Emily Hemelrijk - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Books by Emily Hemelrijk

Research paper thumbnail of Eindelijk vrij. Hoe vrouwen in het Romeinse Rijk de slavernij achter zich lieten

Research paper thumbnail of Verborgen levens, publieke figuren. Romeinse vrouwen buiten Rome

https://bit.ly/Hemelrijk-Verborgen-levens

Research paper thumbnail of Hidden Lives – Public Personae. Women and Civic Life in the Roman West, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Research paper thumbnail of Women and the Roman City in the Latin West, Leiden and Boston: Brill (Mnemosyne Supplements, subseries History and Archaeology of Classical Antiquity, vol. 360).

roman cities, as conventionally studied, seem to be dominated by men. yet as the contributions to... more roman cities, as conventionally studied, seem to be dominated by men. yet as the contributions to this volume-which deals with the roman cities of italy and the western provinces in the late republic and early empire-show, women occupied a wide range of civic roles. Women had key roles to play in urban economies, and a few were prominent public figures, celebrated for their generosity and for their priestly eminence, and commemorated with public statues and grand inscriptions. drawing on archaeology and epigraphy, on law and art as well as on ancient texts, this multidisciplinary study offers a new and more nuanced view of the gendering of civic life. it asks how far the experience of women of the smaller italian and provincial cities resembled that of women in the capital, how women were represented in sculptural art as well as in inscriptions, and what kinds of power or influence they exercised in the societies of the latin West.

Research paper thumbnail of Roman Rule and Civic Life: Local and Regional Perspectives (Proceedings of the fourth workshop of the international network Impact of Empire, Leiden, June 25-28, 2003),

Roman Rule and Civic Life: Local and Regional Perspectives (Proceedings of the fourth workshop of the international network Impact of Empire, Leiden, June 25-28, 2003),

Research paper thumbnail of Matrona docta. Educated women in the Roman élite from Cornelia to Julia Domna

Matrona docta. Educated women in the Roman élite from Cornelia to Julia Domna

Matrona Docta presents a unique study of the education of upper-class women in Roman society in t... more Matrona Docta presents a unique study of the education of upper-class women in Roman society in the central period of Roman history, from the second century BC to AD 235.
Emily A. Hemelrijk reconstructs women's opportunities to acquire an education, the impediments they faced, the level of education they could reach and the judgement on educated women in Roman society. She examines also the role of women as patronesses of literature, learning and Roman women's writing.
https://www.routledge.com/Matrona-Docta-Educated-Women-in-the-Roman-Elite-from-Cornelia-to-Julia/Hemelrijk/p/book/9780415341271

Papers by Emily Hemelrijk

Research paper thumbnail of ‘Urban social structures in the Roman world’

‘Urban social structures in the Roman world’

in Miko Flohr, Arjan Zuiderhoek (eds) A Companion to Cities in the Greco‐Roman World, Wiley pp. 361-374., 2024

This chapter, written together with Miko Flohr, discusses urban social structures in the Roman wo... more This chapter, written together with Miko Flohr, discusses urban social structures in the Roman world, exploring three key axes of social distinction in the public sphere: sociopolitical status, legal status, and gender. The chapter starts with the epigraphic record of towns in Roman Italy and the Latin-speaking parts of the Roman Empire. It highlights how wealth was a key factor in determining social standing within urban communities and how it negotiated access to some well-defined status groups, which included the (Imperial) senatorial and equestrian elite, the (local) decurial elite, and those who were member of private, professional, or religious associations. The second axis of distinction – legal status – divides the inhabitants of a city into citizens and noncitizens and free-born, freed, and enslaved members of the community. The chapter highlights how freedmen, in particular, had a complex social position. Finally, the chapter highlights how women, particularly elite women and freedwomen, played a highly visible and central role in the public life of urban communities of Italy and the Latin-speaking West of the Roman Empire.

