Displaying female virtue through figural decoration of hairpins in the Roman World

Abstract

Haircare and coiffure making were not acts of mere adornment and fashion for Roman women. These activities had layered symbolic messages attributed to them. The natural look of the hair was seen as uncivilized, suitable only for Barbarians. Furthermore, the erotic potential of hair demanded that it couldn’t be let loose, but rather controlled through tying and braiding, presumably with help of hairpins.A special place among hairpins is held by specimens with figural modeled heads, most notably in form of the right hand holding various objects, female busts and standing representations of Venus Pudica. Given that some of the objects depicted in the first group of hairpins are standard parts of the so-called mundus muliebris which comprised of items used for adornment, it is proposed that these hairpins were used to signal that wearer is behaving accordingly to the expectations of the society. Similarly, ones with female busts (probably of Empresses, literal embodiments of female virtue) and Venus (symbol of modesty and chastity), were used as a manifestation of the same idea.