Roman History, Culture, and Gender Roles: Key Concepts and Figures

Agricola (Roman general)

Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40-93 CE) was a Roman general and governor of Britain, as well as the father-in-law and biographical subject of the historian Tacitus.

Agricola (as ideal Roman)

In Tacitus's biography, Agricola is presented as the ideal Roman leader who balanced military prowess and just governance. He is specifically praised for possessing 'moderation,' which Tacitus frames as a key Roman virtue superior to excessive 'Greek' philosophy.

Annales (by Tacitus)

A historical work by Tacitus, written circa 110 CE, that is highly critical of the first Roman emperors and their disrespect for the senatorial aristocracy.

Anti-Matrona

A term used in the presentation to describe Empress Messalina, whose behavior was the opposite of the ideal Roman wife (matrona). She is depicted as sexually excessive and 'careless of concealment' rather than chaste and modest.

Apotropaic Power

The power to ward off evil, a quality the Romans attributed to the phallus. Phallic amulets, chimes, and carvings were used for this protective purpose against things like the Evil Eye.

Aristophanes

A Greek comic poet (c. 446-386 BCE) who appears as a speaker in Plato's Symposium. His speech famously presents a myth that humans were originally three genders (male, female, and androgynous) before being split in two by Zeus.

Athenian Citizenship

In the Classical Period, this was a hereditary right restricted to male residents that was required for legal property ownership. It excluded slaves, resident aliens (metics), and women, who were considered only 'quasi-citizens'.

Barbarian

The term used by Greeks to designate all non-Greeks and adopted by Romans to describe peoples like the Germans or Gauls. This was part of a 'racial logic' that often linked a people's character to their climate.

Barbarians as 'mirrors' for Rome

A literary tool used by Tacitus in his Germania to criticize Roman society. He praised the 'barbarian' Germans for having 'good habits' like strict marriage codes to highlight the vices and 'fashion[s] to corrupt' that he saw in Rome.

Castitas (chastity)

A cardinal Roman female value, listed alongside pudicitia (modesty), that was essential to an orderly household. Epitaphs praised ideal women like Murdia for their 'modesty, propriety, chastity, [and] obedience'.

Catullus

A major Latin poet from the Late Republican era (84-54 BCE) known for his erotic poetry and use of sexual invective. His Poem 16 is a famous defense of his masculinity, arguing that his 'soft' verses did not make him 'not very chaste'.

Celestial vs. Common Eros

In Plato's Symposium, the speaker Pausanias distinguishes between two types of love. 'Common' eros is purely physical and directed at bodies, while 'Celestial' eros is superior, exclusively male, and focused on the intelligence of the beloved.

Cinaedus

The Roman term (from the Greek kinaidos) for a 'gender-deviant' man who desires penetration. In the Roman 'penetration model,' this was a state of effeminacy, and the term was often used as a form of political invective.

Cleopatra VII

The last queen of Egypt (69-30 BCE) and partner of Mark Antony. In Plutarch's Life of Antony, she is depicted as an active, intelligent, and dangerous woman who used her 'charms and sorceries' to 'enslave' Antony, reversing proper gender roles.

Climate/Geography Theory (of race)

The Greco-Roman belief that a people's physical and mental character was determined by their environment. Vitruvius, for example, claimed northern peoples were tall and brave due to the cold, while the people of Italy were 'most balanced' because they lived in the center.

Cursus Honorum

The traditional 'ladder' of political offices that elite Roman men climbed.

Diotima of Mantinea

A priestess whose speech and philosophy Socrates borrows in Plato's Symposium. She teaches that eros is the desire for 'birth and procreation in a beautiful medium,' which is how mortals achieve a form of immortality.

Diotima's Ladder (Platonic Ascent)

The philosophical progression described by Diotima where a person ascends from loving one beautiful body to loving all beautiful bodies, then to loving beautiful ideas, and finally to contemplating the 'Form of Beauty' itself.

Domiseda

A Latin term meaning 'a stayer-at-home,' listed on a 1st-century BC tombstone as a key virtue of an ideal wife. It was one of the cardinal Roman female values, alongside being a 'worker in wool, pious, chaste, [and] faithful.'

Erastes

The Greek term for the older, active male lover in a pederastic relationship, literally 'the man who is desiring.' His role was to pursue the boy and, in exchange for gratification, provide education and social guidance.

Eromenos

The Greek term for the younger, passive male in a pederastic relationship, meaning 'the man who is being desired.' This role was for boys aged roughly 12-17, who in return for their submission gained education and status.

Eros (love/desire)

The Greek concept of love and desire, which is the central topic of Plato's Symposium. Diotima's speech redefines eros not as a god, but as a drive for procreation (of children or ideas) to achieve immortality.

Etruscans

A non-Indo-European people who inhabited Etruria in early Italy, just north of Rome. They were one of the major cultural and linguistic groups on the peninsula before Roman expansion.

Evil Eye

A malevolent gaze believed to cause harm, which the Romans sought to ward off. The phallus was a primary apotropaic (protective) symbol used on amulets and buildings to defend against it.