Research paper thumbnail of ‘Matronal virtues, professional pride and divine associations. Funerary commemoration of freedwomen in Roman Italy’

‘Matronal virtues, professional pride and divine associations. Funerary commemoration of freedwomen in Roman Italy’

Eugesta 13: 85-121, 2023

In the funerary culture of Roman Italy between the late first century BCE and the late second cen... more In the funerary culture of Roman Italy between the late first century BCE and the late second century CE tombs set up by and for freed people, both men and women, predominated. This article looks at these monuments from the perspective of freedwomen. It surveys three patterns of commemoration of freedwomen: their emulation of freeborn (elite) values, the expression of professional pride and their posthumous representation in the guise of deities. Incorporating elements that at first sight may seem contradictory – such as work and the ideal of domesticity –, the funerary representation of freedwomen shows a greater variety and wider range than that of freeborn women. By discussing the complexity of their (self-)representation the article aims to shed new light on the lives and ambitions of freedwomen in Roman society.

Research paper thumbnail of ‘The Empire of Women. How Did Roman Imperial Rule Affect the Lives of Women?’

in H. Cornwell and G. Woolf (eds) Gendering Roman Imperialism, Leiden and Boston (Brill) pp. 18-38, 2022

Research paper thumbnail of Indices to the contribution above, pp. 1852—2000 “Who knows not what monsters demented Egypt worships?” Opinions on Egyptian animal worship in Antiquity as part of the ancient conception of Egypt

Indices to the contribution above, pp. 1852—2000 “Who knows not what monsters demented Egypt worships?” Opinions on Egyptian animal worship in Antiquity as part of the ancient conception of Egypt

Religion (Heidentum: Römische Götterkulte, Orientalische Kulte in der römischen Welt [Forts.]), 1984

Research paper thumbnail of 'Slaap je, Brutus?' Graffiti en politiek in Rome en Pompeii

Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 131.1 (2018) (Themanummer ‘Tekens aan de wand. Graffiti en andere schrijfsels door de eeuwen heen’) pp. 35-50.

'Brutus, are you sleeping?' Political graffiti in Rome and Pompeii This paper discusses the discr... more 'Brutus, are you sleeping?' Political graffiti in Rome and Pompeii This paper discusses the discrepancy between the literary sources that describe how in Rome graffiti criticized men of power and voiced political dissent, and the virtual lack of such surviving graffiti in smaller Roman towns, primarily Pompeii. Who wrote political graffiti and for what public? And how can we explain the ubiquity of political graffiti in Rome (according to the literary sources) and the absence of such graffiti from Pompeii? It is argued that this lack of graffiti does not reflect harmonious political relations in Pompeii but rather our difficulty in understanding ancient wordplay as well as the loss of nearly all texts written in charcoal and chalk.

Research paper thumbnail of Female Munificence in the Cities of the Latin West,

in Hemelrijk, E.A. and Woolf, G. (eds) Women and the Roman City in the Latin West, Leiden and Boston: Brill (Mnemosyne Supplements, vol. 360), pp. 65-84, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Priestesses of the Imperial Cult in the Latin West: Titles and Function

L' Antiquité Classique 74 (2005) 137-170, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of Patronage of cities: the role of women

Patronage of cities: the role of women

in De Ligt, L., Hemelrijk, E.A. en Singor, H.S. (red.) (2004) Roman Rule and Civic Life: Local and Regional Perspectives (Proceedings of the fourth workshop of the international network Impact of Empire, Leiden, June 25-28, 2003), Amsterdam: Gieben pp. 415-427

Research paper thumbnail of CITY PATRONESSES IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Historia 53.2 (2004) 209-245, 2004

Research paper thumbnail of Octavian and the introduction of public statues for women in Rome

Athenaeum 93.1 (2005) 309-317

Research paper thumbnail of Roman citizenship and the integration of women in the local towns of the Latin West’

Roman citizenship and the integration of women in the local towns of the Latin West’

in De Kleijn, G. and Benoist, S. (eds) (2014) Integration in Rome and in the Roman World, Proceedings of the Tenth Workshop of the International Network Impact of Empire (Lille, June 23-25, 2011), Leiden, Boston: Brill (Impact of Empire vol. 17), pp. 147-160.

Research paper thumbnail of Fictive motherhood and female authority in Roman cities

EuGeStA, Journal on Gender Studies in Antiquity 2 (2012) 201-220.

