Women’s Prototypes: The Construction of the Early Christian Feminine in Third and Fourth-Century Rome

Abstract

Early Christian literature, written by male authors, mentions women mostly as exceptional or exemplary cases, whether good or bad, from an external point of view. Conversely, the iconography of the feminine often shows images that are in contrast with patristic literature and its prescriptions, and offers a less polarised vision. By integrating textual evidence with material (primarily iconographical) sources, this thesis aims to fill some gaps in the literary tradition and to bring to the fore an underrepresented portion of the Christian past. It aims to contribute to the understanding of early Christian women’s self-perception and portrayals; it will provide the early Christian historical discourse around women with additional sources and the methodology to understand them.
This thesis argues that early Christian women developed their self-understanding around an eschatological view of their present and construed their identity as liminal characters, still in the century but already citizens of the eschatological kingdom. In line with this view, they commissioned ‘unconventional’ portraits that reveal a deep knowledge of Scripture and the adherence to a Markan eschatological model (Mark 13). This model is characterised by anti-social tendencies, such as the rejection of marital bonds and motherhood, which women adopted for their iconography as religiously loaded markers.
The four chapters address women’s iconographical testimonies in relation to their social interactions, and move from a focus on women themselves to gradually encompass broader aspects of the world around them. The first chapter deals with women and their self-understanding; the second with their familial environment; the third with their community; and the fourth with women’s engagement with Scriptures. Throughout the thesis, the analysis engages with texts of early Christian literature, specifically focusing on feminine role models, such as those of the martyrs Thecla and Perpetua, in dialogue with visual sources, including wall paintings, sarcophagi, and inscriptions.