Women in ancient Rome - Wikipedia

Toggle the table of contents Women in ancient Rome 21 languages العربية Català Deutsch Español Euskara فارسی Français Galego Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Nederlands پښتو Português Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Svenska Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt Edit links Article Talk English Read Edit View history Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions Read Edit View history General What links here Related changes Upload file Permanent link Page information Cite this page Get shortened URL Download QR code Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The educated and well-traveled Vibia Sabina (c. 136 AD) was a grand-niece of the emperor Trajan and became the wife of his successor Hadrian . [ 1 ] In ancient Rome , freeborn women were citizens ( cives ), [ 2 ] but could not vote or hold political office . [ 3 ] Because of their limited public role, women are named less frequently than men by Roman historians . But while Roman women held no direct political power, those from wealthy or powerful families could and did exert influence through private negotiations. [ 4 ] Exceptional women who left an undeniable mark on history include Lucretia and Claudia Quinta , whose stories took on mythic significance ; fierce Republican-era women such as Cornelia , mother of the Gracchi , and Fulvia , who commanded an army and issued coins bearing her image; women of the Julio-Claudian dynasty , most prominently Livia (58 BC – AD 29) and Agrippina the Younger (15–59 AD), who contributed to the formation of Imperial mores ; and the empress Helena ( c. 250–330 AD), a driving force in promoting Christianity. [ 5 ] As is the case with male members of society , elite women and their politically significant deeds eclipse those of lower status in the historical record. Inscriptions and especially epitaphs document the names of a wide range of women throughout the Roman Empire, but often tell little else about them. Some vivid snapshots of daily life are preserved in Latin literary genres such as comedy , satire , and poetry, particularly the poems of Catullus and Ovid , which offer glimpses of women in Roman dining rooms and boudoirs, at sporting and theatrical events, shopping, putting on makeup , practicing magic , worrying about pregnancy—all, however, through male eyes . [ 6 ] The published letters of Cicero , for instance, reveal informally how the self-proclaimed great man interacted on the domestic front with his wife Terentia and daughter Tullia , as his speeches demonstrate through disparagement the various ways Roman women could enjoy a free-spirited sexual and social life. [ 7 ] The one major public role reserved solely for women was in the sphere of religion : the priestly office of the Vestals . Forbidden from marriage or sex for a period of thirty years, the Vestals devoted themselves to the study and correct observance of rituals which were deemed necessary for the security and survival of Rome but which could not be performed by the male colleges of priests. [ 8 ] Childhood and education [ edit ] Roman girls playing a game Childhood and upbringing in ancient Rome were determined by social status. Roman children played a number of games, and their toys are known from archaeology and literary sources. Animal figures were popular, and some children kept live animals and birds as pets. [ 9 ] In Roman art girls are shown playing many of the same games as boys, such as ball, hoop-rolling , and knucklebones . Dolls are sometimes found in the tombs of those who died before adulthood. The figures are typically 15–16 cm (5.9–6.3 in) tall, with jointed limbs, and made of materials such as wood, terracotta , and especially bone and ivory . Girls coming of age dedicated their dolls to Diana , the goddess most concerned with girlhood, or to Venus when they were preparing for marriage. [ 10 ] Noble girls were known to marry as young as 12 years of age, [ 11 ] whereas females in the lower classes were more likely to marry slightly further into their teenage years. (Boys, however, had to be at least 14.) [ 12 ] [ 13 ] An example of the marriage age of noble females can be seen with Cicero 's lifelong friend Atticus, who married his daughter Caecilia Attica to Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa when she was 14. [ 13 ] Bronze statuette of the 1st century depicting a girl reading Girls were expected to safeguard their chastity, modesty, and reputation, in preparation for eventual marriage. [ 14 ] The light regulation of marriage by the law with regards to minimum age (12) and consent to marriage was designed to leave families, primarily fathers, with much freedom to propel girls into marriage whenever and with whomever they saw fit. Marriage facilitated a partnership between the father and prospective husbands, and enabled the formatio...