The workshop “On Dignity and Reputation in Roman Times and Today” which was realized as part of the exhibition “Femina Balcanica: Mater, Matrona, Augusta, Dea. Women on the Balkans in Antiquity” was held in the Gallery of the National Museum Kraljevo, on Tuesday, April 16th, 2024, starting at 6 p.m. The workshop was attended by students of the first year of the Gymnasium in Kraljevo with the professor of Serbian language and literature Nataša Raspopović, while the program was moderated by art historian Jelena Marković.
The main idea of the workshop was that through an associative approach, by connecting historical values with the contemporary context, through group work, students consider the importance of dignity and reputation, and their role in maintaining social order and stability in ancient Rome. Therefore, the students were divided into eight groups, where they first defined those words that they associate with the concept of dignity and reputation.
The task of the workshop participants was to investigate moral values through the norms and behaviours that were promoted in the Roman Republic, to review their influence on the society of that time and to conclude whether and in what way the same values are reflected in modern society. The groups were given short texts explaining some of these norms, such as: virtue (virtus), duty (pietas), loyalty (fides), seriousness (gravitas) and constancy (constantia), as well as modesty (pudicitia) and chastity (chastity).
The workshop was concluded with a discussion in which the students reflected on the position of women in Roman society, the challenges and limitations in terms of preserving and building their reputation and dignity, with the statement that despite a more equal social system, the limitations faced by women in ancient Rome still exist today.