Research paper thumbnail of Inscribed in the city: how did women enter ‘written space’

in Laurence, R. and Sears, G. (eds) (2013) Written Space in the Latin West: 200 BC to AD 300, London and New York: Continuum, pp. 135-151.

Research paper thumbnail of Public Roles for Women in the Cities of the Latin West

in James, S.L. and Dillon, S. (eds) (2012) A Companion to Women in the Ancient World, London: Blackwell, pp. 478-490.

Research paper thumbnail of Eindelijk vrij. Hoe vrouwen in het Romeinse Rijk de slavernij achter zich lieten

Research paper thumbnail of Verborgen levens, publieke figuren. Romeinse vrouwen buiten Rome

https://bit.ly/Hemelrijk-Verborgen-levens

Research paper thumbnail of Hidden Lives – Public Personae. Women and Civic Life in the Roman West, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Research paper thumbnail of Women and the Roman City in the Latin West, Leiden and Boston: Brill (Mnemosyne Supplements, subseries History and Archaeology of Classical Antiquity, vol. 360).

roman cities, as conventionally studied, seem to be dominated by men. yet as the contributions to... more roman cities, as conventionally studied, seem to be dominated by men. yet as the contributions to this volume-which deals with the roman cities of italy and the western provinces in the late republic and early empire-show, women occupied a wide range of civic roles. Women had key roles to play in urban economies, and a few were prominent public figures, celebrated for their generosity and for their priestly eminence, and commemorated with public statues and grand inscriptions. drawing on archaeology and epigraphy, on law and art as well as on ancient texts, this multidisciplinary study offers a new and more nuanced view of the gendering of civic life. it asks how far the experience of women of the smaller italian and provincial cities resembled that of women in the capital, how women were represented in sculptural art as well as in inscriptions, and what kinds of power or influence they exercised in the societies of the latin West.

Research paper thumbnail of Roman Rule and Civic Life: Local and Regional Perspectives (Proceedings of the fourth workshop of the international network Impact of Empire, Leiden, June 25-28, 2003),

Roman Rule and Civic Life: Local and Regional Perspectives (Proceedings of the fourth workshop of the international network Impact of Empire, Leiden, June 25-28, 2003),

Research paper thumbnail of Matrona docta. Educated women in the Roman élite from Cornelia to Julia Domna

Matrona docta. Educated women in the Roman élite from Cornelia to Julia Domna

Matrona Docta presents a unique study of the education of upper-class women in Roman society in t... more Matrona Docta presents a unique study of the education of upper-class women in Roman society in the central period of Roman history, from the second century BC to AD 235.
Emily A. Hemelrijk reconstructs women's opportunities to acquire an education, the impediments they faced, the level of education they could reach and the judgement on educated women in Roman society. She examines also the role of women as patronesses of literature, learning and Roman women's writing.
https://www.routledge.com/Matrona-Docta-Educated-Women-in-the-Roman-Elite-from-Cornelia-to-Julia/Hemelrijk/p/book/9780415341271

Research paper thumbnail of ‘Urban social structures in the Roman world’

‘Urban social structures in the Roman world’

in Miko Flohr, Arjan Zuiderhoek (eds) A Companion to Cities in the Greco‐Roman World, Wiley pp. 361-374., 2024

This chapter, written together with Miko Flohr, discusses urban social structures in the Roman wo... more This chapter, written together with Miko Flohr, discusses urban social structures in the Roman world, exploring three key axes of social distinction in the public sphere: sociopolitical status, legal status, and gender. The chapter starts with the epigraphic record of towns in Roman Italy and the Latin-speaking parts of the Roman Empire. It highlights how wealth was a key factor in determining social standing within urban communities and how it negotiated access to some well-defined status groups, which included the (Imperial) senatorial and equestrian elite, the (local) decurial elite, and those who were member of private, professional, or religious associations. The second axis of distinction – legal status – divides the inhabitants of a city into citizens and noncitizens and free-born, freed, and enslaved members of the community. The chapter highlights how freedmen, in particular, had a complex social position. Finally, the chapter highlights how women, particularly elite women and freedwomen, played a highly visible and central role in the public life of urban communities of Italy and the Latin-speaking West of the Roman Empire.

