• Monday 17 March - Panel IV

The Ethnic Identity of Spartan Women in Roman Greece

Sarah B. Pomeroy

How did the Romans distinguish respectable Greek women from Romans? How did they define ethnic groupings among Greek women, and why did they consider Spartans as different from the others?

The ethnic identity of Spartan women in the Roman period was both conferred by outsiders and carved out by the Spartans themselves as a conscious act of self-definition. "Ethnic identity" refers to inherited cultural traits that are often observable only by comparison with people who do not exhibit these traits. Ethnic identities are contingent, change over time, and may shift according to context and audience. People continually station themselves in a hierarchy of social status that provides an avenue to rights and disabilities. How did Spartan women in the Roman period simultaneously 1) preserve, reinvent, and transmit the precious legacy of the "Lycurgan" constitution; 2) embrace the traditions of the majority of elite Greek women who implicitly distinguished themselves from their Roman counterparts by claiming high standards of chastity and modesty; and 3) assimilate and adapt to the demands of Roman citizenship?

The sources for this investigation of gender and ethnicity in Roman Sparta are textual and archaeological. Plutarch's paired lives of Lycurgus and Numa and Comparison of Lycurgus and Numa, including his evaluation of the provisions for women, are key texts. References to Spartan women in Latin literature, and historical contacts of notable Roman women including Livia with Sparta and of some notorious Spartans at Rome will be discussed. I will also examine archaeological evidence especially Spartan inscriptions honoring women, dedications by women, and the activities of women that the Roman visitor would have observed.

Sparta was one of only two Greek cities that had favored Octavian and enjoyed warm ties with both Livia and him. The revival of some women-oriented cults may be traced ultimately to the Augustan antiquarian religious initiative. On the other hand, some honorary titles granted to Spartan women such as Hestia Poleos ("Hearth of the City"), Thugater Poleos ("Daughter of the city"), Meter Demou kai Boules ("Mother of the Demos and of the Boule"), are best understood in the context of grants of citizenship and other civic honors to Greek women beginning in the Hellenistic period. The feminine metaphors inherent in these titles may have served in turn as the models for comparable titles such as "Mater Senatus", "Mater Patriae", and "Mater Castrorum" bestowed on imperial women.

For this investigation I will use post-colonial theory as currently applied by ancient historians, and feminist theory that has become traditional among historians of women. This paper is part of a larger work in progress on gender and ethnicity.

The Department of History, Hunter College and the Graduate School,
C.U.N.Y., 365 Fifth Avenue, Suite 5114, New York, NY 10016.

SBPom@aol.com