Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-669899f699-7xsfk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-04T10:49:45.197Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - Present but not Accounted For

Women and the Roman Army in the Twenty-First Century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2024

By
Lee L. Brice  and
Elizabeth M. Greene
Edited by
Lee L. Brice  and
Elizabeth M. Greene
Lee L. Brice
Affiliation:
Western Illinois University
Elizabeth M. Greene
Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario
Get access

Summary

Traditional study of Roman military communities has ignored or erased women and their families from daily military life. Archaeological and documentary evidence reveal the inescapable fact that residents of extended military communities interacted inside and outside Roman forts through habitation, commercial endeavors, and social obligations. As a result of having been segregated by historians into external communities women have been acknowledged as existing, but otherwise ignored. Not only have their social and economic contributions been disregarded, but even their identities have been overlooked. This chapter reviews the basic reasons historians have removed women from our conception of life in military contexts and then discusses the evidence for the presence and contributions of military women. The chapter closes with discussion of how the volume is organized. As becomes clear, the presence of women, children, and families within the forts and in the extramural settlements of the Roman army is beyond doubt, thanks to the diligent and sometimes contentious work of scholars over the last thirty years.

Keywords

WomenmilitaryfamilyhistoriographyRoman armyfortsbiases
Type
Chapter
Information
Women and the Army in the Roman Empire , pp. 1 - 20
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Ailes, M. E. (2012) “Camp followers, sutlers, and soldiers’ wives: Women in early modern armies (1450–1650).” In Hacker and Vining (eds.), 61–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allason-Jones, L. (1999) “Women and the Roman army in Britain.” In Goldsworthy and Haynes (eds.), 41–51.Google Scholar
Allason-Jones, L. (2001) “What is a military assemblage?” JRMES 10: 1–4.Google Scholar
Allason-Jones, L. (2013) “The vicus at Housesteads: A case study in material culture and Roman life.” In Breaking Down Boundaries: Hadrian’s Wall in the 21st Century. (eds.) Collins, R. and Symonds, M. F. A., 71–84. Portsmouth, RI: Journal of Roman Archaeology.Google Scholar
Allison, P. M. (2011) “Soldiers’ families in the early Roman Empire.” In A Companion to Families in the Greek and Roman Worlds. (ed.) Rawson, B., 161–82. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Allison, P. M. (2013) People and Spaces in Roman Military Bases. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brandl, U. (ed.) (2008) “Frauen und Römisches Militär”: Beiträge eines Runden Tisches in Xanten vom 7. bis 9. Juli 2005. BAR International Series 1759. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breeze, D. (2015) “Theory and practice: Did the women always follow the men?” In Understanding Roman Frontiers: A Celebration for Professor Bill Hanson. (eds.) Breeze, D. J., Jones, R. H., and Oltean, I. A., 224–37. Edinburgh: John Donald.Google Scholar
Breeze, D. (2016) The Roman Army. London: Bloomsbury.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breeze, D. and Maxfield, V. (eds.) (1989) Service in the Roman Army. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Brice, L. L. (ed.) (2020) New Approaches to Greek and Roman Warfare. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, B. (1994) The Roman Army 31 BC to AD 337: A Sourcebook. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, D. (2010) “Women in Roman forts: Residents, visitors or barred from entry?” Ancient Warfare 6: 48–53.Google Scholar
