Society and Politics in Ancient Rome; Essays and Sketches (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: WOMEN AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS UNDER THE ROMAN REPUBLIC SOME day the story of the emancipation of the Roman woman will be told. It will set forth the steps by which she gradually freed herself from the mastery of the paterfamilias, gained control of her dower, the privilege of holding property in her own name, and, except for the absence of political rights, a more favored position before the law than her husband held. I have no intention of attempting to tell that story here. My purpose is merely to bring together a few facts from the history of the late Republic, that may throw some light upon the role which women played in the political life of the Roman people during that period. Tombstones record the virtues of many Roman matrons, and it is easy to see from them what the Roman's ideal of womanhood was and what he thought properly fell within and outside the range of a woman's activities. The prevailing sentiment is illustrated by the well-known epitaph on the tomb of Claudia outside the walls of Rome: Stranger, what I have to say is quickly told; stop, and read it to the end. Here is the unbeautiful tomb of a beautiful woman. Claudia was the name her parents gave her. Her husband she loved with her whole heart. Two sons she bore; of them the one she leaves on earth, the other she buried beneath the sod. Charming in discourse, gentle in mien, she kept the house, she made the wool. I have finished. Go thy way. Claudia was the devoted wife and mother, who gave an air of grace and charm to the home life, and skilfully directed the affairs of the household. She was the ideal matron of the good old days, whose influence on public life came from the example which she set to others in' performing faithfully and well the duties which fell to her lot, from the respect which her ...