Roman Girlhood and the Fashioning of FemininityElite women in the Roman world were often educated, socially prominent, and even relatively independent. Yet the social regime that ushered these same women into marriage and childbearing at an early age was remarkably restrictive. In the first book-length study of girlhood in the early Roman Empire, Lauren Caldwell investigates the reasons for this paradox. Through an examination of literary, legal, medical, and epigraphic sources, she identifies the social pressures that tended to overwhelm concerns about girls' individual health and well-being. In demonstrating how early marriage was driven by a variety of concerns, including the value placed on premarital virginity and paternal authority, this book enhances an understanding of the position of girls as they made the transition from childhood to womanhood. |
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adolescent adultery adulthood appears Apuleius behavior body boys Catull Catullus Catullus 61 ceremony chapter chastity childbearing Cloelia cohabitation concerns controversiae daughter declamation discussion dolls dowry early marriage elite epitaph evidence example exercise father female feminine focus Frier girl’s girlhood Hippocratic household husband Ilberg imperial Junia jurists lex Iulia literary Livy male marriage age married masculine mature McGinn menarche menstruation Minicia moralizing mother Musonius Musonius Rufus Ovid paterfamilias perspective physical physicians Plin Pliny Pliny’s Plutarch poem premarital pronuba puberty puella pueris punishment quae Regimen relationship ritual role Roman Egypt Roman law Rome Rufus Saller second century sexual initiation social Soranus sources status story stuprum suggests texts toga praetexta traditional transition Treggiari 1991 Ulpian underage Valerius Valerius Maximus Verginia virginity virgo virtue wedding night wife woman women writings young youthful γὰρ δὲ καὶ μὲν τὰ τὰς τὴν τῆς τὸ τῶν