Exceptional Female Benefactors in Roman Hispania

Abstract:This article contributes to the conversation about women’s roles as benefactors in the Roman Empire through detailed analysis of the types of benefactions made by women in Hispania as well as in-depth studies of five exceptional women. While a number of other surveys on women’s public roles have been conducted, many of them revolve around the same small cluster of exemplary women such as Eumachia in Pompeii. This contribution refocuses the study of Roman women with a wider scope, permitting us to ask questions about the social dynamics and institutions that supported the practice of benefaction.