Women riders

[ParthianBow]

Is there any evidence for Roman women riding horses - at any time in the Roman era, but particularly in the 3rd C BC?
Thanks for any info.

[Epictetus]

What a fascinating question!

I hate to report something negative, but I spent a fair bit of time last night researching this and had no great luck.

I checked a couple of letters of Pliny and Marcus Aurelius that I thought could have mentioned women riders but didn’t find anything. Pliny does have one ambiguous letter (To Fuscus, 108) about what he did at his villa, and he mentions eating with his wife and riding but it is not clear if she went with him during his rides.

I found a couple things that may be of interest.

1) Tullia used a chariot to trample her father’s body (Livy 1.48). She didn’t travel on horseback according to the myth.
2) Good old lecherous Ovid mentions trying to seduce travelling women several times (Art of Love 1.487 and Remedies for Love 663), but they are only mentioned with litters.
3) The Oppian Law, which forbade some luxuries to women during the financial crisis of the Punic War states that women can’t “ride in a carriage drawn by horses in a city, or any town, or any place nearer than one mile (Livy 34.1).” Riding on horseback is not mentioned. Livy places an interesting speech in the mouth of Lucius Valerius where the alternative of women riding in a carriage was “to follow on foot (Livy 34.7).” It is as if riding on horseback was not even considered.
4) Plato called for the training of women in the art of horsemanship (Laws 804e+). This was not Rome, of course, but the implication is that women in the Greek world (or perhaps only Athens?) did not ride. Rome was deeply infused with Greek influences, even in archaic times.

I did find one episode of a female rider in the Roman world. This is the Jesus nativity story, of course. Mary’s ride is most explicit in a non-canonical gospel.

And he saddled the ass, and set her upon it; and his son led it, and Joseph followed… And they came into the middle of the road, and Mary said to him: Take me down from off the ass, for that which is in me presses to come forth. And he took her down from off the ass, and said to her: Whither shall I lead thee, and cover thy disgrace? for the place is desert.

Infancy Gospel of James 17.

[ParthianBow]

Hi David
Thanks so much for taking the time to look into this for me. Your answer is as I expected! I'm going to have to bend the rules a bit then, I'm afraid :wink: but I wanted to see if I'd need to acknowledge that we don't know if women rode, and that they might not have been allowed.

[zakhx150]

After a brief search myself I haven't found anythign not already mentioned. Has anyone considered any iconographic representations of Epona riding a horse? I am aware of plenty of examples of the Goddess with horses but can't think of any examples of her riding them. Nothing consequential I'm afriad. Just food for thought...

[Carvettia]

After a brief search myself I haven't found anythign not already mentioned. Has anyone considered any iconographic representations of Epona riding a horse? I am aware of plenty of examples of the Goddess with horses but can't think of any examples of her riding them. Nothing consequential I'm afriad. Just food for thought...

There are several examples on the web of Epona sitting sideways on a horse...

http://www.fellpony.f9.co.uk/fells/rom_dark/epona.htm (drawing from stone altar at Senhouse Museum, Maryport, Cumbria)
http://www.mythicjourneys.org/calendar_june.html (scroll down)
http://www.answers.com/topic/epona-2
and possibly the best collection: http://www.epona.net/depictions.html#side

I also see three images of her on horseback in Dent & Machin-Goodall's History of British Native Ponies.

In all examples she sits sideways with her feet on the horse's right flank. Of course, what goddesses were allowed to do and what real women were allowed to do may not exactly coincide

[garrelt]

Wasn't Epona a Celtic/ Germanic deity ?
The Skytians had female hore archers, some female graves with saddle and tack are known from Caucasian Kurgans.
Where do you think did the name Amazonas come from. :wink:

But if you mean here: Is their any account of high society Roman (Latin) woman riding horses.
Hopefully you find an answer to this question, not a lot is written about woman in Roman society.

[Carvettia]

Wasn't Epona a Celtic/ Germanic deity ?

Yes, she was Celtic, but apparently one of the few (if not the only one) who was widely adopted outside the original culture - by the Roman military at least. Maybe she tagged along behind a preference for Celtic horse trainers/managers. How strongly she was invoked by non military I suppose is open to question. She might not have appealed so much to noble ladies as to the stable-men

I agree with your remark about female warriors on horseback in other cultures (Herodotus makes entertaining reading on the subject of the Amazon women and the Scythian men), but I suppose it doesn't really help our man in his search for supporting refs for Roman ladies riding horses.

[Yeyo]

Herodotus (4.110-117), claims the sarmatians were the result of marriage between a band of Scythians and Amazons. Weapons are found in many sarmatian female graves on the Volga and Southren Urals from 6th to 4th century BC, and specially the 4th and 3rd centuries. So, this myth has an archaeological support...

[Carvettia]

Herodotus (4.110-117), claims the sarmatians were the result of marriage between a band of Scythians and Amazons. Weapons are found in many sarmatian female graves on the Volga and Southren Urals from 6th to 4th century BC, and specially the 4th and 3rd centuries. So, this myth has an archaeological support...

You're right, but that doesn't help the originator of this thread who was asking about the permitted behaviour of noblewomen in Rome itself.

[Theodosius the Great]

Ptolemaic Queen Berenice II (3rd century BC) raced chariot-teams and apparently was a noted equestrienne.
According to Peter Green's 'The Hellenistic Age, A Short History", page 71. He doesn't cite the primary source.

Not a Roman context but it's the closest example put forth so far.
Of course, Berenice was an exceptional woman for many reasons - her riding hobby being the most minor among them.

~Theo