Loco dato matri: Varia Gestiana y el rol de las mujeres en la epigrafía de Urvinum Hortense

Abstract

The city of Urvinum Hortense (Collemancio, Umbria), a small Umbro-Latin center within the dense urban system structured around the ancient lacus Umber, features an interesting opportunity to explore the local social reality of an early Latinized city with indigenous substrate. Given the relative scarcity of prosopographical studies about the town, our knowledge about its demographical characteristics is limited from a social history perspective, and even more so from a gender point of view. The purpose of this article is to examinate the female prosopography within its local context through its trace in the epigraphic catalogue, deepening into the case of Varia Gestiana, an important matron from the city’s élite to whom a significant public monument was erected. Based on the available data and parallels a reconstruction of this element is proposed.