- Roman Art, Late Antique Art and Archaeology, Early Medieval Art, Early Medieval Archaeology, Gender Studies, Dress and Personal Adornment (Archaeology), and 22 moreDress and the Body, Ancient Jewelry and Metalwork, Ancient Jewelry, Roman Glass, Animal Art, Early Medieval Metalwork, Roman Britain, Early medieval Britain (Archaeology), Funerary Archaeology, Classical Archaeology, Ancient Greece and Rome, Ancient jewellery, Late Antiquity, Women in the ancient world, Roman Archaeology, Gold jewelry in Ancient Near East, History of Jewelry, Etruscan and Greek jewellery, Egyptian jewellery, Portable Antiquities Scheme, Roman Jewellery, and Late Antique and Byzantine Jewelleryedit
- Archaeologist and art historian specializing in Roman art, archaeology, and material culture. My research centers on material and visual expressions of identity around the Imperial-period Mediterranean with a special interest in jewelry, dress, and portraiture.edit
This article considers the Roman body chain (catena), which comprises two long lengths of woven gold chain worn crisscrossing the torso. Roman illustrations of women wearing catenae demonstrate that the form carried strongly erotic... more
This article considers the Roman body chain (catena), which comprises two long lengths of woven gold chain worn crisscrossing the torso. Roman illustrations of women wearing catenae demonstrate that the form carried strongly erotic connotations relating to the goddess Venus and female sensuality. A small corpus of preserved body chains from the Vesuvian region testifies to their actual use by women in the first centuries BC and AD. This study examines the status of the women who wore such jewellery, which combined clear economic expense with erotic messaging. In opposition to claims that the sexual nature of body chains signals their association with prostitutes, it is argued here that visual and textual sources contemporaneous with the Vesuvian chains point to women of “respectable” social categories having both the freedom and incentive to express a confident sexual identity. Important archaeological evidence offers further indications for the ownership and use of catenae by Roman women of varying status. The potential meanings and motivations underlying the shared use of this symbolic form of adornment are also addressed.