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By The Power Vesta-Ed In Me: The Power Of The Vestal Virgins And Those Who Took Advantage Of It, Elena M. Stanley Apr 2022

By The Power Vesta-Ed In Me: The Power Of The Vestal Virgins And Those Who Took Advantage Of It, Elena M. Stanley

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

Vestal Virgins were high ranking members of the Roman elite. Due to the priestesses’ elevated standing, Romans made use of their inherent privileges. Through analyses of case studies from ancient authors and archaeology, I identify three ways Romans wielded Vestal power: familial connections, financial and material resources, and political sway. I end by exploring cases of crimen incesti, the crime of unchastity, which highlight all three forms. The Vestals were influential women who shared access to power in different ways. The Vestals were active participants in the social and political world of Rome.


Hic Est Uxor Mihei: How Roman Funerary Portraits Carve The Ideal Freedwoman, Nora Kassner May 2014

Hic Est Uxor Mihei: How Roman Funerary Portraits Carve The Ideal Freedwoman, Nora Kassner

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

This paper examines the depiction of Roman freedwomen (former slaves) in thirty-five late Republican and Augustan funerary portraits. Extant portraits utilize a complex visual and written vocabulary to reveal a wide variety of views of freedwomen’s status and agency. This paper relies upon analyses of the cultural climates of the late Republican and Augustan period, careful interrogation of the material evidence through the lens of both post-structuralist and affective theory, and the use of case studies. Ultimately, it argues that funerary portraits create diverse representations of the ideal freedwoman that become part of an ongoing cultural dialogue concerning the place …


Constructing Gender: Female Architectural Patronage In Roman Asia Minor And Syria In The First Through Sixth Centuries Ce, Grace K. Erny May 2012

Constructing Gender: Female Architectural Patronage In Roman Asia Minor And Syria In The First Through Sixth Centuries Ce, Grace K. Erny

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

The patronage of architectural projects was a major way that prominent citizens of the Roman Empire shaped urban landscapes. These acts of patronage constituted a series of performances through which categories such as “male,” “female,” “public,” and “private” were constructed. In this paper, I use architectural, epigraphical, and literary evidence to analyze examples of female architectural patronage in the cities of Roman Asia Minor and Syria in the first through sixth centuries CE. I explore how these architectural performances contributed to an ongoing discourse about gender and the allocation of space.


Nationalism, Archaeology, And The Antiquities Trade In Turkey And Iraq, Miranda Pettengill May 2012

Nationalism, Archaeology, And The Antiquities Trade In Turkey And Iraq, Miranda Pettengill

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

The illicit antiquities trade is a vast and complex network comprising a large number of participants across the globe. This paper focuses specifically on looters and illegal excavators, those who first retrieve ancient objects from the ground to be traded on the black market. My research examines the reasoning and motivation behind looting; specifically, I evaluate how nationalistic ideologies in Turkey and Iraq affect the choices and actions of illegal excavators living there. I also discuss the benefits of community archaeology, an approach that includes local people in the practice and presentation of excavation, as a strategy to minimize the …


All Roads Lead Through Rome: Imperial Armatures On The Triumphal Route, Machal E. Gradoz May 2012

All Roads Lead Through Rome: Imperial Armatures On The Triumphal Route, Machal E. Gradoz

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

The cityscape of ancient Rome was filled with opulent buildings that created armatures— fluid, connective thoroughfares throughout the city. These armatures came together to form narrative pathways. The triumphal route, the memorialized, celebratory course of victorious generals, is one such narrative pathway. Among other strategies to legitimize his sole rule, Augustus constructed a self-promoting armature along the triumphal route, thereby linking him with the triumph. This paper examines how the construction of the Augustan armature along the triumphal route promoted Augustus and how the Flavians responded to it in advertising their own legitimacy in the wake of a civil war. …