Roman Women

Roman Women Published in 1962, Roman Women by J.P.V.D. Baldson chronicles the "history and habits" of women in ancient Rome from the Republic to the Christian era. Touted on the book jacket as "the first time that a book has been published in any language" that portrays the individuality and lifestyle of Roman women of all classes, Baldson's work is both scholarly and seminal.

Because history is too often told by and for males, this book, although penned by a man itself, is nevertheless invaluable in completing the historiography of one of the most important empires in world history. Baldson's book encompasses the time period from the legendary founding of Rome until Constantine's transformation of Rome into the Holy Roman Empire. This work picks up where other histories leave off: at depicting the common, political, and spiritual lives of the other half of the human race.

To complete his study, Baldson draws upon primary sources that include Roman poetry and literature as well as actual epitaphs. The general time period covered spans the eighth century BCE until the fourth century CE. Baldson investigates the domain of women, which was often demarked by their roles as homemakers as opposed to politicians, Empresses who remained behind the scenes and who were yet extremely influential. Therefore, Roman Women adds to a comprehensive history of the Roman Empire as well as to human history in general.

Because so many historiographies focus on battles and their political consequences, the role of women in history is often overlooked. Baldson shows that Roman women, while they may not have led the front lines in battle or headed the Republic as Queen, were nevertheless as significant shapers of history as Roman men were. Any history of Roman women must take into account the basic daily lives of people, the lives which may often seem boring or inconsequential but yet which have more direct relevance to our own lives.

After all, most people operate behind the scenes or live ordinary lives and not those of emperors. Baldson writes his history to draw attention to the forgotten sex and also because he seems fascinated by Roman women in particular. In the Introduction, for instance, the author claims that Roman women had "their own peculiar magic," which literally endowed them with the powers of priestess (14).

Moreover, Baldson notes that the power of Roman women lies in their very biology: their ability to bear children and therefore transfer their genes from generation to generation endows women with a peculiar power that fascinates all people from all times and places. Finally, Baldson sets out to assert that Roman women were feminist prototypes: they "emancipated themselves. They acquired liberty...they enjoyed unrestrained license," (14-15).

However, for Baldson, the power that Roman women enjoyed was primarily sexual in nature; Roman women, like women even in modern societies, rarely enjoyed the same kind of political or economic powers that their male counterparts did. Baldson sets out to show that Roman women were and still are grossly overlooked; he succeeds only insofar as his source material allows him to. It seems that much of Baldson's book is designed to mythologize the history of women.

However, given that the author of Roman Women is male, it is doubtless that his agenda comprises anything more than scholastic ambition. Unfortunately, because women played such limited roles in human history -- Roman history included -- Baldson's study is no less comprehensive than any other historiography like it. The author has doubtlessly done his work: he digs deep into everything from the legend of Romulus and Remus to prostitutes to flesh out a factually accurate portrait of Roman women. Baldson's work is well-organized and comprehensive, given its subject matter.

He doesn't gloss over uncomfortable, politically incorrect realities: "She had no legal personality," (45). While it seems at the outset that Baldson makes far too many inferences, the author backs up all of his conclusions with references to primary sources. The subject matter Baldson deals with is tough, almost like piecing together ancient pottery shards or proto-human skeletons.

Given the difficulty of his subject matter and the relative paucity of primary sources, Baldson does a stellar job in delivering to the academic and general community a comprehensive and accessible work dealing with the significance of Roman women. Baldson's prose is lively, which is admirable given the age of this historiography. Roman Women is by no means dry; whenever possible the author tries to tell a story rather than rehash facts he has gleaned from readings.

Herein lies one of the book's major weaknesses: because of the thinness of the primary source material, Baldson has to fill in the blanks with his.