Social Structure and the Role of Women in Pompeii and Herculaneum

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the social hierarchy, legal positions, public influence, and notable figures among men, women, freedmen, and slaves in Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Senatorial Elite

Wealthy Roman aristocrats who were primarily based in Rome rather than Pompeii or Herculaneum, owned large leisure villas in Campania, and held political power in Rome rather than local municipal government.

Lucius Calpurnius Piso

Father-in-law of Julius Caesar and owner of the luxurious Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, serving as a prominent example of the senatorial elite.

Local Elite

Wealthy landowners and merchants residing permanently in Pompeii and Herculaneum who held local prestige, lived in decorated domus, and controlled municipal administration.

Ordo Decurionum

The municipal town council of Pompeii and Herculaneum, controlled and operated by members of the local male elite.

Euergetism

The civic practice of wealthy elites funding public amenities such as buildings, baths, temples, and games to secure public reputation, prestige, and political influence.

Domus

Large, elaborately decorated urban townhouses inhabited by the local elite, such as the House of the Faun and the House of the Vettii.

Programmata

Electoral notices and promotional slogans painted directly onto the public walls of Pompeii to support candidates seeking municipal office.

Liberti

Freedmen; formerly enslaved men who gained freedom, frequently operated commercial businesses, were eligible to vote, but were legally barred from holding formal municipal political office.

Augustalis

A priest of the imperial cult of the emperor, a civic and religious office open to wealthy freedmen (liberti) who were excluded from political office.

Ingenui

Freeborn Roman citizens; freeborn women held Roman citizenship and property rights but had limited legal authority and could not vote or hold political office.

Tutor

A legal male guardian—typically a father, husband, or male relative—under whose legal supervision Roman women conducted formal business, legal transactions, and property transfers.

Patronage

The social practice wherein wealthy and influential individuals provided financial support, protection, or donations to fund public projects, buildings, and clients in exchange for honour, respect, and influence.

Julia Felix

A wealthy Pompeian property owner who managed a large urban estate and operated businesses by leasing out shops, apartments, and a private bathhouse.

Poppaea Note and Dicidia Margaris

Two Roman women recorded on Pompeian wax tablets from 61 AD documenting a formal financial loan transaction between women.

Eumachia

A prominent, wealthy public priestess and patron of the fullers' guild in Pompeii who financed the construction of a large civic building in the Forum to promote her family's status and her son's career.

Marcus Numistrius Fronto

The son of Eumachia whose political ambitions and public profile were advanced through the dedication of the Forum building constructed by his mother.

Sacerdos Publica

A public priestess; a distinguished religious position held by elite women, allowing them to participate in civic ceremonies and serve cults such as Ceres, Venus, and the imperial family.

Manumission

The legal act and process through which an enslaved person was granted freedom by their owner.

Vitalis and Justa

A freedwoman and her daughter from Herculaneum who were central to a documented legal dispute regarding freeborn status involving the household of Gaius Petronius and Calatoria Temidis.

Mamia

A prominent Pompeian public priestess who was publicly honoured by the community with a civic funeral and a monumental tomb.

Veia Barchilla

A wealthy Pompeian woman who demonstrated female patronage and economic power in commemoration by funding a large tomb for her deceased husband.