Nymphidia Monime och Cassia Victoria - en fallstudie av kvinnors roll inom augustalkollegiet

Sammanfattning: In the middle of the second century AD, the Augustales at Misenum decided to honor two women by co-opting one of them, Nymphidia Monime, into their collegium, and bestowing the title of sacerdos Augustalium, priestess of the Augustales, on the other, Cassia Victoria. The aim of this paper is to discuss on what grounds these two women were given access to what was normally an exclusively male context. Through analyzing the epigraphic and archaeological sources concerning the collegium of the Augustales, I reach the conclusion that the reasons for Nymphidia Monime’s and Cassia Victoria’s admission into the collegium are manifold although mainly of economical character, and that the most important factor seems to be their husbands’ already being members of the collegium.