Female Interventions in Politics in the libera res publica: Structures and Practices

Abstract

This chapter charts the structures and practices of female interventions in politics in the libera res publica (509-27bce). Previous scholarship has emphasized the efflorescence of female political activity in the first century bce. Yet Greek and Roman authors retrojected such activity into their histories of early Rome: mytho-historical paradigms are the intercession of the Sabine women and of Veturia with Coriolanus. Furthermore, female benefactions saved Rome from financial and military crises in the fourth and third centuries bce. For such interventions, women received enduring privileges and status symbols. Moving beyond previous scholarship, I argue that the interventions of senatorial women like Servilia, Iulia, Terentia, Hortensia, and Octavia were not novel, but a manifestation of a long tradition of women seizing political initiative. This chapter outlines and evaluates some of the structures of female interventionsthe ordo matronarum, matronal meetings, and religious roles-and their practicesintercession, benefactions, and participation in family consilia. Through numerous formal and informal initiatives, inside and outside of the domus, women proactively engaged in the res publica.