Reviving the classical dead: Roman epitaphs to demonstrate social continuity and change concerning married women

Abstract

This research aims to investigate the avenues of continuity and change concerning attitudes toward and virtues attributed to Roman women, both pagan and Christian, from the first to the fifth century C.E. Romans felt it necessary to commemorate their dead by way of monuments and inscriptions. Analysis of the plethora of funerary epitaphs from this period reveals how the various streams of continuity and change affected female social status, religious placement, and allows us to gain a deeper understanding of a social group that was often left voiceless.