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Abstract
This thesis determines whether the Julio-Claudian women were defined by their roles as wives of the current emperors or rather, as mothers of potential emperors. The paper includes a study of womens roles within the family and also of the bias of the primary sources. Chapter One highlights three Republican women as case studies for womens roles at the end of the first century B.C.E. Chapter Two explores how Livia Drusilla used the established norms to identify appropriate roles for imperial women. Chapter Three explains how Agrippina the Younger manipulates the status quo for her personal gain.