Gender as a Rhetorical Tool

The concept that male Roman authors like Plutarch and Tacitus used stereotypes about women to make their larger arguments about men. For example, describing Antony as 'enslaved' by Cleopatra was a way to criticize his failures as a Roman leader.

Gender Stereotypes

The presentations show how male authors used stereotypes to define ideal versus transgressive women. The ideal woman was a chaste, obedient, 'stayer-at-home' (domiseda), while 'bad' women like Messalina were stereotyped as sexually excessive and politically ambitious.

Germania (by Tacitus)

An ethnographic work (ca. 98 CE) where Tacitus describes the 'pure' and 'uncontaminated' peoples of Germany. He uses the Germans as a 'mirror,' praising their 'strict' marriage code to criticize the 'corrupted' vices of Rome.

Greek & Roman Racial Logics

Both cultures believed that a people's character was determined by their climate and geography. Romans built on the Greek 'barbarian' binary, with writers like Vitruvius arguing that Romans were 'most balanced' because Italy was at the center of the world.

Hetairistai

A Greek term for women who prefer women, mentioned in both Plato's Symposium and Lucian's Dialogue of the Courtesans. Lucian's satire describes a scene with hetairistai where the character Megilla adopts the male name Megillos and claims to have the 'mind and desires' of a man.

Invective

A form of social or political attack, often found in Roman poetry. Catullus, for instance, used 'sexual deviance as political invective' to attack his enemies, such as calling Caesar and Mamurra 'dirty cinaedi.'

Isonomia ('equality under the law')

The Greek term for 'equality under the law,' a key political right for citizens in the Athenian polis.

Life of Antony

A biography by Plutarch (46-120 CE) that pairs the Roman general with a Greek statesman as part of his Parallel Lives. It frames Antony's downfall as a tragedy caused by his 'enslavement' to Cleopatra, which subverted proper Roman values.

Lucian

A Syrian-Greek satirist (c. 125-80 CE) who wrote in the Roman Empire. His Dialogue of the Courtesans provides a satirical account of hetairistai (women who prefer women), featuring the gender-deviant character Megilla/Megillos.

Magna Graecia

The coastal regions of Southern Italy and Sicily that were colonized by Greek-speaking peoples. These Greek settlements were a major cultural force on the Italian peninsula alongside the Etruscans and Latins.

Megilla/Megillos

A character in Lucian's satirical Dialogue of the Courtesans described as a 'rich Lesbian woman'. In the story, she insists on the male name Megillos, claiming that while born a woman, she has 'the mind and the desires... of a man'.

Mentally pregnant

A concept from Diotima's speech in Plato's Symposium describing men who are 'pregnant in the mind' with ideas. Through a pederastic relationship, they 'give birth' to offspring of virtue and knowledge, which are 'closer to immortality than ordinary children'.

Messalina

The wife of Emperor Claudius (ca. 20-48 CE), depicted by Tacitus as the 'Anti-Matrona'. She is characterized by her 'sexual excess' and her improper (and dangerous) involvement in imperial trials.

Octavia

The wife of Mark Antony and sister of Octavian (Augustus). Plutarch portrays her as the ideal, wronged Roman wife who nobly cared for all of Antony's children, making Antony 'hated for wronging such a woman'.

Octavian (Augustus)

The Roman leader who, as 'Octavian,' was part of the Second Triumvirate with Mark Antony. After defeating Antony at the Battle of Actium, he became 'Augustus,' ending the Republic and beginning the autocracy of the Roman Empire.

Pederasty (Paiderastia)

The 'social, sexual, and pedagogical relationship' in Classical Greece between an older male lover (erastes) and a younger male beloved (eromenos), typically aged 12-17.

Penetration Model

The framework for the Roman sexual hierarchy, which was based on the act of penetration. In this model, the 'real vir' (man) is the active penetrator, while any man who is penetrated is 'effeminized' and made 'soft'.

Phallus

A central symbol in Roman culture associated with the god Priapus and, most importantly, with apotropaic power (the ability to ward off evil). Phallic images were common on amulets, chimes, and buildings to protect against the Evil Eye.

Plato's Symposium

A philosophical text by Plato (424-348 BCE) set at an all-male drinking party (symposium) that serves as a 'treatise on eros' (love). It features a series of speeches on love and pederasty by speakers like Aristophanes and Socrates.

Plutarch

A Greek biographer (46-120 CE) who wrote during the Roman Empire, best known for his Parallel Lives. His Life of Antony exemplifies his ethical approach to biography, where 'you are how you behave'.

Political Institutions (Roman)

Under the emperors, the old Republican system, including the Senate, continued but was changed. There were fewer elections and more appointments, and a senator's power became related to his 'proximity to the court'.

Priapus

The Roman god of fertility and gardens, depicted with a large phallus and associated with frustrated lust. Priapic Epigrams often threatened that the god would anally rape any thieves who entered his garden.

Pudicitia (modesty)

A cardinal Roman female virtue, along with castitas (chastity), associated with the ideal household.

