Chapter 8: Beyond Jewellery: Female Economic Roles in the Late Republic

This chapter challenges the traditional view of Roman elite women as passive holders of wealth by highlighting their active roles as property owners and managers in the Late Republican economy. While jewels and adornments symbolized status, elite women also exercised economic agency beyond mere conspicuous consumption. Beginning with the famous speech by Hortensia reported by Appian (App. B Civ. 4.32–34) and primarily drawing on Varro, as well as Cicero’s speeches and letters, the chapter explores how women owned, managed and profited from land, urban real estate and financial assets. Despite legal restrictions, women navigated economic structures to control, preserve and enhance their wealth more actively than is often assumed, with their economic engagement having significant socio-political implications. Ultimately, gendered assumptions about wealth and power in the Roman Republic will be discussed.