Research paper thumbnail of ‘Matronal virtues, professional pride and divine associations. Funerary commemoration of freedwomen in Roman Italy’

‘Matronal virtues, professional pride and divine associations. Funerary commemoration of freedwomen in Roman Italy’

Eugesta 13: 85-121, 2023

In the funerary culture of Roman Italy between the late first century BCE and the late second cen... more In the funerary culture of Roman Italy between the late first century BCE and the late second century CE tombs set up by and for freed people, both men and women, predominated. This article looks at these monuments from the perspective of freedwomen. It surveys three patterns of commemoration of freedwomen: their emulation of freeborn (elite) values, the expression of professional pride and their posthumous representation in the guise of deities. Incorporating elements that at first sight may seem contradictory – such as work and the ideal of domesticity –, the funerary representation of freedwomen shows a greater variety and wider range than that of freeborn women. By discussing the complexity of their (self-)representation the article aims to shed new light on the lives and ambitions of freedwomen in Roman society.

Research paper thumbnail of ‘The Empire of Women. How Did Roman Imperial Rule Affect the Lives of Women?’

in H. Cornwell and G. Woolf (eds) Gendering Roman Imperialism, Leiden and Boston (Brill) pp. 18-38, 2022

Research paper thumbnail of Indices to the contribution above, pp. 1852—2000 “Who knows not what monsters demented Egypt worships?” Opinions on Egyptian animal worship in Antiquity as part of the ancient conception of Egypt

Indices to the contribution above, pp. 1852—2000 “Who knows not what monsters demented Egypt worships?” Opinions on Egyptian animal worship in Antiquity as part of the ancient conception of Egypt

Religion (Heidentum: Römische Götterkulte, Orientalische Kulte in der römischen Welt [Forts.]), 1984

Research paper thumbnail of 'Slaap je, Brutus?' Graffiti en politiek in Rome en Pompeii

Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 131.1 (2018) (Themanummer ‘Tekens aan de wand. Graffiti en andere schrijfsels door de eeuwen heen’) pp. 35-50.

'Brutus, are you sleeping?' Political graffiti in Rome and Pompeii This paper discusses the discr... more 'Brutus, are you sleeping?' Political graffiti in Rome and Pompeii This paper discusses the discrepancy between the literary sources that describe how in Rome graffiti criticized men of power and voiced political dissent, and the virtual lack of such surviving graffiti in smaller Roman towns, primarily Pompeii. Who wrote political graffiti and for what public? And how can we explain the ubiquity of political graffiti in Rome (according to the literary sources) and the absence of such graffiti from Pompeii? It is argued that this lack of graffiti does not reflect harmonious political relations in Pompeii but rather our difficulty in understanding ancient wordplay as well as the loss of nearly all texts written in charcoal and chalk.

Research paper thumbnail of Female Munificence in the Cities of the Latin West,

in Hemelrijk, E.A. and Woolf, G. (eds) Women and the Roman City in the Latin West, Leiden and Boston: Brill (Mnemosyne Supplements, vol. 360), pp. 65-84, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Priestesses of the Imperial Cult in the Latin West: Titles and Function

L' Antiquité Classique 74 (2005) 137-170, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of Patronage of cities: the role of women

Patronage of cities: the role of women

in De Ligt, L., Hemelrijk, E.A. en Singor, H.S. (red.) (2004) Roman Rule and Civic Life: Local and Regional Perspectives (Proceedings of the fourth workshop of the international network Impact of Empire, Leiden, June 25-28, 2003), Amsterdam: Gieben pp. 415-427

Research paper thumbnail of CITY PATRONESSES IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Historia 53.2 (2004) 209-245, 2004

Research paper thumbnail of Octavian and the introduction of public statues for women in Rome

Athenaeum 93.1 (2005) 309-317

Research paper thumbnail of Roman citizenship and the integration of women in the local towns of the Latin West’

Roman citizenship and the integration of women in the local towns of the Latin West’

in De Kleijn, G. and Benoist, S. (eds) (2014) Integration in Rome and in the Roman World, Proceedings of the Tenth Workshop of the International Network Impact of Empire (Lille, June 23-25, 2011), Leiden, Boston: Brill (Impact of Empire vol. 17), pp. 147-160.

