Scholarly record

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE HISTORY OF ROMAN RELIGION: FROM VESTALE TO MADONNA

Rosella Tomassoni, Stefania Liburdi, Annalisa Marsella

Abstract

Introduction: Within the concept of women in the archaic Roman era, the present paper will attempt a believable reconstruction of the passage of the vestal woman figure, subjected to the male “potestas” of the “pontfex maximus” in which Eros was sacrificed to the Civitas due to the blackmail of equal rights, to the recovery of the woman as an object of Christian contemplation. Objective and Method: The aim of this article, through the analysis of recognized sources, is to study the axiom according to which the Roman woman was considered equal to the man in society (for roles, reputation, legal capacity, and public image), only playing the religious role of vestal, which denied her femininity.Throughout history, male domination was revealed in all fields, still in the religious field, until the advent of Christianity which re-evaluated the woman through the figure of the Madonna, attributing to her the role of mother of the creator. Topic: The figure and role of women in ancient Rome did not disregard religion. In that period, the various female personalities could be identified in the figures of: matrons, prostitutes, commoners, vestals, all of which were characterized by enslavement to the particular patriarchal figure (pater, husband or pontifex). Only the vestal priestesses would seem to be excluded from the list of figures subject to male protagonists. The woman, considered tender and soft (“mollis, “mulier”, the most fragile) was completely excluded from important roles in Roman society.The juridical position of the Roman woman is obtained in the law of the XII tables (451-450 BC): "Feminas, etsi perfectae aetatis sint, in tutela esse, exceptis virginibus Vestalibus" - "The women are all to be under protection, although they are adults, except the Vestal virgins". Vestal women could juridically act like a man only if subjected to the temple of the goddess Vesta; in a psychoanalytic analysis, therefore, the counterpart was the renunciation of femininity, which was imposed by the thirty-year chastity they had to abide by. Throughout history, male domination was revealed in all fields, still in the religious field, until the advent of Christianity which re-evaluated the woman through the figure of the Madonna, attributing to her the role of mother of the creator. Conclusion: In conclusion, with this article, we will analyse how the Roman religions (polytheistic and monotheistic) have contributed, throughout history, to subjecting women to male domination and to attributing a negative and sinful image to them, until the advent of Christianity. The psychologist feels the need to address a question: what of this primordial essence of the feminine scares the man of every age?

Publication details

Back to publication list