Women in Ancient Greece and Rome – Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, roles, and influential figures related to women’s status and impact in Ancient Greece and Rome.

Oikos

The household sphere in Ancient Greece, to which Athenian women were largely confined for domestic duties and child-rearing.

Pythia

High priestess of Apollo at Delphi; a respected female religious authority in Ancient Greece who delivered prophetic oracles.

Thesmophoria

A women-only festival honoring Demeter and Persephone that reinforced female solidarity and had civic importance in Greek society.

Spartan Women

Women of Sparta who enjoyed unusual freedoms in Greece, including land ownership, physical education, and a public presence.

Hetaerae

Educated Greek courtesans who participated in intellectual and artistic circles and could wield social influence.

Manus Marriage

Roman marital form in which a wife passed under her husband’s legal authority, limiting her independent property rights.

Sine Manu Marriage

Roman marital form in which a wife remained under her father’s legal authority, allowing her to retain separate property.

Vestal Virgins

Elite priestesses of Vesta in Rome who maintained the sacred fire and enjoyed legal independence and high social status.

Roman Women’s Property Rights

By the late Republic and Empire, Roman women could own, inherit, and manage property, enabling economic participation.

Aspasia of Miletus

Intellectual companion of Pericles whose salon influenced Athenian politics and culture in the 5th century BCE.

Cleopatra VII

Last Ptolemaic queen of Egypt who exercised significant political power and shaped Roman affairs through alliances with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.

Livia Drusilla

Wife of Emperor Augustus who wielded considerable behind-the-scenes political influence during the early Roman Empire.

Sappho

Renowned lyric poet from Lesbos whose works shaped Greek literature and female artistic expression.

Citizenship Rights of Greek Women

Greek women, especially in Athens, were excluded from voting and formal political power despite being integral to family and religion.

Indirect Female Influence (Greece)

Greek women affected civic life through religious roles such as priestesses and festival participants rather than through politics.

Elite Roman Female Patronage

Upper-class Roman women sponsored arts, religion, and public works, thereby shaping culture and public life indirectly.

Comparative Property Rights

Greek women (except Spartans) had limited property rights, whereas Roman women possessed broader legal capacities to hold and manage assets.