Research paper thumbnail of Fictive motherhood and female authority in Roman cities

EuGeStA, Journal on Gender Studies in Antiquity 2 (2012) 201-220.

Research paper thumbnail of Inscribed in the city: how did women enter ‘written space’

in Laurence, R. and Sears, G. (eds) (2013) Written Space in the Latin West: 200 BC to AD 300, London and New York: Continuum, pp. 135-151.

Research paper thumbnail of Public Roles for Women in the Cities of the Latin West

in James, S.L. and Dillon, S. (eds) (2012) A Companion to Women in the Ancient World, London: Blackwell, pp. 478-490.

Research paper thumbnail of Local empresses: priestesses of the imperial cult in the cities of the Latin West

Phoenix 61.3-4 (2007) 318-349., 2007

In the first three centuries AD the spread of the imperial cult all over Italy and the western pr... more In the first three centuries AD the spread of the imperial cult all over Italy and the western provinces gave rise to new priesthoods serving the cult of the reigning emperor, his deified predecessor(s) and some of his (male and) female relatives, especially his wife. Both men and women could hold these priesthoods, which in most provinces existed at two levels, the municipal and the provincial. 1

Research paper thumbnail of Patronesses and “mothers” of Roman collegia

Classical Antiquity 27.1 (2008) 115-162, 2008

This paper studies the meaning and function of the titles "patroness" and "mother" of collegia in... more This paper studies the meaning and function of the titles "patroness" and "mother" of collegia in Italy and the Latin-speaking provinces of the Roman Empire in the first three centuries . It is investigated why some collegia co-opted female patrons or appointed "mothers." What was expected from these women and was there any difference between a "mother" and a patroness of a collegium? On the basis of epigraphic evidence it is argued that patrona collegii and mater collegii were no empty titles but denoted distinct functions exercised by different classes of women. Whereas patronesses were, as a rule, outsiders to the collegium they patronized, "mothers" were mostly social climbers from within the ranks of the collegia. Though both types of women acted on behalf of the collegia, they did so in a different way. Moreover, they were honored differently. Collegia, therefore, had good reasons to distinguish between the titles they gave them.

Research paper thumbnail of Women and sacrifice in the Roman Empire

in Hekster, O., Schmidt-Hofner, S. and Witschel, Ch. (eds) (2009) Ritual Dynamics and Religious Change in the Roman Empire. Proceedings of the Eighth Workshop of the International Network Impact of Empire (Heidelberg, July 5-7, 2007), Leiden, Boston: Brill (Impact of Empire vol. 9), pp. 253-267., 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Imperial priestesses: a preliminary survey

Imperial priestesses: a preliminary survey

in De Blois, L., Funke, P. and Hahn, J. (eds) (2006) The impact of imperial Rome on religions, ritual and religious life in the Roman Empire, Leiden and Boston: Brill, pp. 179-193

Research paper thumbnail of Priestesses of the imperial cult in the Latin West: benefactions and public honour

Antiquité Classique 75 (2006) 85-117

Research paper thumbnail of Women’s participation in civic life: patronage and 'motherhood' of Roman associations

Women’s participation in civic life: patronage and 'motherhood' of Roman associations

in Mustakallio, K. and Krötzl, C. (eds) (2010) De Amicitia: Friendship and Social Networks in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Rome (Acta Instituti Romani Finlandiae; AIRF 36) pp. 49-62. , 2010

Research paper thumbnail of Plinius, Mijn lieve Calpurnia! Romeinse vrouwenportretten

Plinius, Mijn lieve Calpurnia! Romeinse vrouwenportretten

Plinius and Calpurnia, 2020

New Dutch translation of Pliny the Younger's letters to his wife, with additional letters about h... more New Dutch translation of Pliny the Younger's letters to his wife, with additional letters about her and Roman women. Introduction by Emily Hemelrijk