Cardoza, T. (2010) Intrepid Women: Cantinières and Vivandières of the French Army. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Carroll, M. (2018) Infancy and Earliest Childhood in the Roman World: A Fragment of Time. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crawford, S., Shepherd, G., and Hadley, D. (eds.) (2018) The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Childhood. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dana, D. (2014) “Conubium cum uxoribus: Mariages Thraces dans les diplômes militaires.” CCG 24: 217–40.Google Scholar
Davies, R. (1969) “Joining the Roman army.” BJ 169: 208–32. Reprinted in (1989) Breeze and Maxfield (eds.), 3–33.Google Scholar
Davies, R. (1974) “The daily life of the Roman soldier under the Principate.” ANRW II.1: 299–338. Reprinted in (1989) Breeze and Maxfield, 33–70.Google Scholar
Duggan, M., McIntosh, F., and Rohl, D. J. (eds.) (2012) TRAC 2011. Proceedings of the Twenty First Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, Newcastle 2011. Oxford: Oxbow.Google Scholar
Eck, W. (2010/2014) “Milites et Pagani. Die Stellung der Soldaten in der römischen Gesellschaft.” In Homo, caput, persona. La costruzione giuridica dell’identità nell’esperienza romana. (eds.) Corbino, A., Humbert, M., and Negri, G., 597–630. Pavia: IUSS Press. Reprinted and translated, (2014) “Milites et Pagani. La posizione dei soldati nella società romana.” Trans. Daniela Quadrino. Rationes rerum 3: 11–54.Google Scholar
Eck, W. (2011) “Septimius Severus und die Soldaten. Das Problem der Soldatenehe und ein neues Auxiliardiplom.” In omni historia curiosus. Studien zur Geschichte von der Antike bis zur Neuzeit. Festschrift für Helmuth Schneider zum 65. Geburtstag. (eds.) Onken, B. and Rohde, D., 63–77. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar
Ehrenreich, B. (1997) Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War. New York: Henry Holt.Google Scholar
Goldsworthy, A. and Haynes, I. (eds.) (1999) The Roman Army as a Community: Including Papers of a Conference Held at Birkbeck College, University of London, on 11–12 January 1997. Portsmouth, RI: Journal of Roman Archaeology.Google Scholar
Greene, E. M. (2012) “Sulpicia Lepidina and Elizabeth Custer: A cross-cultural analogy for the social roles of women on a military frontier.” In Duggan, McIntosh, and Rohl (eds.), 105–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greene, E. M. (2014) “If the shoe fits: Style and function of children’s shoes from Vindolanda.” In Life in the Limes: Studies of the People and Objects of the Roman Frontiers. (eds.) Collins, R. and McIntosh, F., 29–36. Oxford: Oxbow.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greene, E. M. (2015a) “Conubium cum uxoribus: Wives and children in the Roman military diplomas.” JRA 28: 125–59.Google Scholar
Greene, E. M. (2015b) “Roman military pay and soldiers’ families: The household contribution to subsistence.” In Proceedings of the 22nd International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies, 2012. (eds.) Sharankov, N. and Vagalinski, L., 495–9. Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Greene, E. M. (2017) “The families of Roman auxiliary soldiers in the military diplomas.” In Hodgson, Bidwell, and Schachtmann (eds.), 23–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greene, E. M. (2020) “Roman military communities and the families of Roman auxiliary soldiers.” In Brice (ed.), 149–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hacker, B. C. (1981) “Women and military institutions in early modern Europe: A reconnaissance.” Signs 6/4: 643–71.Google Scholar
Hacker, B. C. and Vining, M. (eds.) (2012) A Companion to Women’s Military History. Leiden: Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagemann, K., Dudink, S., and Rose, S. O. (eds.) (2020) The Oxford Handbook of Gender, War, and the Western World Since 1600. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haynes, I. P. (1993) “The romanisation of religion in the auxilia of the Roman imperial army from Augustus to Septimus Severus.” Britannia 24: 141–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haynes, I. P. (1999) “Military service and cultural identity in the auxilia.” In Goldsworthy and Haynes (eds.), 165–74.Google Scholar
