Please see my finished work below. The bold text is text I have added. I have added this to the current wiki page but here is everything in one place.
Extra info:
I read multiple sources in French despite the fact I have taken very little French in my life. For example Grimaldi, Mario. “Ritrovata La Statua Di Concordia Dall’edificio Di Eumachia a Pompei.” Eutopia: Commentarii Noui de Antiquitatibus Totius Europae N. S. 3, no. 1–2 (2003): 33–63.
History and Significance
editIn Italy, women emerged as public benefactors and patrons in the 1st century BC and second century AD.[1]Women played an essential role in Pompeian society; they owned property, conducted business transactions, took on priesthoods, set up statues for others, received honorary statues, funded a variety of civic benefactions, and handled money. [2] Women could accumulate considerable wealth on their own and were independent members of society.[3]By the second AD public statues, building inscriptions, and architectural designs all featured the names and images of women in the towns of Italy and the western provinces.[1]Eumachia is one of 7 powerful female patrons known from Pompeii.[1]
Eumachia was the daughter of Lucius Eumachius, who possibly had amassed a large fortune as a manufacturer of bricks, tiles and amphorae. She married Marcus Numistrius Fronto, who may have held the important office of duovir.The Numistrii were established within the office-holding elite, which typically cemented its position with benefactions and civic patronage.[4] The survival of a family tomb, a statue dedicated to her by the fullers and the inscription which honors her donation of the building of Eumachia prove Eumachia was an elite women of Roman Italy.[4]
All that is certain is that Eumachia was able to use her wealth and social standing to obtain the position of public priestess of the goddess Venus Pompeiana (the city's patron goddess), and she became a successful patronus of the economically significant guild of fullers, the guild which consisted of tanners, dyers and clothing-makers.
Eumachia is important as an example of how a Roman woman of non-imperial/non-aristocratic descent could become an important figure in a community and involved in public affairs. She is seen as representative for the increasing involvement of women in politics, using the power of a public priestess, the only political office able to be held by a woman for social mobility. Scholars have stressed that it is hard to determine the social status of women in the Roman Empire because there is limited epigraphic evidence.[2] Inscriptions need to include a male relative and his rank for scholars to understand a woman's function in society. [2]
Building of Eumachia
editThe building of Eumachia, the largest building near the forum of Pompeii, is commonly broken down into three parts, the chalcidicum, the porticus , and the crypta. The chalcidicum is a deep porch that encompasses the front of the building and is an important part of the continuous portico running along the east of the Forum.Between the bases of columns on the S side of the porch, there are traces of metal swivel-holes that indicate gates were present, closing off the porch from the Forum.[5] There are two sections to the entrance: the porticus and the crypta.[5] The porticus is a four-sided colonnade surrounding a large courtyard, and the crypta is a corridor behind the colonnade on the N.E and south sides of the building.[5] On the forum side, there is a very high and wide entrance.[5] At the base of the ramp on the Via dell’Abbondanza there is a a normal sized entrance.[5] On the North wall that leads into the Vicoletto di Eumachia there is a small door.[5]
Scholars have claimed it could be used as 1. A marketplace for goods, especially those sold by the fullers' guild of which Eumachia was the matron. 2. A headquarters for the fullers' guild, where they washed, stretched and dyed wool. With the actual Fulling done off site because of the smell. 3. A headquarters for the fullers guild, where they did everything involved with the fulling process, with the idea that smells were of little concern in an ancient city before the invention of modern sewage.4. A private place for businessmen of the city, especially those engaged in the wool trade.[5] 5. A private place for transacting business and for relaxation within the crypta and porticus.[5] 6. A place for wool exchange where goods in large quantities were sold in auction.[5]
Detailed archaeological investigation of the entrance suggests the building cannot have been used as an active marketplace.[5] If the building of Eumachia was used as a cloth vendor or market, the entrances would be wider and placed in the middle of their respective walls.[5] The entrances at Eumachia allowed for strict observance of those who entered from the N and main entrances through porter's lodges which is uncommon in markets such as Macellum and the Basilica.[5]
Statue
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In response to her generosity, and symbolic of her power and social status, the fullers built a statue depicting Eumachia. This sculpture is located in the middle of the rear wall of the crypta.[6]Eumachia is dressed in tunic, stola, and cloak with and displays an idealized portrait.[1] There is a reddish color paint that is still visible in her hair.[6] The base of the sculpture has an inscription: “ The fullers (erected it) to Eumachia, daughter of Lucius, public priestess.”[4] See Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum: "EVMACHIAE L F SACERD PVBL FVLLONES,". Honorific statues of this type were costly.[2] The statue of Eumachia was likely typical for female benefactors of her status in Pompeii.[2]A copy of the statue is in Pompeii while the original is at the Naples Archaeological Museum.
- ^ a b c d Wooley, Allison (2013). "Women and the Roman City in the Latin West". Entomological Society of Canada.
- ^ a b c d e Meyers, Rachel (2021). "Exceptional Female Benefactors in Roman Hispania". Gale Literature. 117 (2).
- ^ Longfellow, Brenda (2014). "Female Patrons and Honorific Statues in Pompeii". Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. 59/60.
- ^ a b c Dixon, Suzanne (2008). "Gracious Patrons and Vulgar Success Stories in Roman Public Media". Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. 7: 57–68 – via JSTOR.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Moeller, Walter O. (July 1972). "The Building of Eumachia: A Reconsideration". The University of Chicago Press. 76 (3): 323.
- ^ a b Will, Elizabeth Lyding (1979). "Women in Pompeii". Archaeology. 32 (5): 34–43 – via JSTOR.