Mary Harlow

The range of textile and clothing imagery in classical literature is immense. This chapter is meant to provide a theoretical and methodological frame for, and reflect on, the contributions collected in the volume <em>Spinning Fates and the Song of the Loom</em>. What emerges as a first general reflection is that is that an awareness of the craft and technology of weaving and spinning, of the production and consumption of clothing items, and of the social and religious significance of garments is key to appreciating how textile and clothing imagery and metaphors work in context, their suitability to conceptualize human activities and represent cosmic realities, and their potential to evoke symbolic associations and arouse generic expectations. This is all the more so when we regard imagery as a conceptual device, and not just an ornament of style; as a consequence, this paper positions textile imagery in classical literature within ancient and modern discussions on figura...

Textile and dress production, from raw materials to finished items, has had a significant impact on society from its earliest history. The essays in this volume offer a fresh insight into the emerging interdisciplinary research field of textile and dress studies by discussing archaeological, iconographical and textual evidence within a broad geographical and chronological spectrum. The thirteen chapters explore issues, such as the analysis of textile tools, especially spindle whorls, and textile imprints for reconstructing textile production in contexts as different as Neolithic Transylvania, the Early Bronze Age North Aegean and the Early Iron Age Eastern Mediterranean; the importance of cuneiform clay tablets as a documentary source for both drawing a detailed picture of the administration of a textile industry and for addressing gender issues, such as the construction of masculinity in the Sumerian kingdoms of the 3rd millennium BC; and discussions of royal and priestly costumes ...

EXPERIENCING OLD AGE in ANCIENT ROME KAREN COKAYNE III -• ROUTLEDGE CLASSICAL MONOGRAPHS Page 2. ... l)r Cokayne reveals a world surprisinglv similar to our own in main' ways - for instance, the idea of "use it or lose it was already known in ancient Rome. ...

Whilst seemingly simple garments such as the tunic remained staples of the classical wardrobe, sources from the period reveal a rich variety of changing styles and attitudes to clothing across the ancient world. Covering the period 500BC to 800AD and drawing on sources ranging from extant garments and architectural iconography to official edicts and literature, this volume reveals Antiquity’s preoccupation with dress, which was matched by an appreciation of the processes of production rarely seen in later periods. From a courtesan’s sheer faux-silk garb to the sumptuous purple dyes of an emperor’s finery, clothing was as much a marker of status and personal expression as it was a site of social control and anxiety. Contemporary commentators expressed alarm in equal measure at the over-dressed, the excessively ascetic or at ‘barbarian’ silhouettes. Richly illustrated with 100 images, A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion in Antiquity presents an overview of the period with essays o...

The emperors of the first century AD appear in our sources as far from perfect, but some of them seem to have been less than perfect rulers, not due any physical disability, but due to the simple fact that they may have been too old or too young to have performed the role effectively. This observation allows us to consider how age may have been seen to prevent the effective agency of a Roman emperor. This study of age and agency is played out with reference to the emperor Claudius, whose disability affected how he was treated by other members of the imperial family. We will argue that age caused emperors to become unable to act, and if too old to be at risk of being deposed. This is a quite different conception of disability than those previously published in the study of antiquity.

This volume approaches three key concepts in Roman history — gender, memory and identity — and demonstrates the significance of their interaction in all social levels and during all periods of Imperial Rome. When societies, as well as individuals, form their identities, remembrance and references to the past play a significant role. The aim of Gender, Memory, and Identity in the Roman World is to cast light on the constructing and the maintaining of both public and private identities in the Roman Empire through memory, and to highlight, in particular, the role of gender in that process. While approaching this subject, the contributors to this volume scrutinise both the literature and material sources, pointing out how widespread the close relationship between gender, memory and identity was. A major aim of Gender, Memory, and Identity in the Roman World as a whole is to point out the significance of the interaction between these three concepts in both the upper and lower levels of R...