Hingley, R. (2000) Roman Officers and English Gentlemen: The Imperial Origins of Roman Archaeology. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hodgson, N., Bidwell, P., and Schachtmann, J. (eds.) (2017) Roman Frontier Studies 2009: Proceedings of the XXI International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies (Limes Congress) held at Newcastle upon Tyne in August 2009. Oxford: Archaeopress.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffmann, B. (2006) “Melonenperlen und das Militär in Grossbritannien, am Rhein und an der oberen Donau.” In Seitz (ed.), 227–30.Google Scholar
Holder, P. A. (1982) The Roman Army in Britain. New York: St. Martin’s Press.Google Scholar
Hölschen, B. and Becker, T. (2006) “‘Grenzkinder.’ Zu den Nachweismöglichkeiten von Kindern am Obergermanisch-Raetischen Limes.” In Seitz (ed.), 35–44.Google Scholar
Ivleva, T. (2017) “British families in the Roman army: Living on the fringes of the Roman world.” In Hodgson, Bidwell, and Schachtmann (eds.), 26–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, S. T. (1999) “The community of soldiers: A major identity and centre of power in the Roman empire.” In Proceedings of the Eighth Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, Leicester, 1998. (eds.) Baker, P., Forcey, C., Jundi, S., and Witcher, R., 14–25. Oxford: Oxbow.Google Scholar
James, S. T. (2001) “Soldiers and civilians: Identity and interaction in Roman Britain.” In Britons and Romans: Advancing an Archaeological Agenda. (eds.) James, S. and Millett, M., 77–89. York: Council for British Archaeology.Google Scholar
James, S. T. (2002) “Writing the legions: The development and future of Roman military studies in Britain.” Archaeol. Journal 159: 1–58.Google Scholar
James, S. T. (2018) “Ghost train: The (almost) invisible dependants of the Roman garrison at Dura-Europos, Syria.” In Embracing the Provinces: Society and Material Culture of the Roman Frontier Regions. (eds.) Ivleva, T., de Bruin, J., and Driessen, M., 37–48. Oxford: Oxbow.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, M. J. (2017) “Women and children in military inscriptions from northern Germania Superior.” In Hodgson, Bidwell, and Schachtmann (eds.), 34–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laes, C. and Vuolanto, V. (eds.) (2017) Children and Everyday Life in the Roman and Late Antique World. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Le Bohec, Y. (2017) “Des femmes dans les camps?” BJ 217: 95–112.Google Scholar
Le Bohec, Y. (2020) Vie quotidienne des soldats romains à l’apogée de l’empire. Paris: Tallandier.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, A. D. (2020) “A professional Roman army?” In Skilled Labour and Professionalism in Ancient Greece and Rome. (eds.) Stewart, E., Harris, E., and Lewis, D., 362–82. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Linden-High, A. C. (2020a) “Enslaved and freed persons in Roman military communities under the Principate (27 BCE–284 CE).” PhD dissertation, Duke University.Google Scholar
Linden-High, A. C. (2020b) “Testamentary manumission for slaves of Roman imperial soldiers.” Tyche 35: 99–125.Google Scholar
Lynn, II, J. A. (2008) Women, Armies, and Warfare in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lynn, II, J. A. (2012) “Essential women, necessary wives, and exemplary soldiers: The military reality and cultural representation of women’s military participation (1600–1815).” In Hacker and Vining (eds.), 93–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacMullen, R. (1984) “The legion as a society.” Historia 33.4: 440–56.Google Scholar
Mann, J. C. (1985) “Epigraphic consciousness.” JRS 75: 204–6.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D. J. (2006) An Imperial Possession: Britain in the Roman empire, 54 BC to AD 409. New York: Penguin.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D. J. (2013) Imperialism, Power, and Identity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Maxfield, V. A. (1995) “Soldier and civilian: Life beyond the ramparts.” In The Eighth Annual Caerleon Lecture (Caerleon). Reproduced in (2002) The Second Augustan Legion and the Roman Military Machine. (ed.) Brewer, R. J., 145–63. Cardiff: National Museums and Galleries of Wales.Google Scholar
