The Bone Gatherers

Nicola DenzeyThe Bone Gatherers: The Lost Worlds of Early Christian WomenA journey through the catacombs to rediscover the powerful pagan and Christian women of ancient RomeWhen Nicola Denzey leads tour groups into the Roman Catacombs, participants are struck by the splendor of the burial chambers — many of which were created by or for women. Yet until Denzey began her research for The Bone Gatherers, no one had ever drawn on this evidence to read into those women’s lives.The Bone Gatherers introduces us to these powerful women who, until recently, had been lost to history — from the sorrowing mothers and ghastly brides of pagan Rome to the child martyrs and women sponsors who shaped early Christianity. It was often only in death that ancient women became visible — through the buildings, burial sites, and art constructed in their memory — and Denzey uses this archaeological evidence, along with text records, to resurrect the lives of several fourth-century women.Surprisingly, she finds that representations of aristocratic Roman Christian women show a shift in the value and significance of womanhood over the fourth century: once esteemed as powerful leaders or patrons, women came to be revered only as virgins or martyrs — figureheads for sexual purity. These depictions belie a power struggle between the sexes within early Christianity — one that women lost, and one that has had long-lasting implications for the roles of women in the Church.