This collection of papers on 'Dress and Identity' arose from a seminar series held by the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity, University of Birmingham in 2005. The present volume covers a wide chronological and geographical span: from archaic Greece to medieval Scotland by way of the Roman Empire and Anglo-Saxon England. The contributors come from a number of different academic disciplines: history, archaeology and classics. Contents: 1) Dress and Identity: an Introduction (Mary Harlow); 2) Costume as Text (Zvezdana Dode); 3) Veiling the Spartan Woman (Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones); 4) Dressing to Please Themselves: Clothing Choices for Roman Women (Mary Harlow); 5) The Archaeology of Adornment and the Toilet in Roman Britain and Gaul (Ellen Swift); 6) Dress and Cultural Identity in the Roman Empire (Ursula Rothe); 7) Investigating the Emperor's Toga: Privileging Images on Roman Coins (Ray Laurence); 8) Anglo-Saxon Woman: Fame, Anonymity, Identity and Clothing (Gale R. Owen-Crocker); 9) Representing Hierarchy and Homosociality: Vestments and Gender in Medieval Scotland (Penelope Dransart); 10) Cosmetics and Perfumes in the Roman World: A Glossary (Susan Stewart); 11) The Social Life of Museum Textiles: Some Comments on the Late Antique and Early Medieval Collection in the Ure Museum at the University of Reading (Anthea Harris).University of Birmingham IAA Interdisciplinary Series: Studies in Archaeology, History, Literature and Art Volume II.

A Cultural History of Childhood and Family presents an authoritative survey from ancient times to the present. This set of six volumes covers 2800 years of history, charting the cultural, social, economic, religious, medical and political changes in domestic life. 1. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in Antiquity Edited by Mary Harlow and Ray Laurence, both University of Birmingham 2. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in the Middle Ages Edited by Louise J. Wilkinson, Canterbury Christ Church University 3. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in the Early Modern Age Edited by Sandra Cavallo, Royal Holloway, University of London, and Silvia Evangelisti, University of East Anglia 4. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in the Age of Enlightenment Edited by Elizabeth Foyster, University of Cambridge, and James Marten, Marquette University, Milwaukee 5. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in the Age of Empire Edited by Colin Heywood, University of Nottingham 6. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in the Modern Age Edited by Joseph M. Hawes, University of Memphis, and N. Ray Hiner, University of Kansas Each volume discusses the same themes in its chapters: 1. Family Relationships; 2; Community; 3. Economy; 4. Geography and the Environment; 5. Education; 6. Life Cycle; 7. The State; 8. Faith and Religion; 9. Health and Science; 10. World Contexts. This means readers can either have a broad overview of a period by reading a volume or follow a theme through history by reading the relevant chapter in each volume. Well illustrated, the full six volume set combines to present the most authoritative and comprehensive survey available on family and childhood through history.

In September ad 1, on the occasion of his birthday, Augustus wrote to Gaius, his adopted son and grandson by Julia and Agrippa, complaining about his age, stating that he hadpassed the climacteric common to all old men, the sixty-fourth year. And I pray the gods that whatever time is left to me I may pass with you safe and well, with our country in a flourishing condition, while you are playing the man and preparing to succeed to my position.(Gell. NA 15.7)

This chapter examines how women, of all classes, might have appeared. If a dressed woman is visualised in the street in Rome, the author suggests that the immediate image is mediated through a composite of ancient and modern sources: an amalgam of Roman (and Greek) sculpture, 19th century history paintings and 21st century Hollywood. The chapter considers the movement of women while wearing the 'uniform' traditionally assigned to them. The textiles, colours, styles and shapes of the garments which comprise the female wardrobe can be identified, but the experience of wearing or choosing clothes, or of appearing clothed in public is less tangible. The chapter considers how far the 'uniform' described in the writings of men and portrayed in visual culture, dictated a look, if not a wardrobe. Further, ways of constructively imagining how women might have managed the city streets and other open spaces in this wardrobe need development. Keywords:clothing; dressed woman; female wardrobe; Roman street life; visual culture

This paper uses the letters of Jerome as a case study for examining the rhetoric of dress in early Christian writing, and considers how far such a language of dress can be useful in creating a catalogue or chronology of female dress in Late Antiquity. The paper will argue that discourses about dress and gender in the western empire show striking continuity over time and across the boundary between classical and Christian literature.

... 204 MARY HARLOW ... See also W. Pohl, Telling the difference: signs of ethnic identity in W. Pohl, W. and H. Reimitz (eds.), Strategies of Ethnic distinction: the construction of the ethnic communities, 300-800, Leiden, 1998, p. 40-51; J. Heskel, Cicero as evidence for attitudes to ...