The Single Life in the Roman and Later Roman WorldSabine R. Huebner, Christian Laes Using a variety of historical sources and methodological approaches, this book presents the first large-scale study of single men and women in the Roman world, from the Roman Republic to Late Antiquity and covering virtually all periods of the ancient Mediterranean. It asks how singleness was defined and for what reasons people might find themselves unmarried. While marriage was generally favoured by philosophers and legislators, with the arguments against largely confined to genres like satire and comedy, the advent of Christianity brought about a more complex range of thinking regarding its desirability. Demographic, archaeological and socio-economic perspectives are considered, and in particular the relationship of singleness to the Roman household and family structures. The volume concludes by introducing a number of comparative perspectives, drawn from the early Islamic world and from other parts of Europe down to and including the nineteenth century, in order to highlight possibilities for the Roman world. |
Contents
DEmoGRAphic ARchAEoloGicAl | 21 |
The Case | 37 |
Looking for Singles in the Archaeological Record | 57 |
Between Coercion and Compulsion? The Impact | 85 |
Singles Sex and Status in the Augustan Marriage Legislation | 105 |
Singleness in Cicero and Catullus | 125 |
Virgils Aeneid | 147 |
The Depiction of Procuresses in Augustan | 165 |
Being Single in the Fourth | 259 |
Single Life in Late Antiquity? Virgins between the Earthly | 276 |
Desire and Social Norms | 292 |
Single People in Early Byzantine Literature | 309 |
Support Networks | 320 |
Celibacy and Sexual Abstinence in Early Islam | 341 |
To Marry or Not to Marry in Fifteenth and Sixteenthcentury | 354 |
| 374 | |
Why Was Jesus Single? | 181 |
James Nazirite Vows | 203 |
Singles and Singleness in the Christian Epigraphic | 227 |
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The Single Life in the Roman and Later Roman World Sabine R. Huebner,Christian Laes Limited preview - 2019 |
Common terms and phrases
adultery Aeneid ancient ANCILLA DEI archaeological ascetic asceticism Augustan Augustine’s Augustus Bagnall and Frier brother caelebs Caelius Catullus celibacy celibate census century childless Christian Cicero Clodia commemorative considered context Coptic Cribiore culture cupiditas death deceased demographic Dido discussed divorce elite emperor epigraphic epist eschatological eunuchs Evans Grubbs example father FEMALE UNKNOWN ICUR freedmen girls Greek household Huebner husband ICUR II ICUR VII individuals inheritance inscriptions Jesus Julian Laes Late Antiquity lena lex Julia Libanius lifestyle literary living male manumission marital status marriage married mentioned moral mother Nazirite Olympius one’s parents partner patron poem priestly priests pro Caelio procuresses prostitute puEllA ICUR reference relationship remained remarry Roman Egypt Rome sexual sexual abstinence slaves social society sources spouse suggest Temple texts tradition Treggiari univira UNKNOWN vIDUA ICUR unmarried Virg virgins vIRGO volume Vuolanto widows wife woman young