Women And Sacrifice In The Roman Empire

Abstract

Women in the Graeco-Roman world were formally excluded from political and military functions and responsibilities, but their relation to the third main area of ancient society, religion, was ambiguous.Here, they were both included and excluded: included in some cults and rituals, excluded from others, privileged in few.Boundaries between in-or exclusion seem to have shifted depending on time, place, and social and political context.Since it is generally held that there is no clear dividing line between the political and the religious in the ancient world, study of the participation of women in the religious life of their cities seems to be particularly promising.It may have far-reaching implications for their integration in civic life as a whole.My approach to Roman religion is from the perspective of women and gender.The problem I am considering is connected with the central religious ritual: sacrifice.As the main means of communication between humans and gods, sacrifice has received much scholarly attention.In this paper, I will deal with one aspect only: the participation of women in sacrifice, especially blood sacrifice.Two questions are my guide: first, did women participate in sacrifice, more particularly in the sacrifice of an animal victim?Second, did the Empire affect their participation in sacrifice and, if so, how? 1 Though I deal with the Roman world, the question whether women performed sacrifice cannot be separated from the discussion 1 As regards both questions my discussion is preliminary; I will deal with these issues more fully as part of my current project entitled "Hidden lives -public personae: women in the urban texture of the Roman Empire", in which we study the social and public role of women in the cities of Italy and the western provinces of the Roman Empire in the first three centuries AD.Please also note that, unfortunately, R. Flemming, "Festus and the role of women in Roman religion", in: F. Glinister et al. (eds.)Verrius, Festus and Paul: Lexicography, Scholarship and Society

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