Female farm managers are hidden in plain sight in ancient Roman texts, mentioned in laws, literature and grave inscriptions across five centuries. Modern historians have generally assumed they were housekeepers, in charge of domestic tasks and household meals, and segregated from the productive business of the farm.My new paper, published in the Journal of Roman Archaeology, challenges this assumption.In fact, there is evidence to suggest that many Roman female farm managers supervised wine production and other processes vital to farming and profits.A false leadA farming manual written by the Roman writer Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella in the 1st century CE is a window to the roles of the female manager.An upper class landowner himself, Columella lists the responsibilities of farm managers, who were probably enslaved. The male manager was termed the vilicus, and the female manager the vilica, terms derived from their roles at the "villa".But many historians reading this text have been side-tracked by a false lead: Columella begins his section on the vilica with a long quote from the Greek philosopher Xenophon, who wrote in Athens more than four centuries earlier.A quote from Greek philosophy led many to misunderstand the roles women played in ancient Roman farming. (Image credit: Mahmoud Amer/Pexels)The "natural" role of women, according to Xenophon, was to work indoors. Therefore in his discussion, the ideal upper-class married woman is depicted staying inside her town house to supervise the domestic work of the slaves.The Greek writer is not discussing farm workers. In fact, Columella says four times that these ideas are not his own, but those of Xenophon, writing long ago.Columella lists a completely different set of responsibilities for the vilica on a Roman farm: most importantly, the making of wine and olive oil, which were highly valuable commodities the backbone of landowners' profits.In his description of the vilica's duties, Columella includes the extraction of the juice from grapes during the harvest; adding flavorings and preservatives such as salt, wormwood, fennel or boiled grape-juice; and overseeing successful fermentation into wine.According to Columella, the vilica also managed the processing of other farm products to make them long-lasting and profitable, such as turning inedible olives into olive oil for sale.From archaeology we know that production of wine or oil, using huge machines in substantial buildings, could reach 50,000 to 100,000 litres per year, or even more. The vilica was therefore responsible for overseeing large-scale work essential to the operation of the estate.Calling on the godsCorrect sacrifices to the gods were seen as vital to the success of the farm. Archaeology has uncovered altars for offerings in Roman wine-making buildings.Wine-making in the Roman world was a precarious process, due to uncontrolled temperatures, bacteria or oxygenation. Wine could easily go moldy or turn into vinegar.A striking element of Columella's account is that he includes carrying out offerings to avert such a disaster in his instructions for the female farm manager.Looking for more cluesOther texts contain barely more than a mention of the vilica, revealing only her presence.But we can still put together some clues.Legal writings on inheritance, quoting the 1st century BCE jurist Trebatius, include her in the instrumentum fundi whatever (including enslaved personnel) is required for productive work, gathering and preserving produce of the estate.A mosaic shows Roman farm women at the Villa Romana del Casale, Sicily. (Image credit: Joe Lynch)Another aristocratic landowner and writer, Cato the Elder, living two centuries before Columella, lists both the female and the male farm manager as essential staff for a vineyard or olive farm.He devotes only one small section to outlining the female farm manager's tasks, but a close look shows these are not predominantly domestic. Cato includes keeping poultry and processing of seasonal farm products. Although he does include supervision of cleaning, this could refer to maintenance of work spaces such as stables and wine making buildings, an integral part of estate management and also listed by Columella among the vilica's duties.Cato also gives the vilica the responsibility for making sacrifices to the gods for the success of the farm. She must regularly offer garlands at the altar "for abundance", he writes.A Roman mosaic showing estate work in different seasons depicts a scene of sacrifices for abundant crops to the god Jupiter (in his Celtic form as a sky and weather god). A woman is shown holding an offering of garlands, just as Cato instructs. Beside her are a jug for wine offerings and a male figure.A woman is depicted at an altar holding the offering of garlands. Beside her is a jug for wine offerings and a male figure. (Image credit: Carole Raddato/Muse d'Archologie Nationale, Saint-Germain-en-Laye/Flickr,CC BY)Related stories2,000-year-old hoard of Roman coins may have been hidden by a soldier during a bloody civil war in Italy1,700-year-old Roman ruins discovered atop much older Neolithic sacred spring'Completely unique' Roman mausoleum discovered in rubble of London building sitePerhaps this mosaic shows the vilica and vilicus, both essential to the success of annual harvests. While such images of female figures are rare, one fragmentary wall painting from Rome shows a female overseeing wine-making workers, just as Columella describes.This combined body of evidence suggests we should expand outdated understandings of the roles that Roman women played in farm production, the dominant sector of ancient economies.No vilica has left us an account of her work in her own words. But by paying careful attention to the evidence, we can hear an echo of her voice.This edited article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.From Augustus to Nero, see how much you know about ancient Rome's famous leaders with our Roman emperor quiz!

