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So, mother, go back to your quarters. Tend to your own tasks, the distaff and the loom, and keep the women working hard as well. As for giving orders, men will see to that, but I most of all: I hold the reigns of power in this house."

Telemachus to Penelope in Homer's Odyssey

Epitaph from a tomb in Rome, 2nd c. BC: “Friend, I have not much to say; stop and read it. This tomb, which is not fair, is for a fair woman. Her parents gave her the name Claudia. She loved her husband in her heart. She bore two sons, one of whom she left on earth, the other beneath it. She was pleasant to talk with, and she walked with grace. She kept the house and worked in wool. That is all. You may go.”

A woman’s worth was strongly connected with her ability to spin and weave. As is evident from the epitaph on Claudia’s grave, the most virtuous wives were diligent in these tasks. And, as we can see from Telemachus’ orders to his mother, in order to be of real value, the lady of the house was supposed to run the textrinum (and every other room in the house) in as efficient and organized a manner as possible, and confine herself to domestic affairs. The workroom also provided some social interaction for the women who rarely left their houses. It was an ideal place for women of the household to come together. Women could talk and socialize while they wove and spun.

Textile production was an important function in the ancient house. The act of spinning fiber into thread, and weaving that thread to produce a cloth, was an industry in itself within the family. The women in the textrinum were responsible for producing all the towels, bed linens, and garments for every single inhabitant in the house. They may have also woven tents for use in the garden during the summers. Sometimes they wove items to sell to supplement the household income. For many women, it was necessary that they produce as many textiles as possible.

Spinning and weaving required stamina but little physical strength, and could be done within the confines of the house. These were time-consuming tasks, but they were also simple ones that required little concentration. If work was interrupted, it was easy to resume. For these reasons, women were able to supervise their children while they worked. Children were thus kept in the textrinum from infancy. Women could nurse their infants and feed the older children without leaving the area. Here too, young girls could be taught to spin and weave at an early age. Because girls married young during ancient times, this apprenticeship helped to prepare them for the day when they would have their own households and workrooms to run.

Most workrooms were positioned near a source of natural light. Looms were placed to receive the maximum daily amount of sunlight to allow women to weave as much as possible without artificial illumination. But a woman’s work did not end with the setting of the sun; by night, she wove near the light of the hearth’s illuminating fire. Because the cleaning of wool was an extensive and messy procedure, the textrinum would have a paved floor that would have been easy to sweep and keep clean (thereby keeping the room and the wool cleaner). Because it was not one of the more public rooms of the house, the floor and walls would normally not have been decorated.

Mary Grissett


Items Exhibited:

Red–Figured Hydria
Attica, 450–440 B.C.; the Christie Painter
Clay
Collection of Glencairn Museum

Baby-feeder
Greek, 4th century B.C.
Terracotta
The Art Museum, Princeton University. Gift of Allan Marquand, Class of 1874.

Ancient Loomweight
Clay
The Art Museum, Princeton University. Gift of Allan Marquand.

Greek Loomweight
Clay
The Art Museum, Princeton University. Gift of Allan Marquand.

Ancient Spindle Whorl
Clay
The Art Museum, Princeton University. Gift of Mrs. Allan Marquand.

Spindle Whorl
Ancient Cypriote, 6th – 5th centuries B.C.
Clay
The Art Museum, Princeton University. Museum purchase.

Key
Medireview, Byzantine, 4th – 7th centuries A.D.
Bronze
The Art Museum, Princeton University. Unrecorded acquisition.

Key
Roman, 1st – 2nd centuries A.D.
Bronze
The Art Museum, Princeton University. Museum purchase.

Jointed Doll
Greek, mid 5th century B.C.
Terracotta
The Art Museum, Princeton University. Museum purchase and exchange.

Chair
Loaned by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Vase
Greek, Late 5th c. B.C.
Ceramic
Collection of The Newark Museum, Gift of Robin Beningson, 1997

Steelyard Beam
Rome, 1st – 2nd century A.D.
Bronze
Collection of The Newark Museum, Purchase 1994 Sophronia Anderson Bequest Fund

Bust
Roman, Prob. Late 3rd Century A.D.
Bronze
Collection of The Newark Museum, Eugene Schaefer Collection

Lamp
Italy, 20th C
Clay
Collection of The Newark Museum, Purchase 1924 The Newark Museum