01/07/2026 09:00 - 18:20

HALL: Parenzo - A3

Contact: Caruso F.

Chair: Carnevale L., Caruso F.

Agency can be considered as the ability of individuals or social groups to act intentionally, make choices and influence social reality, even within structural constraints such as norms, institutions, roles and inequalities.


Women's agency in Late Antiquity has become a key analytical category for reassessing social, religious, and cultural dynamics between the Hellenistic Jewish world and Early Christianity. Rather than equating agency with overt power or modern notions of autonomy, recent scholarship emphasizes context-sensitive forms of action, negotiation, and influence exercised by women.


Drawing on different types of sources, the panel is divided into two sections. The first one covers examples of women's agency and gendered authority in the Septuagint, and their reception in Late Antiquity.


The second one focuses on women's social and religious agency in Early Christianity, through the examination of diverse ritual, literary, social and historical settings.


In both cases theoretical approaches to women agency and case studies - ranging from biblical women and prophetic figures to prophetesses, ascetics, patrons, and anonymous actors - demonstrate how women could participate meaningfully in religious life, shape communal identities, and transmit traditions.