Claudia Metrodora (fl. c. 54 – 68 AD) was a

Graeco-Roman The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

public benefactor. A resident of the island of

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

, Metrodra was able to benefit the city when she held magistracies and ''stephanophoros''. Metrodora was the daughter of Claudius Kalobrotos of

Teos Teos () or Teo was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, on a peninsula between Chytrium and Myonnesus. It was founded by Minyans from Orchomenus, Ionians and Boeotians, but the date of its foundation is unknown. Teos was one of the t ...

, and the adopted daughter of Skytheinos of Chios. Details saved from a fragmentary inscription from

Ephesus Ephesus (; ; ; may ultimately derive from ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital ...

reveal that Claudia Metrodora paid from her own finances to provide public meals, erected

public bath Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

s, held the honorary rank of gymnasiarch on four occasions, provided supplies of liver oil twice for public consumption, and was honoured as a basileia of the

Ionian League The Ionian League (; , ; or , , in ), also called the Panionic League, was a confederation formed at the end of the Meliac War in the mid-7th century BC comprising twelve Ionian Greek city-states (a dodecapolis, of which there were many other ...

References

Sources

*R van Bremen, The Limits of Participation (1996) *Kearsley, Roy,
Women in Public Life in the Roman East: Iunia Theodora, Claudia Metrodora and Phoebe, Benefactress of Paul
" ''

Tyndale Bulletin The ''Tyndale Bulletin'' is an academic journal published by Tyndale House in Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county tow ...

'' 50/2 (1999), p. 189 - 211. 1st-century Roman women 1st-century Romans {{AncientRome-bio-stub