Georges Biard/Wikimedia CommonsJoe Jackson built the Jackson 5 and launched the careers of Janet and Michael Jackson, but his strict parenting style sparked controversy.From the outside looking in, Joe Jackson appeared to be nothing more than a dedicated stage parent who was determined to turn his children into stars. With the success of the Jackson 5 and Michael Jacksons unparalleled solo career, it seemed foolish to claim otherwise but then his family started speaking out.As Jacksons children became adults, they accused their father of horrendous abuse. During an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 1993, the King of Pop himself revealed that Jackson had regularly beaten him and his siblings while they were growing up.While attitudes around corporal punishment have changed since the 1960s, the psychological toll abusive parents have on their children has not. Michael Jackson was seemingly developmentally stunted for the rest of his life, which potentially fostered his own alleged abuse of children. Meanwhile, Joe Jackson walked away with the spoils of his labor.This is the true story of Joe Jackson and his controversial creation of one of the most successful musical dynasties in history.The Early Life Of Joe JacksonJoseph Walter Jackson was born on July 26, 1928, in Fountain Hill, Arkansas. Like millions of other Americans navigating the aftermath of the Great Depression, his family relocated across the country in search of economic opportunity. The move came at a precarious time for 12-year-old Jackson, as his parents had just divorced and headed in different directions. Jackson was the only one of his siblings not to follow their mother to East Chicago, Indiana. Instead, he moved to Oakland, California, with his strict father, Samuel.Jackson ultimately joined the rest of his family when he was 18. He never finished high school, so he took a manual labor job at the Inland Steel Company in Indiana and pursued a career in amateur boxing. He also tried to make it as a blues musician, but his band quickly fell apart.victorgrigas/Wikimedia CommonsThe former Jackson family home in Gary, Indiana.Shortly after moving to Indiana, Jackson met 17-year-old Katherine Scruse. Although he had just married a woman named Isophine Atkinson, he quickly divorced her to wed Scruse, instead. They tied the knot on Nov. 5, 1949, and purchased a home in Gary, Indiana. Over the next 16 years, they had 10 children together: Rebbie, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, La Toya, Marlon, Brandon (Marlons twin who died shortly after birth), Michael, Randy, and Janet.At the time, Joe Jackson had no idea that some of his children would go on to become global superstars. The Creation Of The Jackson 5Jackson began pushing his children in a musical direction after discovering that they were playing with his instruments while he was at work. He was furious when Tito accidentally snapped a string on one of his guitars, but he had a light bulb moment when he heard the boy play it beautifully.The burgeoning stage parent and talent manager quickly formed the Jackson Brothers out of Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine, eventually adding Marlon and Michael to the fold and renaming the group the Jackson 5. They began by competing in local talent contests but nabbed more professional gigs after making a name for themselves.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesJoe Jackson with the Jackson 5 during a tour stop in Japan in 1973.Jackson secured his children their first record contract with Steeltown Records in 1967, and their debut single, Big Boy, was released the following year. While the song wasnt a major hit, it helped the Jackson 5 earn a record deal with Motown Records in 1969. At that point, the family relocated to Los Angeles, where the Jackson 5 recorded their first Motown single, I Want You Back. The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts, and their follow-up singles ABC, The Love You Save, and Ill Be There all followed suit. However, as the band grew hotter, Joe Jackson only became colder toward his children.The Alleged Abuse Of Joe JacksonAs the Jackson children became adults, they began opening up about the abuse theyd faced at their fathers hands. As reported by the Independent, Michael Jackson revealed in a 1990 