Women and power
Meanwhile in imperial Rome, historical women are rarely seen in imperial propaganda, since it did not value bloodline as much as the patriarchal but matrilineal Kush. This was probably a consequence of the democratic nature of the former republic, which valued any man over a woman, to lead. Hence Roman rulers (such as Julius Caesar, Augustus, Claudius) inevitably adopted male heirs. However, similarly to Greece, in imperial Rome the depiction of the goddess Roma on the promotional Augustan Ara Pacis demonstrates how, although there was little appreciation of historical women, in a divine context, goddesses could often promote imperial power.
Roma at the Museo dell’Ara Pacis Rome
In conclusion, while ancient civilizations like Egypt, Assyria, and Kush frequently depicted real-life women in art to promote royal power, Greece and Rome focused more on divine female representations. One could explore several hypotheses for this, but a likely one is that in a patriarchal society open to more democratic or oligarchic ideas such as Athens or Rome, and where there was not an exclusive royal blood line, there was perhaps paradoxically less political scope for women to play a role in government as compared to societies where royal bloodline (including female royal bloodlines) was paramount. Bibliography Fink, S. (2023) ‘Invisible Mesopotamian royal women’, in The Routledge Companion to Women and Monarchy in the Ancient Mediterranean World. London (eds. Carney, E. & S. Müller) Metropolitan Museum of Art website: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/544442#:~:text=1479%E2 %80%93145 8%20B.C.&text=This%20colossal%20sphinx%20portrays%20the,idealized%20f ace%20of %20the%20pharaoh.
Montserrat, D. (2000) Akhenaten: History, Fantasy and ancient Egypt . London Redford, D. ed. (2003). The Oxford Essential Guide to Egyptian Mythology. Oxford
236
Made with FlippingBook - PDF hosting