About the Inscription
Inscription for Callityche
Marble, pigment
Roman Period (early 1st century CE)
Pozzuoli, Italy. G. De Criscio collection, 1899. KM 1030
Inscription:
Valeria A(uli) et ((C))(aiae) liberta / Callityche / ornatrix
Translation:
Valeria Callityche, the freedwoman of Aulus and Gaia. A hairdresser.
Callityche’s Story
Browse Objects
Scroll down to explore some items in the Kelsey Museum that would have been familiar to Callityche.
Pyxis/Trinket Jar
A pyxis is a small, cylindrical box with a fitted lid. Most Roman women owned one or more of these jars to store their jewelry, cosmetics, incense, and other trinkets. This jar, made in Southern Italy, is painted with two women and an eros (cupid). One woman looks at herself in a mirror, while the eros brings the other woman a storage box. Callityche likely used a pyxis like this for her few pieces of jewelry. Her mistress would have had a more elaborate version, perhaps made from bronze.
Bronze Mirror
Early mirrors were small, handheld objects made from highly polished bronze, though wealthy individuals sometimes had mirrors made from silver. Around the Mediterranean, mirrors typically had a handle, as seen in this example. The back of the mirror was often decorated with mythological figures—most commonly Aphrodite and Eros. To protect their delicate surfaces, mirrors often had a cover or were folded into cases, much like modern compacts.
Villa of the Mysteries
This portion of the room shows an ornatrix in the process of styling her mistress’s hair. A little cupid assists by holding up a small mirror or perhaps a reference image. It seems to be a complicated hairstyle since the young mistress is helping the ornatrix hold a section in place. The scene is typically understood to be the start of the story being told in this room, with the young woman getting ready for her initiation into the cult of Dionysus. This section of the Villa of the Mysteries is one of the few known depictions of an ancient Roman hairdresser at work.
Fashionable Hairstyles
The imperial family both participated in and helped establish different fashion trends. Some strived for a simple yet perfect haircut—Augustus’s locks always fell just so on his forehead. Later hairstyles were more elaborate and expressive. To achieve these impressive looks, an ornatrix would have needed to use a curling iron, bodkins (like modern bobby pins), and sometimes a needle and thread to hold the braids in place.
