Women at the intersection between production and euergetism: The case of high-imperial Hierapolis

Abstract This essay illuminates the key intersection between female socio-economic agency, euergetic behaviour in a semi-private setting, and the phenomenon of professional associations in a polis of Roman Asia, Hierapolis of Phrygia. Professional associations are excellently represented in its municipal epigraphic dossier, serving as a starting point for evaluating women’s donations and their socio-economic significance. After analysing the fundamental role and limits of epigraphic texts for assessing issues of autonomous socio-economic agency, the article examines the Hierapolitan benefactresses’ funerary bequests, their relationship with the collegia, and similarities and differences with their male counterparts. By parsing which information the benefactresses wanted to convey through their inscribed donations, this essay proves that although benefactresses are quantitatively less represented in bequest documents, their behaviour is qualitatively part and parcel of the same euergetic ideology and practice underpinning male benefactions.