The 'cursus laborum' of Roman women
Subtitle: Social and medical aspects of the transition from puberty to motherhood
By: Anna  Tatarkiewicz
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Published: 2023
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9781350337428
Subjects: Gender studies; Women; Ancient Rome; Classical texts
Description: This book assesses a narrow but vital - and so far understudied - part of Roman women's lives: puberty, preparation for pregnancy, pregnancy and childbirth. Bringing together for the first time the material and textual sources for this key life stage, it describes the scientific, educational, medical and emotional aspects of the journey towards motherhood.  The first half of the book considers the situation a Roman girl would find herself in when it came to preparing for children. Sources document the elementary sexual education offered at the time, and society's knowledge of reproductive health. We see how Roman women had recourse to medical advice, but also turned to religion and magic in their preparations for childbirth.  The second half of the book follows the different stages of pregnancy and labour. As well as the often-documented examples of joyous expectation and realisation of progeny, there are also family tragedies - young girls dying prematurely, stillbirth, death in childbirth, and death during confinement.   Finally, the book considers the social change that childbirth wrought on the mother, not just the new baby - in many ways it was also a mother who was in the process of being conceived and brought into the world..
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Table of contents: title: List of Illustrations  Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations   Introduction   1. Marriage: the institution that makes one a mother 2. Women preparing to be mothers 3. Specialized care for the would-be mother 4. Pregnancy and its course 5. Parturition 6. The dies lustricus: the birth of... a mother?   Conclusion  Notes  Bibliography Index.