Elective course. Women in Greek Cities of the Eastern Roman Empire during the Early Imperial Period 2900-HAMC-EL-WGCERE

This course examines the roles, activities, and public visibility of women in the Greek, early Christian, and Jewish worlds from the Hellenistic period to the fourth century. The main focus will be on the analysis of primary sources, especially Greek inscriptions, papyri, and selected literary texts. Students will work with Greek texts accompanied by English translations, as well as with biblical and documentary evidence.
The first part of the course is devoted to women in the civic space of Greek cities. We will discuss women intellectuals who were commemorated in public contexts, including Menophila from Sardis and an anonymous poet from Kos. We will also examine women as civic benefactresses, focusing on Plancia Magna from Perge and Motoxaris from Selge. These case studies will allow us to consider how elite women participated in civic life, how their public roles were represented in inscriptions, and how family strategies, status, wealth, and local traditions shaped female benefaction.
The second part of the course focuses on women in early Christian communities. We will analyze the figure of Lydia and her activity in Macedonia in Acts 16:11–16, comparing her with Junia Theodora, known from inscriptional evidence from Corinth. We will also discuss Priscilla and Aquila as a married couple active in the early Christian mission, and examine Romans 16 in order to ask whom Paul greets and what this chapter reveals about women’s roles in early Christian networks.
The third part of the course turns to women in Jewish environments outside the rabbinic tradition. We will study Babatha and her papyrus archive, with particular attention to property ownership and the reading of one ketubbah, or marriage contract. We will ask in what language the contract was drawn up and whether it reflects Jewish custom. Further classes will be devoted to women’s titles and functions in Jewish communities across the diaspora, the late antique inscription from Aphrodisias mentioning Jael, the leader of the decany, and the role of women as founders of synagogues, with particular attention to the case of Tation.
The course combines close reading of primary sources with historical interpretation. It aims to show how inscriptions, papyri, and literary texts can be used to reconstruct the social, religious, and civic roles of women in ancient Mediterranean communities.