11. Junia Theodora of Corinth: Gendered Inequalities in the Early Empire

Abstract

This chapter presents the case that Junia Theodora shows what influence a woman could have if she had the necessary resources - wealth, status, etc. - and if she used them to support Roman domination. It utilizes distinctions that have been developed under the rubric of intersectionality. Intersectionality is an approach developed in gender studies that focuses on the lives of African American women. The author organizes the case of Junia Theodora using the categories of structural parameters and subject position affecting Junia Theodora. Structural parameters and subject position are metaphors that could be useful in avoiding the choice between an exclusive focus on either 'referential women' or 'representational women'. Junia played out one important theme in the story of Roman Corinth. Junia Theodora and other elite men and women played important roles in the ongoing, structural inequalities that defined the early Roman Empire. Keywords: early Roman empire; gendered inequalities; intersectionality; Junia Theodora; Roman Corinth