Dr M.J. Groen-Vallinga (Miriam)

My research is characterized by an interest in those groups of people who were less visible in the society of the early Roman empire, such as labourers, women and children. To shed light on their position in society I make use of the ample (funerary) inscriptions that have survived from Roman Italy, as well as material culture, legal and literary texts, but also documentary texts on papyri may add new insights. Because these groups nevertheless remain underrepresented in the ancient evidence, my research applies theories and methods from other fields of research to be able to sketch out a broader picture, such as sociological theories of the family, or new institutional economics.

My PhD-thesis focused on work and labour in the cities of Roman Italy. More recently I have been working on the population of columbarium tombs from the city of Rome and its immediate surroundings. I am currently planning a new project on the impact of slavery on enslaved persons and freedpeople in Roman society.