Molly Swetnam-Burland
Biographic Data
| ID | 1154704 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Molly Swetnam-Burland |
| GIVEN NAMES | Molly |
| FAMILY NAME | Swetnam-Burland |
| SIGNATURE | SWETNAM-BURLAND M |
| AFFILIATIONS | William & Mary |
| ORCID | 0009-0004-3349-4067 |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 3 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 8 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Wielding the axe, tending the priestly ornaments
This paper investigates the ritual labor performed by the enslaved and freed members of the familia Caesaris who supported the emperor in his role as priest. Drawing on Roman art and funerary inscriptions, it contrasts elite and non-elite perspectives regarding religious work. Visual depictions – such as reliefs of the Ara Pacis and imperial sacrifice scenes – frame attendants as anonymous extensions of the emperor’s ritual authority, performing …
Women's Lives, Women's Voices
Literary evidence is often silent about the lives of women in antiquity, particularly those from the buried cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Even when women are considered, they are often seen through the lens of their male counterparts. In this collection, Brenda Longfellow and Molly Swetnam-Burland have gathered an outstanding group of scholars to give voice to both the elite and ordinary women living on the Bay of Naples before the eruption …
CHAPTER 2 Women’s Work? Investors, Money-Handlers, and Dealers
Aegyptiaca Romana
Reuse and Renovation in Roman Material Culture
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Egypt in Italy
This book examines the appetite for Egyptian and Egyptian-looking artwork in Italy during the century following Rome's annexation of Aegyptus as a province. In the early imperial period, Roman interest in Egyptian culture was widespread, as evidenced by works ranging from the monumental obelisks, brought to the capital over the Mediterranean Sea by the emperors, to locally made emulations of Egyptian artifacts found in private homes and in temple…
Encountering Ovid's Phaedra in House V.2.10–11, Pompeii
This article documents the unusual case of a literary graffito quoting Ovid's Heroides 4. The graffito was inscribed on a myth painting in Pompeii, preserving a historical individual's reaction to the painting. I approach this case two ways: first, treating the painting and poem as an "intertext" using formal iconographic and literary analysis; second, exploring the archaeological record for the house, including its assemblage of artifacts and al…
Egypt Embodied
The Vatican Nile, a monumental marble sculpture once displayed in Rome's Iseum Campense with a companion Tiber, has had a rich post-Antique afterlife. Long in the collections of the Vatican, both sculptures were taken as spolia to Paris in 1797. Only the Nile returned to Rome. Though long understood as pendants, their physical divorce created a scholarly tradition that treats the Vatican Nile primarily in isolation, as the classic example of a br…
Egyptian objects, roman contexts
The taste for and appreciation of Egyptian-themed material has been well attested in Roman Italy in contexts as diverse as public porticos, private homes, and Isea graced with the patronage of the imperial family. The richness of this material has been matched by the wealth of scholarly work that has established the influence of Egyptian culture in Italy, particularly the wide-ranging appeal of the cult of Isis. This chapter examines larger Roman…
Aegyptiaca Romana
Egypt Embodied
The Vatican Nile, a monumental marble sculpture once displayed in Rome's Iseum Campense with a companion Tiber, has had a rich post-Antique afterlife. Long in the collections of the Vatican, both sculptures were taken as spolia to Paris in 1797. Only the Nile returned to Rome. Though long understood as pendants, their physical divorce created a scholarly tradition that treats the Vatican Nile primarily in isolation, as the classic example of a br…
Encountering Ovid's Phaedra in House V.2.10–11, Pompeii
This article documents the unusual case of a literary graffito quoting Ovid's Heroides 4. The graffito was inscribed on a myth painting in Pompeii, preserving a historical individual's reaction to the painting. I approach this case two ways: first, treating the painting and poem as an "intertext" using formal iconographic and literary analysis; second, exploring the archaeological record for the house, including its assemblage of artifacts and al…
Aegyptiaca Romana
Egyptian objects, roman contexts
The taste for and appreciation of Egyptian-themed material has been well attested in Roman Italy in contexts as diverse as public porticos, private homes, and Isea graced with the patronage of the imperial family. The richness of this material has been matched by the wealth of scholarly work that has established the influence of Egyptian culture in Italy, particularly the wide-ranging appeal of the cult of Isis. This chapter examines larger Roman…
Egypt Embodied
The Vatican Nile, a monumental marble sculpture once displayed in Rome's Iseum Campense with a companion Tiber, has had a rich post-Antique afterlife. Long in the collections of the Vatican, both sculptures were taken as spolia to Paris in 1797. Only the Nile returned to Rome. Though long understood as pendants, their physical divorce created a scholarly tradition that treats the Vatican Nile primarily in isolation, as the classic example of a br…
Egypt in Italy
This book examines the appetite for Egyptian and Egyptian-looking artwork in Italy during the century following Rome's annexation of Aegyptus as a province. In the early imperial period, Roman interest in Egyptian culture was widespread, as evidenced by works ranging from the monumental obelisks, brought to the capital over the Mediterranean Sea by the emperors, to locally made emulations of Egyptian artifacts found in private homes and in temple…
Encountering Ovid's Phaedra in House V.2.10–11, Pompeii
This article documents the unusual case of a literary graffito quoting Ovid's Heroides 4. The graffito was inscribed on a myth painting in Pompeii, preserving a historical individual's reaction to the painting. I approach this case two ways: first, treating the painting and poem as an "intertext" using formal iconographic and literary analysis; second, exploring the archaeological record for the house, including its assemblage of artifacts and al…
Reuse and Renovation in Roman Material Culture
Book summary page views Book summary page views help Close Book summary page views help Book summary views reflect the number of visits to the book and chapter landing pages. Total views: 0 * Loading metrics
Aegyptiaca Romana
Women's Lives, Women's Voices
Literary evidence is often silent about the lives of women in antiquity, particularly those from the buried cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Even when women are considered, they are often seen through the lens of their male counterparts. In this collection, Brenda Longfellow and Molly Swetnam-Burland have gathered an outstanding group of scholars to give voice to both the elite and ordinary women living on the Bay of Naples before the eruption …
CHAPTER 2 Women’s Work? Investors, Money-Handlers, and Dealers
Wielding the axe, tending the priestly ornaments
This paper investigates the ritual labor performed by the enslaved and freed members of the familia Caesaris who supported the emperor in his role as priest. Drawing on Roman art and funerary inscriptions, it contrasts elite and non-elite perspectives regarding religious work. Visual depictions – such as reliefs of the Ara Pacis and imperial sacrifice scenes – frame attendants as anonymous extensions of the emperor’s ritual authority, performing …
Art (7 works) · Classical Antiquity Studies (7 works) · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History (4 works) · History (4 works) · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology (3 works) · Ancient history (3 works) · Visual arts (3 works) · Archaeology and Historical Studies (2 works) · Art history (2 works) · Computer Science (2 works)