ABSTRACT
Eastern Roman conceptions of gender ideals reveal deep continuities with ancient Greek and Roman cultural values. Medieval Roman ideas about the virtues and vices of men and women did not just play lip-service to ancient, ideals, or a cultural affectation of classicism, but rather are connected to the fundamental structures of Eastern Roman culture. Historical memory is a tool to better appreciate the ways medieval Romans interacted with both the people and cultural attitudes to gender that they met in ancient texts. In taking this approach the chapter offers, on one hand, an explanation and summation on how Eastern Roman gender was like/unlike classical Greek and Roman gender. And on the other hand, valuable insights into the ways these “New” Romans perceived the pagan and Christian Romans of old.
