Religious roles of women in the republican period of Rome

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

4 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

04/16/2009

Category :

Political science

Sub category :

Social sciences

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Summary :

Introduction
The private sphere of the home and family
The observance of the Lars Familiaris
Women and their role in public rituals tied to the religious calendar in Rome
The Liberalia in March
The primary function of the Vestals
Conclusions
Bibliography

Abstract

The role of women in Roman religion during the period of the Republic was integral to Roman religious practice, and the vitality and import of feminine roles in republican religion should not be underestimated. Although women did not always participate as directly in public religious practice or fill as many official religious positions as the men of republican rome, their involvement in religion was nonetheless constant and dynamic, extending into nearly every aspect of religious observance, and was not limited to those deities associated with traditionally feminine concerns, nor was it confined to the feminine cults. The religious practices of Roman women in the Republic also incorporated deities that held sway over traditionally masculine concerns such as finance, politics, and civic or public affairs. Furthermore, certain cults in republican rome allowed only women to act as officials, and the presence and participation of women in various public rites was essential in the proper observance of those rites. women also played an important part in Roman religion in an unofficial capacity, in the daily religious rituals that were tied to life at home and the family, and which were equally as significant as the public festivals tied to the religious calendar. The religious practices of the Romans were tied to beliefs rooted in ancestral traditions about the gods and their role in human survival and prosperity. As the Republic progressed and expanded, the religious practices of the other cultures it came into contact with were integrated or fused with the older Roman practices, and the Romans included these new foreign customs in their public and private religious observance.