[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review]
This volume offers a broad approach to women and the army in the Roman Empire. It is conceived as a starting point where researchers can engage with the understudied topic of women in military communities in the Roman Empire. The first two chapters provide the conceptual backbone upon which the remaining chapters rest. The chapters are not concerned with the old debate on whether women existed or not in military communities. Instead (and quite rightly), they start and develop from the premise that women were integral individuals in camps, forts, military sites, and significant members of the military establishments throughout the Roman Empire. The book takes its place in current scholarship among the studies of identity and society in the imperial Roman army. We have volumes on the frontiers, on military equipment and legions, and now we have a starting point of reference for women.
In addition to acting as an introduction to the volume, Lee L. Brice and Elizabeth M. Greene’s first chapter details the four main assumptions made by previous scholars that have prevented the subject of women and the army from moving forward as a proper field of study before now: (i) the ban on women from castra, (ii) the ban on soldiers’ marriages, (iii) the lack of women in epigraphic and literary material and how it reinforces old assumptions, and (iv) the preconceived views of modern scholars. The most significant contributions in the field are addressed in the second chapter by Greene and Brice. In this chapter on historiography, key works that have transformed the study of women in military contexts are evaluated based on the various impacts they have had on the field. Published works by Lindsay Allason-Jones (1989), Margaret Roxan (1991), and Simon James (2001) are some successful examples. These two chapters are the kind of introductory explanations that a student in this field needs when encountering the subject, perhaps for the first time. Given that the book started its life as a response to student requests for resources, one may say that the first two chapters certainly delivered on the book’s promise.
Alexandra W. Busch and Greene bring a much-needed study on the garrisons closest to Rome. This chapter focuses on the social life of women and soldiers stationed in the capital and the archaeological evidence of the garrisons stationed in Rome. The authors convincingly argue that some women accompanied soldiers from the provinces to Rome, while others met the soldiers in Rome. The authors analyse both funerary monuments and the language used in Cicero and Pliny the Younger to examine familial relationships. The evidence used is representative of the Empire—we learn of Moesian, Thracian, and Pannonian soldiers commemorated by the different women of their families in Rome. The most successful part of this chapter is the comparative angle it presents throughout. The difference between military diplomas in Rome and those found in the provinces, for example, offers a compelling perspective on understanding the lives of women associated with the soldiers (119-120). The authors illuminate the unique stories of individual women, offering a thoughtful perspective that is often overlooked by others in this field. The example of the two grave altars set up by Anicia Caecilia for her husband and her son shows glimpses of how the personal life of a woman might be affected by the death of her husband in service (132-133). This was one of the most successful chapters in this volume.
Penelope M. Allison’s chapter on the roles of women in military bases focuses on artefact distribution throughout four provincial German military sites. Allison examines artefacts we traditionally associate with women in non-military spaces (both urban and rural) while recognising the potential issues of interpretation that this may cause. This is a welcome approach to the common textual analyses that perpetuate obsolete inferences from traditional readings of the literature. While the chapter successfully enhances the reader’s understanding of how women might have maintained these military spaces, it does present some questions that warrant deeper exploration, especially when it comes to local women in these Roman spaces. Some of the strongest evidence presented here could be analysed in greater depth. For example, different brooches and the bronze belt hook belonging to women from the provinces that were found in the senior officers’ houses merit further exploration, especially since the majority of female-gendered items were found in that context (157-159). Overlooking the significance of what this can reveal about the experiences and cultural backgrounds of local women in Roman military spaces diminishes our understanding of their possible vital roles. However, the author’s analyses of cloth production, hospitality, and entertainment roles are exemplary, as well as her emphasis on status over sex throughout the chapter. These are the strongest parts of the chapter and the ones that are pushing the debate forward when it comes to our understanding of women in military spaces in the German provinces.
For a thorough analysis of brooches as indicators of women’s presence in military contexts beyond Rome, one should refer to Tatiana Ivleva’s exceptional contribution in this volume. Ivleva’s work exemplifies the rigorous methodologies employed in archaeological analyses and the value of examining case studies to understand women in the Roman army. The author focuses on British migrant families in the Roman army and divides the chapter into two main sections: the first analyses epigraphical and historical texts, while the second focuses on the inherent constraints of material culture in these analyses. Ivleva is aware of the challenges and problems of interpretation when attempting to understand gender and ethnic associations from brooches alone, from trying to identify ethnicities through names, and from our modern usage of the ancient Roman labels imposed on local populations. The chapter identifies a series of eleven British migrant families that can be studied throughout the Empire, and at first glance, the reader might ask why all the families are not discussed in the chapter, but one quickly realizes that the most significant of those case studies where context is best attested are treated with the care, attention, and analysis they deserve. The agency of the women is brought forward in a way that is analytical, cautious, and evidence-based (and not from speculation). Ivleva focuses on the story of the women as reflected in the evidence and grants them a sense of agency that is often missing in current scholarship. The example of army wives like Tutula, the Panonnian wife of a British-born soldier named Lucco, shows how sometimes wives could go to their husband’s homeland or their own after the men concluded military service (189-90). The appendices at the end of the chapter are a helpful tool for future research.
