Fragment of a woman: Cicero, Licinia, her mother and female interactions during the Roman republic (Cic. fam. 7,23) Frau im Fragment: Cicero, Licinia, ihre Mutter und weibliches Handeln in der römischen Republik [Book Review]

An incidental remark on an otherwise unknown Licinia in Cic.fam. 7,23 offers insights into family relations and female interactions during the first century BCE. The paper provides a prosopographical analysis of Licinia, placing her as half-sister to the Cassii Longini, and of her unnamed mother, who via marriage interlinked three different kinship groups, and thus highlights Rome's complicated kinship ties. Furthermore, the role of women within these family ties is discussed on a macro level – the social role of kinship – and as well as on a micro level – the importance of quotidian female interactions on behalf of the male members of their domus.