Roman Image of the christian woman from the 4th to the 7th century

This thesis challenges the traditional narrative that women in early Christian Rome lacked religious agency by revealing how they actively negotiated spaces of authority despite institutional restrictions. Through interdisciplinary analysis of archaeological, visual, epigraphic, and textual evidence spanning 4th-7th centuries, it demonstrates that women exercised significant religious influence through martyr patronage, ascetic networks, sensory worship practices, and alternative liturgical roles. The work employs innovative methodologies including "negative imprint" analysis of prohibitions, spatial reconstruction of gendered church experiences, and material culture examination to recover suppressed female voices. The research reveals a critical transformation in the 6th-7th centuries, when ecclesiastical consolidation replaced "real" women with idealized martyr figures crafted by male clergy to reinforce patriarchal authority. This shift from documented female agency to symbolic representation marks a decisive moment in Christian institutional development. By integrating diverse source types previously studied in isolation, the thesis provides the first comprehensive examination of female religious participation in Rome, fundamentally revising understanding of women's roles in early Christian society.