Parker, H. M. D. (1928) The Roman Legions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Phang, S. E. (2001) The Marriage of Roman Soldiers (13 BC–AD 235): Law and Family in the Imperial Army. Leiden: Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phang, S. E. (2002) “The families of Roman soldiers (first and second centuries A.D.): Culture, law and practice.” Journal of Family History 27: 352–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phang, S. E. (2004) “Intimate conquests: Roman soldiers’ slave women and freedwomen.” AncW 15: 207–37.Google Scholar
Roxan, M. M. (1991) “Women on the frontiers.” In Roman Frontier Studies 1989: Proceedings of the XVth International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies. (eds.) Maxfield, V. A. and Dobson, M. J., 462–7. Exeter: University of Exeter Press.Google Scholar
Saller, R. P. and Shaw, B. D. (1984) “Tombstones and Roman family relations in the Principate: Civilians, soldiers and slaves.” JRS 74: 124–56.Google Scholar
Seitz, G. (ed.) (2006) Im Dienste Roms. Festschrift für Hans Ulrich Numer. Remshalden: Verlag Bernhard Albert Greiner.Google Scholar
Serrati, J. (2020) “‘Take the sword away from that girl!’ Combat, gender, and vengeance in the middle Republic.” In Romans at War: Soldiers, Citizens and Society in the Roman Republic. (eds.) Armstrong, J. and Fronda, M. P., 116–33. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Speidel, M. A. (2013) “Les femmes et la bureaucratie. Quelques réflexions sur l’interdiction du mariage dans l’armée romaine.” CCG 24: 205–15.Google Scholar
Stoll, O. (2021) “Militärfamilien in den Militär- und Garnisonsgesellschaften der Limeszonen des Imperium Romanum während des 1.–3. Jh. n. Chr. Familienleben trotz ‘Eheverbots’.” Marburger Beiträge zur antiken Handels-, Wirtschafts-und Sozialgeschichte 38: 1–74.Google Scholar
Treggiari, S. (1991) Roman Marriage: Iusti Coniuges from the Time of Cicero to the Time of Ulpian. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Enckevort, H. (2017) “Some thoughts about the archaeological legacy of soldiers’ families in the countryside of the civitas Batavorum.” In Hodgson, Bidwell, and Schachtmann (eds.), 16–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Versluys, M. J. (2014) “Understanding objects in motion: An archaeological dialogue on romanization.” Archaeol. Dialogues 20.1: 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walters, J. (1997) “Soldiers and whores in a Pseudo-Quintilian declamation.” In Gender and Ethnicity in Ancient Italy. (eds.) Cornell, T. and Lomas, K., 109–14. London: Accordia Research Institute.Google Scholar
Watson, G. R. (1969) The Roman Soldier. Bristol: Thames and Hudson.Google Scholar
Webster, G. (1985) The Roman Imperial Army, 3rd ed. London: A & C Black.Google Scholar
Wells, C. M. (1989) “Celibate soldiers. Augustus and the army.” AJAH 14: 180–90.Google Scholar
Wells, C. M. (1997) “‘The daughters of the regiment’: Sisters and wives in the Roman army.” In Roman Frontier Studies 1995. (eds.) Groenman-van Waateringe, W., van Beek, R. L., Willems, W. J. H., and Wynia, S. L., 571–4. Oxford: Oxbow.Google Scholar
Wintjes, J. (2012) “‘Keep the women out of the camp’: Women and military institutions in the classical world.” In Hacker and Vining (eds.), 17–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woolf, G. (1998) Becoming Roman: The Origins of Provincial Civilization in Gaul. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woolf, G. (2003) “Local cult in imperial context: The Matronae revisited.” In Romanisation und Resistenz in Plastik, Architektur und Inschriften der Provinzen des Imperium Romanum Neue Funde und Forschungen. (eds.) Noelke, P., Schneider, B., and Naumann-Steckner, F., 131–8. Mainz: Verlag Philipp von Zabern.Google Scholar
Zerbini, A. (2014) “Greetings from the camp. Memories and preoccupations in the papyrus correspondence of Roman soldiers with their families.” In Guerra e Memoria nel Mondo Antico. (eds.) Franchi, E. and Proietti, G., 287–342. Trento: Università degli Studi di Trento.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×