ABSTRACT
Cultural identities are very much to do with relationships and how we perceive ourselves and each other in terms of particular social signifiers: for example, do we work on similarity or difference? Gender is one instance where this kind of relativity is used to shape identities, and in many recent studies of Roman women notions of ‘same’ and ‘other’ have provided a useful key to understanding the construction and dynamic of their social roles. Add to the discussion further variables to do with the representation of particular cultural qualities (in this case, the value of learning) and religious change (to Christianity), and a multiplicity of possible identities emerges.1
