Women in Latin Epigraphy: A Comparative Analysis of Gender and Social Status in Roman Epitaphs

Throughout history and historical literature, women are typically portrayed and depicted as inferior to men. In addition, social status similarly becomes obvious when looking at records or other artifacts. Focusing on these two rubrics into account (gender and class), I translated Latin funerary inscriptions from both the Iberian and Italian Peninsulas, and I analyzed them to offer new findings inscribed into stone, and thus another platform other than literature. Specifically, I looked at epitaphs from Roman Spain and Italy to find connections between the language and tone used in the original Latin and societal values. Using different databases from around the world, which provided physical descriptions and images of these inscriptions, I translated the Latin epitaphs into English and then analyzed them in regards to the diction, syntax, decoration, material, etc. The results show that there is a clear distinction between males and females in these inscriptions, and while there is still a distinction between varying social levels, this difference is less obvious in inscriptions than gender distinctions.