;
Temple of Aesculapius from above;
Temple of Jupiter Iurarius from above;
Tiber Island from the side;
view of the road across Tiber Island (inter duos pontes);
view of the Pons Cestius from the water.
EUR (Rome), Museum of Roman Civilization. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2007
Keywords: city of Rome
detail of the
conclusion of a letter from the Vindolanda tablets; Roman, 97-103
CE
This is one of three Vindolanda tablets showing the earliest extant
example of writing in Latin by a woman's own hand. The letter was sent by
Claudia Severa, wife of Aelius Brocchus, to Sulpicia Lepidina, wife of Flavius
Cerealis, Prefect of the ninth cohort of Batavians stationed at the Roman fort
in Vindolanda, Britain; the letter invites Lepidina to attend Severa's birthday
party. Most of the letter is written by a scribe, but Severa added the last
four lines (shown in this detail) in her own hand. These lines say “I will
expect you, sister. Hail and farewell, sister, my dearest soul, so may I
prosper.” The Latin text of these lines reads
sperabo te soror
uale soror anima
mea ita ualeam
karissima et haue
London, British Museum. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
Keywords:
women, literacy
relief of a wedding procession; Roman
detail of right side. This may depict the introduction of the bride, heavily veiled, to the home of the groom's parents; the woman in the rear carrying a chest may represent the bride's dowry.
Rome, Vatican Museum, Hall of the Muses.
Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
Keywords: marriage, family
statue of the goddess Tyche of Antioch; Roman
Tyche personified good luck, in this case the fortunes of the city of
Antioch in Syria. She wears a mural crown, representing the walls of the city, and holds a
sheaf of grain, representing fertility; her foot rests on a male figure rising from the waves,
representing the river Orontes.
larger version;
detail of the head of Tyche.
Rome, Vatican Museum, Gallery of the Candelabrum. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2004
Keywords: Fortuna
sarcophagus of a young man reclining on a couch; Roman
He was apparently learned, since he holds a scroll in his left hand while a wax tablet lies open in front of him (see detail of the youth). His pet dog scratches his ear next to his master.
At the foot of the couch, a
naked baby boy lies on a pillow, perhaps symbolizing the dead youth's infancy.
Rome, Vatican Museum, Gallery of the Candelabrum.
Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
Keywords: family, education, lectus
base of the above sarcophagus of a young man; Roman
The high relief depicts children holding masks, musical instruments and scrolls, perhaps symbolizing Muses, but certainly emphasizing the learning of the dead youth.
On the
left side, one boy holds a mask and another holds a cithara and plectrum (pick);
in the central scene, the dead youth sits on stool holding an open scroll, while a boy on his left writes on a wax tablet with a stylus, and a figure on his right (whose clothing suggests that she may be a girl) holds a closed scroll with a bundle of scrolls at her feet;
on the right side, a boy holds a mask while another holds a double flute.
Rome, Vatican Museum, Gallery of the Candelabrum. Credits: Barbara McManus, 2003
Keywords: family, education
Go to Index, Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part X, Part XI, Part XII, Part XIII, Part XIV, Part XV, Roman Coins: Republic and Principate, Roman Coins: Empire, Greek Coins, Coins from the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, Coins from the National Museum in Warsaw, Poland, Coins from the Hunterian Museum
revised July, 2011
