Granting citizenship to women in ancient Epirus

In this paper, inspired by the analysis of two epigraphic text found in the sanctuary of Dodona and in which the granting of citizenship to two women is reported, we wish to take the opportunity to address the issue of female citizenship in the ancient Greek world. It is important to notice that the word politeia, citizenship, is rarely associated with women. To understand the meaning and motivation that lie behind the decree of Dodona and to try giving an explanation to this and other similar rare cases, we must make a comparison with Athens and its attitude towards female citizenship or its conception of women as citizens. In Athens female citizenship did not make woman politically active, but it was only a functional status. We could say that, if there is a distinction between male and female citizenship, this is to be found in the different functions that the polis appointed its citizens and not in the status or nature of citizens. In the second part of the contribution there will be a more detailed analysis of the two decrees, with also the necessary reference to the few other epigraphic sources that contain the individual granting of citizenship to women in Classical and Hellenistic times. Final aim of this paper is to understand what the citizenship for the woman meant in the context of the koinon of the Molossians in Epirus in IV century B.C. and whether such citizenship had a mere passive connotation, as in classical Athens, or whether the woman could exercise more actively her rights as a citizen and how.