A Flute Player in Ancient Rome

The purpose of this research is to shine light on the women who lived in ancient Rome. We don’t get sources from the female perspective from this period, therefore by uncovering parts of their lives through inscriptions is important to bring them back into the narrative. During this project, I had to reconstruct the lived environment based on the details I did have, and asking questions of primary sources. My research is on an enslaved flute player who passed away at a young age, named Fulvia Copiola. First, I reflected on the information I was given from the inscription (CIL 6.33970 On this inscription, see Hemerijk 2021:163). This included the location of where the inscription was found, her name, her occupation, and the fact that she was freed on her deathbed. I also made assumptions about what the lack of information on the inscription tells us. Secondly, I explored what daily life would look like for a young enslaved girl, specifically looking at what a musician’s job would entail. I did research on the reception of society on an enslaved flute player, as well as what her role would have been and would have looked like in society as a whole. I gave examples of activities she would have been involved in as well as certain events that would have impacted her life based on the year of her death. This includes religious ceremonies and sacrificial rituals, as well as how a strike in Rome among musicians could have affected her life and her job as a flute player. I also made assumptions about her relationships in her life. There wasn’t a husband or any kids mentioned in the inscription which makes sense due to her young age. However this doesn’t discount the possibility that she had a suitor at the time of her death. Assumptions like this give me more context and help me to shape what her life could have looked like based on the information we know about young girls in ancient Rome. In addition to how she was viewed by others as a young female musician, using the historical knowledge I had acquired upon researching, I wrote an imaginary letter written from the perspective of Fulvia to a friend. This further supports the purpose of this project to give the women in ancient Rome a voice and create something from their perspective.