Although Julia seemingly functioned as a pawn in her father's dynastic game, her story is fascinating because of the light it shines on the lives of upper class women at the beginning of the Empire. As with most aristocratic Roman women of the period, expectations of Julia focused on marriage and the resulting family alliances. Augustus raised her under strict rules and insisted that Julia demonstrate her wifely virtues . This was unfortunate, because domestic virtues were not her strongest suit. According to many sources, Julia was well known as a witty and gregarious woman; she had a series of lovers while stilled marriage to and many people knew this . Julia was infamous for her blunt remarks about her controversial, often sexually forward,
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In his will, Augustus formally adopted her into his line, with the name Julia Augusta. Inscriptions, art works, and coins as well as literary sources attest to the elevated political, and social status of this woman. In an onyx cameo of Livia, displays at Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum, she is holding a bust of the deified Augustus . Here, Livia wears a diadem and displays attributes of several goddesses. Likewise, in many life-size statues of her, probably dating from after 14 CE, Livia allegorically represented as the goddess Ceres . She is depicted in statues as having a impressive presence, features of perfect regularity, enormous eyes and thick, wavy hair, bearing divine aura. Her right hand often clutches on a bundles of wheat, while her left hand embraces a cornucopia overflowing with vegetables and fruit. Her veiled head is crowned with strands of the wool associated with Roman religion and flower hang down on either side of her neck. Her figure is full and matronly, concealed under the cascading tunic, stola, characteristic of traditional Roman marriage. Like Ceres, this Livia is quintessentially a mother, one whose fertility has benefitted the whole empire instead of a single family . Livia was portrayed as the matron of family life, being both the first wife and mother of the state, symbol of chaste and old-fashioned Roman womanhood. She set an example of the “wife and the mother” to the other Roman …show more content…
Certainly, those from other upper levels of Roman society did not make up the majority of the female population, but it is pieces of their lives that we have to look at. Our discussion served to demonstrate the role of women in Roman society as wives and mothers according to Augustan norm. The new laws propagated by Augustus provide additional opportunities for women in creating conditions in which they could be freed from tutelage. But these moral legislation can also curtailed the freedom of the imperial women in at least one case, since Julia, for example, was exiled because of the application of these laws. In the political context, these laws attended to promote the singular rule of Augustus within the construct of the new empire. Therefore, the multidimensional function and influence that the Julio-Claudian women served in the establishment of Roman cultural hegemony under Augustus cannot be
In his will, Augustus formally adopted her into his line, with the name Julia Augusta. Inscriptions, art works, and coins as well as literary sources attest to the elevated political, and social status of this woman. In an onyx cameo of Livia, displays at Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum, she is holding a bust of the deified Augustus . Here, Livia wears a diadem and displays attributes of several goddesses. Likewise, in many life-size statues of her, probably dating from after 14 CE, Livia allegorically represented as the goddess Ceres . She is depicted in statues as having a impressive presence, features of perfect regularity, enormous eyes and thick, wavy hair, bearing divine aura. Her right hand often clutches on a bundles of wheat, while her left hand embraces a cornucopia overflowing with vegetables and fruit. Her veiled head is crowned with strands of the wool associated with Roman religion and flower hang down on either side of her neck. Her figure is full and matronly, concealed under the cascading tunic, stola, characteristic of traditional Roman marriage. Like Ceres, this Livia is quintessentially a mother, one whose fertility has benefitted the whole empire instead of a single family . Livia was portrayed as the matron of family life, being both the first wife and mother of the state, symbol of chaste and old-fashioned Roman womanhood. She set an example of the “wife and the mother” to the other Roman …show more content…
Certainly, those from other upper levels of Roman society did not make up the majority of the female population, but it is pieces of their lives that we have to look at. Our discussion served to demonstrate the role of women in Roman society as wives and mothers according to Augustan norm. The new laws propagated by Augustus provide additional opportunities for women in creating conditions in which they could be freed from tutelage. But these moral legislation can also curtailed the freedom of the imperial women in at least one case, since Julia, for example, was exiled because of the application of these laws. In the political context, these laws attended to promote the singular rule of Augustus within the construct of the new empire. Therefore, the multidimensional function and influence that the Julio-Claudian women served in the establishment of Roman cultural hegemony under Augustus cannot be