Wealthy Women and Legacy Hunters in Late Imperial Rome
This article examines the historical value of poetical texts, such as the Roman poet Martial’sEpigrams, with regard to the relationship betweencaptatores(legacy hunters) and wealthy, often elderly single women. By comparing the provisions and limits of private law, common practices of acquisition, and wealth management in Roman society during the first and second centuries AD with the behavioral patterns elaborated in poetic texts, this article demonstrates that the theme of legacy hunting was not a mere literarytopos, but a scenario based on models of gender and age in addition to the values associated with them. Unmarried and childless women of the elite could be depicted as very wealthy and powerful due to their ability to establish personal relationships through the transmission of their wealth. Martial’s perception of the modes of communication and interaction between female testari-ces and male legacy hunters are interpreted as reflections of male experiences of belittlement.