Castra, quasi casta? Women and children in the archaeology of Roman military communities

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Women and children are now considered a part of life in the Roman army far more than had ever been considered before. The evidence and spatial patterning of material within and outside Roman forts makes their presence clear, but still research on the social role of these individuals lags behind. This presentation concentrates on the evidence that illuminates the varied roles of non-combatants within these somewhat unique settlements. The presentation highlights the very different realities for the wives and children of officers and the family members of, for instance, a foot soldier, who was paid far less and was not legally allowed to contract a marriage while serving. This lecture presents evidence from the frontier auxiliary fort at Vindolanda (near Hadrian's Wall) and evaluates that material in conjunction with military diplomas, inscriptions and artistic evidence from around the empire that illuminates the social lives of Roman military families. 

Bio
Dr. Greene is Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. Her research focuses on the archaeology of frontiers and provinces, especially the Roman military and the community surrounding military garrisons. Her publications since finishing her PhD in 2011 have focused on the women and children associated with military communities, using disparate bodies of evidence including archaeological shoes, military diplomas, the Vindolanda writing tablets and artistic evidence. She has excavated at the Roman fort of Vindolanda since 2002 and now directs the Vindolanda Archaeological Leather Project, which is digitizing and analyzing the full assemblage of over 7000 archaeological leather finds from the site. 

 

Castra, quasi casta? Women and children in the archaeology of Roman military communities
Date
Wed September 30th 2020, 12:00 - 1:00pm
Location
Zoom
Event Sponsor
Archaeology Center
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