Performance of women in ancient societies (Historical Gender Studies)

Women in Germania

Women in Germania takes a literal look at the "presence" of women in the provinces of Germania inferior, Germania superior, Gallia Belgica and Raetia in present-day Germany.

Report on the research trip

Murdering queens in Hellenism

Nicole Diersen (habilitation project)

In her habilitation project, Nicole Diersen examines gender-specific violence in the context of murder in the Hellenistic royal house. The murders of queens such as Olympias, Laodice I and Cleopatra Thea are the focus of the investigation. A comparison is always made with male perpetrators. With the help of a discourse-analytical approach and gender-theoretical considerations, the ancient image of gender-specific violence and the associated gender concepts are examined. Queens murdered just as much as male rulers and their instruments of murder were not only poison. However, there is a serious difference in the attribution of emotions in connection with these acts of murder.

Titelbild zur Monographie und zum Quellenband 'Basilissa'.

Basilissa. The queen in Hellenism

Christiane Kunst

The two-volume work "Basilissa. The Queen in Hellenism" offers for the first time a collection of sources (II) and a monograph (I) on a central theme of Hellenism (323-30 BC): the Hellenistic monarchy.

Monograph and source collection on the homepage of the publisher Marie Leidorf

To the timeline (PDF, 768 kB)

Cover picture for the dissertation 'Die Krise ist weiblich' byAnna Katharina Romund.

The crisis is female: intervention by women in the Roman Republic

Anna Katharina Romund (dissertation project)

Crises are a moment of decision, of potentiality, in which given structures and regulations are called into question or even overridden. In Greco-Roman antiquity, the crisis is also a moment for women. This is all the more astonishing as in Greece and Rome, where wars are the main trigger for crises within society, the political stage as well as social and literary life is dominated by men. So are crises a moment in which gender relations can be redefined?

Monograph on the homepage of the publisher Marie Leidorf

Matronage: strategies of action and social networks of ancient rulers' wives

Christiane Kunst

The woman at the side of the ruler has increasingly become the focus of attention in ancient studies and thus the gender relationship in the area of power must also be reassessed. The Osnabrück conference set itself the goal of examining the female component in the power structure, particularly with regard to the resources available to women rulers and their scope for action.

The anthology on the homepage of the publisher Marie Leidorf