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Intentional Menstrual Suppression in Imperial Rome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2025

Kassandra Miller Open the ORCID record for Kassandra Miller [Opens in a new window]
Kassandra Miller*
Affiliation:
Colby College
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

The history of intentional menstrual suppression is often assumed to begin in the 1960s, with the advent of effective oral contraception. This article, however, demonstrates that in the Roman Imperial period, despite widespread belief in the importance of menstruation for maintaining female reproductive health, there was already a diverse marketplace for menstrual suppression techniques. By reading sources against the grain and engaging in critical speculation, this study investigates the available methods, who may have sought them and why, and how their use might reinforce or challenge gendered norms and power dynamics. This study focuses primarily on three sets of sources: Galen's medical treatises on bloodletting, the pharmacological compendia of Pliny the Elder and Dioscorides, and body amulets to regulate vaginal blood flow. It proposes that individuals engaged with these technologies not only to normalise excessive periods, but also to delay, minimise or eliminate menstruation for convenience.

Keywords

menstruationRomesuppressionGalenPlinyDioscoridesamuletgender
Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Roman Studies , Volume 114 , November 2024 , pp. 27 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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Footnotes

*

The research for this article was largely done during a fellowship year at the Einstein Center Chronoi in Berlin. For their valuable feedback and support, I am particularly grateful to the other members of the Chronoi working group on ‘Synchronizing the Body in Ancient Medicine and Philosophy’: Philip van der Eijk, Giouli Korobili and Annette Heinrich. I am also very grateful to my undergraduate research assistant, Taha Mridha, for his help gathering and organising primary sources, and to Myles Lavan and the anonymous reviewers whose thoughtful critiques and suggestions have greatly enriched this piece.

References

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