Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons^™

Elite Women As Tools Of Power In First-Century C.E. Rome, Catherine Manolian

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

For the patrician class, marriage was a form of power intended to uphold Roman patriarchy by providing opportunity for social, political, and economic advancement. However, history has shown that the power of marriage also extended to the women involved in these couplings as well. Through marriage, elite Roman women had the power to perpetuate or decimate Rome’s social order. Thus, gender norms were created and enforced in order to maintain patriarchy. Women who did not live up to the social expectations set by these norms were met with opposition. By examining Roman poetry and literature, Roman politics, and profiling the …