Aemilia Lepida and the imago of Pompey. Female agency and the negotiation of public space in early imperial Rome

Abstract

In 20 CE, Aemilia Lepida was tried before the senatorial court. When the court recessed for a holiday, she rallied support by referring to her Pompeian ancestry, choosing as her venue the theatre built by her great-grandfather Pompey himself. Accompanied by a group of fellow elite women (clarae feminae), Lepida entered the theatre and invoked the imagines of her great ancestor with tearful lamentations. Based on a close reading of Tacitus’ Annales 3.22, this article focuses on his descriptions of the strategies Lepida adopted and discusses how she used her connection to Pompey to support her case and argue that the physical setting of Lepida’s appeal to the people contributed to its meaning and that she in essences was asking for a trial by the public opinion. It will demonstrate how women could use their agency in negotiating public space, with a sensitivity to social conventions of the Roman imperial elite.