The actresses who scandalised Ancient Rome

Did women really act on the stage in ancient times? A look at the lives and liberation of Colosseum actresses in honour of International Women’s Day.

The ancient philosopher Cicero once said: “Our ancestors, in their wisdom, considered that all women, because of their innate weakness, should be under the control of guardians.” In ancient Rome, actresses had limited freedom, as did all women. Classical theatre acting and wine, which were patroned by the god of ecstasy, Bacchus, were forbidden to them during the Republic.

Women couldn’t act in classical plays, while wives would be kissed by their husbands to check for evidence of drinking, which could be punished by divorce or death. Suspicion was also increased by Bacchanalia festivals – rumoured to have involved drunkenness, orgies and even murder –  which women had attended in secret.

Masked male actors, who were usually slaves or labourers, played female roles like the mother, maid and romantic interest.  The word for mask was ‘persona’ in Latin, and at funerals actors demonstrated family lineage through death masks, worn to depict the ancestor’s life.

But the most popular type of drama didn’t need a mask and it was here that women performers, who were often prostitutes, could be found. Rowdy comic mimes parodied mythology, and were originally part of the Floralia festival, dedicated to Flora, goddess of flowers and procreation. Their realism meant that sex acts were sometimes performed on stage and there are even records of real execution scenes using convicted criminals.  The role was reflected in the Latin word for actress – ‘mima’.

Daughters were trapped into following the same path when acting became hereditory. The church tried to offer a way out, and one actress who took this was the Greek concubine of the Emperor Nero, Claudia Acte. She was a slave and a mine actress before she was converted and Nero banished her. Another convert was St Pelagia of Anitoch, a rich mime actress who upon overhearing a sermon, gave everything away to the church. She disappeared and was found some years later when a male hermit living in complete isolation in Jerusalem was revealed to be a woman.

Theodora is perhaps the most famous of ancient mime actresses. In sixth century Constantinople, she became famous for her naked mime of a mythological tale in which Zeus seduces or rapes Leda by appearing as a swan. Her version was to lay on her back while attendants scattered barley on her groin to be picked up by geese. She married the Emperor Justinian, despite widespread disapproval, and became a powerful Empress of the Eastern Empire.

She also altered laws: she allowed actresses to quit their professions, which around 200 immediately did, she banned pimping and brothels and granted women their fair inheritance, becoming a champion of women’s rights.

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