This collection of articles is, while dealing with an interesting and crucial question of interaction between gender, memory, and identity in the Roman world, also celebrating the birthday of Katariina Mustakallio by acknowledging her work and career. Thus, several of her colleagues were invited to contribute papers that deal with some of the subjects very close to Katariina’s own interests.

To know Katariina is to know a person knowledgeable about a wide variety of topics. In the field of ancient history, she has dealt with both cultural and social questions from many perspectives. While this volume concentrates on gender, memory, and identity, Katariina has also had a keen interest in topics such as childhood, old age, death, and religion in ancient societies, particularly within the Roman Empire. Moreover, Medieval history and, more generally, world cultures and their history, have also been an important part of her work and vision as a scholar. Finishing her PhD thesis at the University of Helsinki, Katariina’s impact on ancient studies at the University of Tampere has been extremely significant for over twenty years now. Her activity in organizing and providing lectures on ancient history, her scholarship, her willingness to help and encourage students and fellow researchers, and her ability to create an overall atmosphere of togetherness and good spirit among those who work close to her, has enabled Classical studies to become an important and lively part of history studies and research in Tampere. That said, she has acted in many notable academic positions at the University of Tampere but also elsewhere – for example, as the Director of the Institutum Romanum Finlandiae in her beloved Rome for the period of 2009-2013.

While the importance of her work can be noticed in many aspects at the University of Tampere, one should particularly mention her efforts as being one of the driving forces behind the very close co-operation between Classical and Medieval studies, practiced in Tampere for many years now, and emphasizing the significance of longue duree from Antiquity to the Middle Ages.