De manhaftige Arria in wetenschappelijk perspectief

What we know about women in ancient Rome depends on the available sources, but also on the questions we ask. In this article, the role of women in Latin literature is discussed in relation to the academic interest for these characters and the changes in these interests. Whereas a first generation of studies of Roman women was mostly focused on (stereo)types in literature, the second generation used material and textual sources to contextualize the lives of actual women in specific places and at specific times, and the third generation is influenced by gender theories and questions what femininity and masculinity mean in a specific socio-cultural environment. The case of Arria as described by Martial and Pliny serves to illustrate the different approaches to women in antiquity.