Women in Rome
Historically women in Rome were never given the opportunity to speak their minds. All of the historical documents that are used to portray roman life where created by men. "...through the erotic and satirical poetry of the late Republic and early Empire, all written by men; through the historians and biographers, all men most of them unable to resist the salacious and the scandalous; through the letter writers and philosophers, all men; through painting and sculpture, chiefly portrait of statues, inscribed tombstones, and religious monuments of all kinds; and through innumerable legal texts." Men expected women, to stay at home, to take care of their children and husbands. A women who did so, was considered the ideal wife.In Ancient Greece women were viewed by society in very similar ways as in Rome. The only thing a freeborn Athenian woman could call her own was her reputation, which depended on good behavior. Her father would marry her at age fourteen or fifteen. Her days were spent dutifully spinning, weaving, dyeing clothes, cooking, bearing and raising children, and, above all, on not interfering in the serious business of life as conducted by the men. A woman was expected to stay home and keep quiet. Nor could wom
marriage from a social and economic point of view." It was often that the marriage had no compatibility to it at all. That may be another reason why society turned it's head from affairs. For Rome to keep growing as a society, it had to stress marriages at an early age. There was nothing sacramental about it. But, was a necessary means for the structure of property to be in order. Due to the high mortality rate, citizens were expected to marry young. "It was assumed that if one reached the right age - and many of course did not, given the enormously high rate of infant mortality - one would marry. Society could not pursue its normal course otherwise. But the stress was always on the rightness of the en testify in a court of law. She could not go out shopping, "...for respectable married women did not go out shopping in fifth-century Athens." That job was left for the men and slaves. One of the few times an Athenian woman could go out was to the Thesmophoria festival. "...one of several festivals celebrated in honor of feminine deities. During these festivals a woman could leave the seclusion of her own house without arousing suspicious comment." Many men saw the Thesm! Women in Rome seemed to be judged by a male society. It is amazing that we do not have more historical writings from the women of that time. Their role in life was already planned for them the day they were born. Their happiness seemed unimportant to not only to Rome and Ancient Greece, but in much of human history. It must have been hard for them to imagine it any other way. Being part of a "liberated" group must have been thought as taboo to many people. But, if it wasn't for these liberated gro
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Approximate Word count = 1146
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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