Empresses-in-Waiting: Female Power and Performance at the Late Roman Court
Empresses-in-Waiting: Female Power and Performance at the Late Roman Court
Reader in Ancient History
Assistant Professor in History of Late Antiquity and Early Byzantium
Cite
Abstract
Empresses-in-Waiting comprises case studies of late antique empresses, female members of imperial dynasties, and female members of the highest nobility of the late Roman empire, ranging from the fourth to the seventh centuries AD. Situated in the context of the broader developments of scholarship on late antique and byzantine empresses, this volume explores the political agency, religious authority, and influence of imperial and near-imperial women within the Late Roman imperial court, which is understood as a complex spatial, social, and cultural system, the centre of patronage networks, and an arena for elite competition. The studies explore female performance and representation in literary and visual media as well as in court ceremonial, and discuss the opportunities and constraints of female power within a male dominated court environment and the broader realms of imperial activity. By focusing on imperial women, the volume not only addresses questions of gendered rhetoric and agency but throws into relief general dynamics in the exercise of imperial power during a period in which the classical Mediterranean world at large, as well as the Roman monarchy, underwent crucial transformations.
-
Front Matter
-
Empresses-in-Waiting? An Introduction
Christian Rollinger andNadine Viermann
-
1
Towards a History of Scholarship on Late Antique Imperial Women: From Theodora, the Tigress to Matronage
Anja Wieber
-
Section 1 Political Agency and Power Brokerage
-
2
Empress with Agency: Eusebia’s Efforts to Consolidate the Constantinian Dynasty
Silvia Holm
-
3
John Chrysostom’s Letter to a Young Widow: Reflections on Imperial Women’s Roles at Regime Change
Belinda Washington
-
4
The Empress Sophia Reconsidered
Silvio Roggo
-
5
The Empress Sophia and East Roman Foreign Policy
Lewis Dagnall
-
6
Dynasty, Endogamy, and Civil Strife: Martina Augusta and the Role of Imperial Women in the Early Seventh Century
Nadine Viermann
-
2
Empress with Agency: Eusebia’s Efforts to Consolidate the Constantinian Dynasty
-
Section 2 Performance and Representation
-
Section 3 Non- and Near-Imperial Women at the Imperial Court
-
9
Augusta Unrealized: Anicia Juliana and the Logistics of Place
Geoffrey Nathan
-
10
Antonina Patricia: Theodora’s Fixer at the Female Court and the Politics of Gender in Procopius
Christopher Lillington-Martin
-
11
Matasuintha: From Gothic Queen to Imperial Woman
Marco Cristini
-
Imperial Women after Curtains
Julia Hillner
-
9
Augusta Unrealized: Anicia Juliana and the Logistics of Place
-
End Matter
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
January 2025 | 2 |
January 2025 | 1 |
January 2025 | 1 |
January 2025 | 1 |
January 2025 | 1 |
January 2025 | 1 |
January 2025 | 1 |
January 2025 | 1 |
January 2025 | 1 |
January 2025 | 1 |
January 2025 | 1 |
January 2025 | 1 |
January 2025 | 1 |
February 2025 | 1 |
March 2025 | 1 |
March 2025 | 2 |
April 2025 | 1 |
April 2025 | 2 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.