Tomb inscriptions

Praised ideal women for their 'modesty, propriety, chastity, [and] obedience'.

Roman Empire

The period of autocracy following the Roman Republic, which began with Augustus (Octavian) after 31 BCE. This state reached its greatest territorial extent in 117 CE.

Roman Expansion

The historical process of Rome's conquest, beginning with the Italian peninsula (500-218 BCE). By 100 BCE, this expansion had added territories across the Mediterranean in Spain, North Africa, and the Greek East.

Roman Female Values

The 'cardinal' virtues expected of an ideal Roman woman, as recorded on tomb inscriptions. These included being a 'worker in wool, pious, chaste, thrifty, faithful, [and] a stayer-at-home (domiseda)'.

Roman History (Periods)

The presentations cover the major periods, from Early Italy (peopled by Etruscans and Greeks) to the Roman Republic and finally the Roman Imperial period (31 BCE - 1453 CE).

Roman Masculinity

The ideal Roman man, as shown in statues of Augustus, was defined by both civilian and military authority. This masculinity was built on the 'penetration model' (being the active vir) and on the virtue of 'moderation'.

Roman Pederasty (debated)

The presentations question whether Romans adopted Greek-style pederasty. One view ('No Camp') holds that any passive sex act (stuprum) was unacceptable for a freeborn citizen, while another ('It's Complicated Camp') argues that while same-sex relationships existed, being penetrated remained shameful.

Roman Republic

The period of Roman history (ending 31 BCE) characterized by its senatorial political system. It was followed by the autocracy of the Roman Empire.

Roman Senate

The key political institution of the Roman Republic that continued, in a modified form, under the emperors. In the Imperial era, senatorial power became more dependent on 'proximity to the court' than on elections.

Roman Sexuality

A system based on a 'penetration model' hierarchy, where the 'real vir' (man) is the active penetrator and the one who is penetrated is 'effeminized'. This framework was used to understand gender-deviant roles like the cinaedus and to deploy sexual invective.

Second Triumvirate

The political alliance (ca. 40 BCE) between Mark Antony and Octavian (later Augustus). The alliance, which stressed and broke down by 34 BCE, was commemorated on silver coins.

Self-Mastery / Sophrosyne (self-control)

A Greek ideal of masculinity (self-control, moderation) that was adopted and adapted by the Romans. Tacitus praises his father-in-law Agricola for possessing this 'most difficult of lessons—moderation'.

Social Status (Roman)

The presentations introduce the legal and social hierarchies of Imperial Rome. The lowest legal status discussed is that of slaves.

Stuprum (illicit sexual intercourse)

A Roman legal concept for 'illicit sexual intercourse'. This term is used in the debate on pederasty to argue that any passive sexual act was considered illicit and shameful for a freeborn Roman male.

Tacitus

A Roman senator and historian (56-117 CE) who wrote the Annales, Agricola, and Germania. He was a 'generally suspicious historian' who was highly critical of the emperors and used his works to diagnose a 'Sick Empire'.

Theory of Forms

Plato's core philosophy that the imperfect, changeable physical world ('Things in the Realm of Becoming') is a copy of a higher, eternal 'Realm of Being'. This higher realm contains the perfect 'Forms' (like Beauty, Justice, or Good), which are the true causes of all things.

Tinntinnabula

Roman wind chimes that were often phallic in shape. Like other phallic objects, they served an apotropaic (protective) function to ward off evil.

Vir

The term for the ideal Roman man, whose masculinity was defined within the 'penetration model'. A 'real vir' is the 'primary sexual agent' who penetrates, while any man who is penetrated is 'effeminized' and 'less manly'.

Symposia

All male dinner party of aristrocrats which included lounging, discussion, and ritual dimensions. Space of Pedestry.

Plato

A Classical Greek philosopher whose Dialogues are a primary source for Socratic philosophy. His work The Symposium is a "treatise on eros" , and he is the originator of the "Theory of Forms".

Socrates

An Athenian philosopher who fought in the Peloponnesian War and is the main character in Plato's Dialogues. In the Symposium, he is a key speaker who recounts the philosophical teachings on eros he learned from Diotima of Mantinea

Pausania’s speech

A speech in Plato's Symposium that argues a relationship is "neither right nor wrong in itself" but depends on being "conducted properly". It famously distinguishes between "Common" eros, which is purely physical, and a superior, exclusively male "Celestial" eros, which is focused on the mind and intelligence. Celestrial vs common aphrodite. Race matters. Only the athenians are good enough for pedestry.

Divine Model For Pedestry

Zeus and Ganymede are the model. It is transactional and public.

Battle of Actium

A decisive naval battle fought on September 2, 31 BC, where Octavian's fleet defeated the forces of Mark Antony. This event, part of the final civil war , marked the "End of the Republic" and enabled Octavian's "Return to Autocracy" as the emperor Augustus.

The libertus/liberta

Frequency of

manumission

• Limited citizen rights for

freedmen

• Property ownership

• Access to courts

• Barred from higher

offices