In a well-written introduction, the editors immediately introduce us to the leitmotif of the volume: ‘to discuss aspects of ancient families in their widest definition’ (p. 7). The majority of the contributions were presented at a seminar in November 2015, bringing together scholars from the Nordic countries, both senior and junior, who deal with the family and its manifestations in the ancient world. Theory-driven readers might immediately turn away from a book that fails to discuss concepts of families. In doing so, they would do injustice to a collection that I would not hesitate to label as a treasure, in which readers will discover many aspects of ancient families in a broad sense.
J. Krasilnikoff shines a light on farming, economy, social interaction and gender in classical Athens. Based on archaeology, comparative anthropology and economy he demonstrates that the idea that women were locked inside the oikos was in all likelihood not more than an ideology, which did not match the reality of life in rural Athens. Drawing on her previous authoritative work on women and gender in Greek tragedy, S. des Bouvrie studies family conflicts (‘family disaster’) on stage. Though this is a good chapter, it is a pity that the research is confined to Euripides, largely excluding the other tragedians. S. Hoffmann considers terracotta figurines in sanctuaries as both individual dedications and ritual references for the whole family. In her most convincing case studies she aptly combines archaeology of ritual, iconography and literary/epigraphical sources. B. Leppänen Sjöberg's chapter on the ritualised construction of everyday social space is thought-provoking, since it discerns an evolution of greater restrictions on the behaviour of women from the Archaic age to the Classical period in space as far as the funerary ritual (prothesis) is concerned. In the Solonian legislation the rules for the participation of women in the public funeral ceremony became increasingly circumscribed, while the private sphere of mourning inside the oikos was considered a female matter. Urbanisation, the rise of the polis as ‘an “ideal” urban entity’ and the subsequent rising of hierarchical social models are cited as explanations for this change in normative attitudes. Due to the available source material, the chapter is inevitably strongly and almost exclusively focused on Athens.
Unlike many other volumes dealing with ancient families, the Etrurian side gets due attention. A.S.S. Ahlén gives a beautiful overview of children in Etruscan funeral iconography. Families appear to be most important in funeral imagery, as is testified in the touching farewell-scenes, in which, because of the absence of texts, it is not always easy to establish who is the deceased and who are the survivors. As much as for the Roman evidence, ‘hoping for continuity, facing oblivion’ seems a fitting motto to summarise the role of children on Etruscan gravestones (see K. Mustakallio, J. Hanska, H.-L. Sainio, V. Vuolanto [edd.], Hoping for Continuity. Childhood, Education and Death in Antiquity and the Middle Ages [2005]). In all, it would have been helpful to introduce comparative material from the Roman side (J. Mander, Portraits of Children on Roman Funerary Monuments [2013]). L. Carøe studies a female image on the lid of the sarcophagus of Velthur Partunu. According to Carøe, this image is in all likelihood the depiction of Partunu's wife, as a bust depicting an ancestral image. Partunu's wife did not get her own sarcophagus, and when her husband died, he expressed his wish to be reunited with her in the afterlife.
N. Bargfeldt's chapter on the families of marines stationed in Rome is a masterpiece. Combining a thorough analysis of the sparse epigraphic evidence (31 inscriptions in the catalogue), the study of the archaeological context of some gravestones, Roman military history, papyrology and sensible imaginative approaches, Bargfeldt empathically narrates what we can imagine about the families of these marines who were stationed at Rome. Though often indeed ‘almost invisible’, we may imagine cases in which ‘active’ families would even consider travelling to join their family member who was stationed in Rome.
Did Roman freedmen possess virtus? In a society that ‘saw a variety of masculinities coexisting’ they were not supposed to have the same virtus as the fully-fledged Roman freeborn male, the true vir par excellence, as L. Hagelin states in her chapter. This contribution could have been nuanced by recent studies that focus on agency and relational aspects, showing that freedmen were not always oppressed by the presumed macula virtutis (e.g. K. Vermote, ‘The macula servitutis of Roman freedmen. Neque enim aboletur turpitudo, quae postea intermissa est?’, RBPh 94 [2016], 131–64). Gender is again at the centre in E. Lindgren Liljenstolpe's contribution on women's music-making. She aptly demonstrates how, in a face-to-face society, where gossip reigned, it was crucial to women of a certain social standing to show that they made use of their musical skills in the appropriate way. Siblinghood is still understudied by scholars of ancient families. S. Joska makes a strong case for an integrated study of imperial coinage, epigraphy and iconography of imperial siblinghood in Antonine Rome. The emphasis in the imperial propaganda on children and siblinghood (even on twins) communicates ideals of fertility and harmony, as well as dynastic continuity (see most recently P. Ripat, ‘Sisterhood and Sibling Rivalry in Roman Society’, Mouseion 16 [2019], 109–28, for scenarios of enmity in real life).
‘Beyond Rome’ is the title of the following section. At first sight, the Palmyrene funerary sculpture offers frustratingly little information on family relations. Most of it is found out of context, and the inscriptions reveal not much more than names. It takes a scholar with the expertise and experience of R. Raja to demonstrate that in the various depictions and representations of priests family did indeed matter, or that having a priest in the family added to the importance of the family. This chapter stands out for its didactic qualities, introducing readers to a field unknown to many. B.B. Purup takes up the daring challenge of applying the life-course approach used in the study of epigraphic commemoration to 629 mummy portraits of men and women from the Fayum. There are of course many difficulties in determining the age of the individuals concerned, as age is not mentioned in the written records on the portrait. Yet, the conclusion that ‘young women’ (age category 15–29) are strikingly over-represented is convincing. ‘At the height of their social value’ they were portrayed as ‘young fertile daughter, wife and mother’ (p. 292).
‘A Roman Man's Best Friend’ is the title of the first chapter in the final ‘Forum’ section. In this fascinating contribution C. Hildebrandt explores the possible meanings of the presence of a dog on a kline monument in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Besides commenting on the different symbolic layers of this particular representation, Hildebrandt makes a great effort to bring together almost anything that one would like to know about dogs in the ancient world. A chapter like this makes one look forward to similar work on, say, cats or monkeys in funerary sculpture. The last contribution, by A. Skovmøller, explores the polychromy of a group of Roman marble portraits from Nemy, Italy. More than a technical study on colour, this chapter is a contribution on physiognomics, collective ideas of aesthetics and social/cultural identities.
As I have hopefully made clear, there are many gems to discover in this treasure trove insofar as contents are concerned. In addition, the good level of English, the impeccable editing and the functional, beautiful and stylish illustrations need to be mentioned. This volume will, I hope, mark the onset of new studies with a comparative approach – an approach that is hardly taken by scholars of ancient families (S.R. Huebner and G. Nathan [edd.], Mediterranean Families in Antiquity. Households, Extended Families, and Domestic Space [2017] and J.-B. Bonnard, V. Dasen and J. Wilgaux, Famille et société dans le monde grec et en Italie du Ve au IIe siècle av. J.-C. [2017] are rare and most praiseworthy exceptions). It is a pity, though, that the editors did not invest in any indexes.
