Matronal virtues, professional pride and divine associations. Funerary commemoration of freedwomen in Roman Italy

Abstract

In the funerary culture of Roman Italy between the late first century BCE and the late second century CE tombs set up by and for freed people, both men and women, predominated. This article looks at these monuments from the perspective of freedwomen. It surveys three patterns of commemoration of freedwomen: their emulation of freeborn (elite) values, the expression of professional pride and their posthumous representation in the guise of deities. Incorporating elements that at first sight may seem contradictory – such as work and the ideal of domesticity –, the funerary representation of freedwomen shows a greater variety and wider range than that of freeborn women. By discussing the complexity of their (self-)representation the article aims to shed new light on the lives and ambitions of freedwomen in Roman society.