Abstract
Alison Jeppesen
Department of Greek and Roman Studies
University of Calgary
Birds of a feather? The marital ideals of contubernales and coniuges in the epitaphs of Rome
This paper examines the ideals held for wives in Rome. Specifically, I will concentrate on the differences and similarities between two different terms for wives as seen in the epitaphs. I will make comparative references to the literary evidence. I seek to compare the ideals held for the "coniunx" spouse of a legal Roman marriage with those held for the "contubernalis" spouse of a de facto marital relationship. Previous studies on contubernales have concentrated on their legal status. Although I will discuss the issue of status as seen in the epitaphs, I seek to go beyond this by exploring in depth the epithets used to describe these two types of wives in order to compare the ideals and expectations associated with each role. In my examination, I will be able to describe a diachronic shift in the expectations held for these two types of spouses.
Return to CACW 2006 "Household and Society in the Ancient World" Program