Moving away from Pannonia, the volume then takes the reader to Roman Egypt. Lien Foubert’s essay on the wives of soldiers in Roman Egypt is an introductory study on the evidence we have for the existence of women in desert military outposts. Ostraca with private letters from lower-class individuals and the famous Colossi of Memnon graffiti that mention upper-class women are the strongest parts of this chapter (227-234). The comparative approach here provides an insightful glimpse of the identities the women portrayed of themselves or the men who mentioned them in their accounts. Overall, the discussion here provides a good foundational overview for anyone interested in delving into more critical research on this material.
Green’s chapter on the role of women in Roman military communities brings attention to the epigraphic record and what it can tell us about women’s roles in public and private religious practices throughout the Empire. The discussion centers around elite women in three different parts of the Empire: Nemausus, Vindolanda, and Rome. The strongest part of this chapter is that it reexamines the male figures traditionally identified as male camilli on the Column of Trajan in Rome to argue that they are indeed women and girls participating in this highly militarized environment (251-255). The resulting excellent discussion forces the reader to reconsider preconceived notions about women’s religious involvement on military expeditions. Greene’s argument that we need to conceptualise soldiers’ families as part of the military communities of the Roman Empire is compelling. A greater focus on the contributions of non-elite women would have been welcomed, especially considering the compelling case Green makes about women’s potential to form a “network of women” among the elites (249). Nevertheless, this is a solid contribution to the volume as it demonstrates how religion and the military form part of women’s lives in the communities of the Empire.
Julie Langford and Christina Hotalen examine the title of Mater Castrorum in light of imperial succession ideology and successfully highlight the complexities of the usage of the title over different periods. Through an examination of coinage, literature, and inscriptions, the authors stress that we should not view the awarding of the title to imperial women as indicating a strong connection to military roles. Instead, we should see it in light of the changing needs of the emperor and the desired perception by the civic people and subject populations throughout the Roman Empire. The authors follow Clifford Ando’s seminal work on imperial ideology to contend that the usage of the title of Mater Castrorum was highly dependent on the relationship between the emperor and his subjects. Commendable here is the way Langford and Hotalen compare evidence from military inscriptions with civilian inscriptions, creating a clearer picture of the title of Mater Castrorum. However, engaging with alternative explanations (beyond ideology) would have made their argument that much stronger in some areas. For instance, the circumstances of the awarding of the title to Julia Domna deserve more discussion given that she did accompany Septimius Severus on several of his military expeditions. The impact this might have had on later usage of the title is relevant to the arguments presented here. With the emphasis on understanding diverse evidence through an ideological lens, the chapter somewhat removes imperial women’s agency in military matters (Julia Mamaea, for example). However, it provides much to think about and opens new avenues for future exploration. In particular, many questions emerge about the manufacture, distribution, and reception of the depictions of imperial women as ‘Mother of the Camp’ by both the military communities in the provinces and the civic population in Rome.
Overall, the success of the volume lies in the way in which it employs different methodologies and approaches to the evidence to illustrate women’s lives in military communities of the Empire. The only drawback one may point out is that the book still prioritizes elite women in the Roman Empire. But even within this focus, the contributions address significant gaps in the scholarship of imperial women. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersections between gender and war in the Roman imperial army. Students and scholars will find here a foundational resource for exploring the lives of ancient women at both the center of the Empire and its provinces.
Works Cited
Allason-Jones, L. (1989) Women in Roman Britain. 1st ed. London: British Museum Press.
Allason-Jones, L. (2005) Women in Roman Britain. 2nd ed. York: Council for British Archaeology.
Ando, C. (2000) Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire. Berkeley: University of California Press.
James, S. (2001) “Soldiers and civilians: Identity and interaction in Roman Britain” in Britons and Romans: Advancing an Archaeological Agenda (eds) S. James and M. Millet, 77-89. York: Council for British Archaeology.
Roxan, M. (1991) “Women on the frontiers” in Roman Frontier Studies 1989: Proceedings of the XVth International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies (eds) V. A. Maxfield and M. J. Dobson, 462-67. Exeter: University of Exeter Press.
Authors and titles
- Present but not accounted for: women and the Roman army in the 21st century (Lee L. Brice and Elizabeth M. Greene)
- Approaches to women and the Roman army: the history of a debate (Elizabeth M. Greene and Lee L. Brice)
- Agrippina and company: elite women in the castra (Lee L. Brice and Georgia Tsouvala)
- Elite marriage and adultery in the camp: Plin. EP. 6.31.4-6 and Tac. Hist. 1.48 (Sara E. Phang)
- Mother courage and her children: the family and social life of the garrisons stationed in Rome (Alexandra W. Busch and Elizabeth M. Greene)
- Investigating roles for women inside Roman military bases through artifact distribution (Penelope M. Allison)
- (In)visible women and children: literary, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence for British migrant families in the Roman army (Tatiana Ivleva)
- Soldiers’ wives en route in Roman Egypt: a study through graffiti, private letters, and official documents (Lien Foubert)
- The role of women in the religious activities of Roman military communities (Elizabeth M. Greene)
- Mater castrorum: imperial women and succession ideology (Julie Langford and Christina Hotalen)
- Women and the military in the age of Justinian (Conor Whately)