1st Edition

Dress and the Roman Woman Self-Presentation and Society

By Kelly Olson Copyright 2008
192 Pages
by Routledge

192 Pages
by Routledge

192 Pages
by Routledge

In ancient Rome, the subtlest details in dress helped to distinguish between levels of social and moral hierarchy. Clothes were a key part of the sign systems of Roman civilization – a central aspect of its visual language, for women as well as men. This engaging book collects and examines artistic evidence and literary references to female clothing, cosmetics and ornament in Roman antiquity,... Read more
Introduction  1. The Clothing of Women  2. The Cosmetics Arts and Care of the Body  3. The Dangers of Adornment  4. Self-Presentation, Status and Power.  Conclusion

Biography

Kelly Olson (PhD, University of Chicago) is associate professor at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. Her research interests are in the areas of Roman society and culture, and she has published numerous book chapters and articles on Roman women and ancient clothing.

'An assiduously researched monograph, Dress and the Roman Woman makes a welcomed contribution to the growing interest in dress and adornment in the Roman world ... this surprisingly slender book represents the fullest and most recent examination in English of women's dress and adornment at Rome. Dress and the Roman Woman should become an immediate standard resource for scholars of Roman social history and women's history, and in particular, required reading for historians of Roman dress.'Bryn Mawr Classical Review