Auctoritas and roman Women. Domination or Submission?

Authors

  • María Isabel Núñez Paz Universidad de Oviedo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30827/arenal.v22i2.3862

Keywords:

Women, Roman Law, Gender, Authority, Power, Subaltern, Ancient world, Augusto, First ladies, Infirmitas sexus, Dignity, Mores maiorum, Church Fathers

Abstract

Some women (in stark contrast to the legal formalism that isolated them from any kind of political imperium / potestas), nevertheless laid claim to auctoritas. From the time of Augustus to the Severine emperors, women arrived at the peak of their legal and economic power in the ancient world due to their promotion as “first lady” of the Imperial household. Both roman jurists and stoic philosophers opposed the notion of  a  weak-minded  second  sex  (infirmitas sexus). From the late Roman  Empire onwards,  Church Fathers  began to  promote their  version of feminine “auctoritas” based on traditional custom (mores maiorum), which reduced womens’ status to that of the subaltern.

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Published

2015-12-02

How to Cite

Núñez Paz, M. I. (2015). Auctoritas and roman Women. Domination or Submission?. Arenal. Revista De Historia De Las Mujeres, 22(2), 347–387. https://doi.org/10.30827/arenal.v22i2.3862