‎Giulia Pedrucci, Francesca Fulminante, Martina Seifert (eds) ‎
‎Inside Out: Gender and Ageing Agency in Urban and Non-urban Religious Spaces in Antiquity‎

‎, Brepols, 2026 Hardback, Pages: 373, Size:216 x 280 mm, Illustrations:88 b/w, 87 col., 11 tables b/w., Languages: English, Italian. ISBN 9782503617060.‎

Reference : 70475

‎Summary Religious spaces in Antiquity could be urban (located in a densely populated area), suburban (within a day's walk of the city), or even extra-urban (located far outside the city walls, and away from the hustle of densely populated areas). They also served very different purposes, with urban sanctuaries often serving local socio-political dynamics, while extra-urban spaces were often founded to allow meditation - or for the exercise of political control over a particular territory. But while the importance of different religious spaces has long been known, up to now, very little attention has been paid to the activities of women and children within these religious spaces. This volume aims to investigate the role that these actors played in Antiquity, both in urban and non-urban sanctuaries and in funerary contexts, in order to see how they fitted into this sacral environment, and in turn, how such sanctuaries were shaped by their presence. Different chapters within the volume explore key questions such as: can religious experiences shape urban landscapes? can urban space influence religious experiences and activities? and what role did women and children play in shaping and linking religious activities and spaces? The result is a far-reaching volume that seeks to highlight the hitherto unrecognized role of women and children in shaping the social, economic, sacral, and even political landscapes of sacred spaces. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations Introduction Giulia Pedrucci, Francesca Fulminante, and Martina Seifert 1. Spazi della morte e infanzia: Riflessioni a partire dalla documentazione archeologica nell'Italia preromana Daniela Costanzo How Urban, Non-Urban, and Funerary Spaces Intertwine with Women and Children: General Remarks and 'Interspatial' Perspectives 2. Infancy and Archaeology in Sacred Areas in Etruria Elisabetta Govi 3. The Infancy of Dionysus and the Sacred: Evidence between Etruscan Bologna and Vulci Chiara Pizzirani 4. Distribuzione e funzione delle statuette votive fittili raffiguranti adulti con bambini nell'Italia antica fra VII e I secolo a.C.: differenze fra spazi urbani, non urbani e funerari Giulia Pedrucci 5. Le statuette votive fittili raffiguranti adulti con bambini nell'Italia antica e lo spazio. Tre casi di studio a confronto: il cosiddetto tempio di Minerva Medica a Roma, il santuario di Fondo Patturelli a Capua e il santuario di Bitalemi a Gela Giulia Pedrucci 6. Religious Agency of Children and Youths in the Roman Greece of Pausanias Ville Vuolanto Urban and Suburban Spaces 7. Women and Female Deities in the Urban and Suburban Sanctuaries of Pompeii Maria Teresa D'Alessio 8. 'Worshipping Women': Case Studies from Urban and Suburban Holy Places in Southern Apulia (Sixth-Third Century BC) Giovanni Mastronuzzi 9. Megara Hyblaea: Donne e bambini nelle aree sacre e nelle necropoli della città Lorenzo Guzzardi 10. Donne e bambini nel santuario urbano di Griso Laboccetta a Rhegion: Immagini, offerte, praxis rituale Daniela Costanzo 11. Women and Performative Space in the Cults of Meter: Epigraphic Evidence from Asia Minor and the Black Sea Marios Kamenou 12. Women and their Clothing Styles in Sacred Spaces: The Case of Palmyra Olympia Bobou and Rubina Raja Extra-urban Spaces 13. Back to Brauron: Hippocrates, Artemis, and Girls in Extra-urban Sanctuaries Laurence Totelin 14. Female Offerings and Slf-representation in Mid-Republican Votive Deposits: A Case Study from Fidenae Letizia Ceccarelli 15. La munificenza femminile nei luoghi di culto dell'Italia Romana: Alcuni esempi Silvia Gazzoli 16. 'Empty Spaces': The Rejection of Motherhood in Female Ascetic Contexts of Late Antiquity, with Reference to Syriac Linguistic and Cultural Environments Claudia Tavolieri 17. Engaging with the World of the Medieval Anchoress in the Twenty-First Century Emily Bowyer-Kazadi Funerary Spaces 18. Motherhood (and by Comparison Fatherhood) Indicators in Funerary Ritual Spaces in Proto-historic Central Italy (Latium vetus and Osteria dell'Osa 1100/1050-580 BC) Francesca Fulminante 19. Women and Infants in Urban Funerary Sacred Spaces in Campania Mariassunta Cuozzo 20. Iulia Florentina's Burial in Catania: Urban and Suburban Religious Spaces in Connection Cristina Soraci 21. Saint Agatha's Burial in Catania: New Discoveries Cristina Soraci 22. Women and Children in Funerary Practices in the Cemetery of Vaste (Fourth-Sixth Century AD): A Visible Care for Invisible People Giovanni Mastronuzzi and Giorgia Tulumello Index‎