Women in Quaestiones Perpetuae of Republican Rome
https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2025-14-10-546-563
Abstract
This study aims to examine all known episodes from sources concerning women's involvement in the quaestiones perpetuae — permanent judicial commissions that served as primary criminal courts during the Roman Republic. It analyzes cases where women were either tried or gave testimony, along with their informal roles on such proceedings. Additionally, it investigates public attitudes toward female participation in criminal trials. The findings suggest that while republican law allowed for women's presence at legal hearings, custom restricted them primarily to defendant or witness roles. Respectable women were expected to behave modestly and reservedly when appearing before a court. If charged as defendants, they relied upon male relatives or family friends for defense representation. Emphasizing that delivering speeches encroached into an exclusively masculine domain of rhetoric, which provoked disapproval among Romans, this paper concludes that providing testimonies was generally more acceptable provided that women did not overstep societal boundaries.
Keywords
Supporting agencies: The study was carried out with financial support Russian Science Foundation, project № 24-28-00515, https://rscf.ru/project/24-28-00515/
About the Author
V. K. Khrustalev
The Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Vyacheslav K. Khrustalev, PhD in History, Associate Professor, Department of General History
St. Petersburg
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Review
For citations:
Khrustalev V.K. Women in Quaestiones Perpetuae of Republican Rome. Nauchnyi dialog. 2025;14(10):546-563. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2025-14-10-546-563
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