interview, I was so afraid of him that just seeing him walk into the house made my body tremble.Joe Jackson didnt even allow his children to call him Dad. Theyre hollering, Dad, Dad, Dad, you know, and it gets to be it sounds kind of funny to me, the family patriarch told CNN in 2013. But I didnt care too much about what they called me, just as long as they [were] able to listen to me and what I had to tell them, you know, in order to make their lives successful. This was the main thing.Public DomainThe Jackson children in 1977. Front from left: Janet, Randy, La Toya, and Rebbie. Back from left: Jackie, Michael, Tito, Jermaine (who was later digitally added), and Marlon.Jacksons uncompromising parenting style included far worse than this one cold demand, however. Michael Jackson later said his father routinely punched, slapped, and whipped him and his siblings with belts and electrical cords, particularly when they made mistakes during rehearsals. He also claimed that Joe instilled lifelong shame in him over his wide nose, which he surgically altered numerous times as an adult.According to Michaels physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, Joe Jackson was one of the worst fathers to his children in history. Murray even claimed that Joe had chemically castrated Michael at an early age so he would retain his high-pitched voice, though there is no real evidence to support these allegations.By the time he released his breakthrough solo album Off the Wall in 1979, Michael had fired his father as his manager. He told Oprah Winfrey in 1993, Theres been times when hed come to see me, and I would get sick. Id start to regurgitate I love my father, but I dont know him.OWN/YoutubeMichael Jackson speaking to Oprah Winfrey in 1993.The King of Pops sister, La Toya, had shared even more troubling memories. In 1991, she accused her father of childhood sexual abuse, though she later claimed that her husband had coerced her into making the claims.While Joe Jackson adamantly denied all of these allegations throughout his life, he did state in a 2003 interview that he never beat [Michael]. I whipped him with a switch and a belt. I never beat him. You beat someone with a stick.Despite Jacksons personal definition of abuse, its clear that his domineering parenting style had a formative impact on his children for better or for worse.The Aftermath Of Joe Jacksons ParentingJoe Jackson had wanted his children to have a better life than he had, and in many ways, he succeeded. By forcing his children to rehearse for five hours after school every day, he kept them off the violent streets of Gary, Indiana. And by pushing them to their limits, he built one of the most iconic bands of the 1960s and created two global superstars in Michael and Janet. During a 2001 speech at Oxford University, Michael Jackson said, I have begun to see that even my fathers harshness was a kind of love He pushed me because he loved me. Because he wanted no man ever to look down at his offspring.Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times/Getty ImagesJoe Jackson greeting Michael Jacksons fans at Neverland Ranch following his sons child molestation trial in 2005.But while the Jackson children had successful careers, many of them struggled in their personal lives. Michael designed his home, Neverland Ranch, to live out the innocent childhood he didnt have a chance to experience. But the estate later became notorious as the place where the King of Pop allegedly molested young boys for years.While Michael Jackson was acquitted of all charges in 2005, they loomed over him until his death in 2009. Joe Jackson passed away from pancreatic cancer nine years later at the age of 89. But until his final years, he maintained that his parenting style had been successful.Im glad I was tough, he told CNN in 2013, because look what I came out with. I came out with some kids that everybody loved all over the world.After learning about the life of the Jackson family patriarch, discover the stories of nine Hollywood stage parents who exploited their children. Then, read about Murry Wilson, the violent father of the Beach Boys.The post The Controversial Legacy Of Joe Jackson, The Domineering Patriarch Of The Jackson Family appeared first on All That's Interesting.

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