The Age of Marriage in Ancient Rome (review)

Abstract

Ostia showing a woman selling chickens and vegetables …."No specific mention of Roman female vendors appears in the sections dealing with occupations.Furthermore, the bibliography does not include any references to Natalie Boymel Kampen's work on this very subject (e.g, "Social status and gender in Roman art: The case of the saleswoman," in Eve D'Ambra, ed., Roman Art in Context: An Anthology [Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1993] 115-132).This representative sample of images that Lefkowitz and Fant present sends a dangerous message that we are to treat art as secondary to the literary evidence.Because of the importance of art in ancient culture and its bearing on current scholarly trends, there is a need for new source books to compile artworks and provide the requisite bibliography alongside the literary sources themselves.This is not to say that the authors are not mindful of these matters.Perhaps part of the problem stems from the complexities and costs involved in book design.Many of the concerns raised here could be dealt with in part or in whole if this work sees a fourth edition or if the website takes off as the reference tool that the authors promise it to be.Regardless, Women's Life in Greece and Rome will still be part and parcel of the required or supplementary readings of many syllabi pertaining to women in antiquity.