Dr Lena Larsson Lovén

Date: Wednesday 30 September 2015 - 5.10pm

Roman women, work and wool

Event details

Venue: Meadows Lecture Theatre (G.07) Doorway 4, Old Medical School, Teviot Place

Biography

Lena Larsson Loven is Assistant Professor in Classical Archaeology & Ancient History at the Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Her main research focus lies with studies on dress and textiles, iconography, and aspects of socio-economic history in the Roman world, with a particular emphasis on the Roman west. She has edited several volumes and has published on aspects of Roman textile production, dress studies, funerary iconography and women’s work identities.

Lecture abstract

Roman women were depicted in art and literature as working with wool. Their social position within the male-dominated hierarchy of Roman society was defined through this domestic craft, and it has often been viewed in negative or limited terms.

In this lecture, Dr Lena Larsson Lovén will investigate the lived reality of women's work, the processes of textile production and the ways that craftswomen left their own impact on the Roman economy and society. By paying attention to the evidence for women's work, we can get a much better idea of how Roman life actually worked and of how gender played out on the level of the individual.