Roman Women and Public History: the creativity of the Web

Moving from the mid-seventies' debate in the USA on women's role in the Ancient World, this paper highlights its contribution to a more articulated view of Roman women. It has left its mark not only on subsequent historiography, but also well beyond, as seen in recent YouTube videos on Roman women available on Internet. These latter display the creativity of their authors with their various levels of knowledge and technical expertise while catapulting the viewer into women's daily lives in ancient Rome. In this perspective, such efforts can be seen as an excellent example of applied Public History and may well be useful in promoting gender studies relating to Roman history.