Women in ancient Rome
The position of freeborn women in ancient Rome was fundamentally different from that in other ancient societies. They had more opportunities to participate in social life. Because their lives did not take place apart from the public, as was the case, for example, in ancient Greece . Many women in the Roman Empire were able to live quite independent lives. Although women had limited legal capacity, this was no different from most men. Unlike men, however, women had no rights beyond their own person. They could not be guardians or guarantors, and they could not hold political or public offices. The position of a woman in Roman society was also heavily dependent on the social rank of her family; Slaves had no rights.
For centuries, historical studies, when looking at ancient Rome, treated only the history determined by men. Only for a few decades has research been specifically concerned with the role of women in ancient societies , since the influence of gender studies has given increasing attention to women's history .
Because of the difficult source situation for the early Roman period and the major changes in the social and legal area from the 3rd / 4th AD, late antiquity , this article mainly deals with the living conditions of free women in Rome and Italy during the so-called "classical antiquity", the last two centuries of the republic and the first two centuries of the imperial era .
Sources
Written sources about the life of Roman women go back to the 3rd century BC. BC back. Among the earliest traditions are grave inscriptions . Particularly revealing for the legal status of women in the 1st century BC is the so-called Laudatio Turiae , the grave inscription of an unknown woman, the text of which contains her husband's eulogy for his deceased wife. Biographies and letters from the late republic and the imperial era have survived. In historiography , however, women were usually only mentioned in passing. In addition, philosophers like Seneca and other scholars speak out about the position of women. For the early days of Rome, however, one is solely dependent on archaeological finds and references in later writings. This also applies to the marriage and guardianship laws in the Twelve Tables Act around 450 BC. The history of Livy, on the other hand, passed down mainly myths for the early centuries, describing an ideal that hardly existed.
The relatively small number of written sources that can provide information about the life of Roman women is concentrated on women from the families of the upper class. Women themselves left few written sources. Among the Oxyrhynchus papyri found in Egypt and the “ Vindolanda tablets ” found in Fort Vindolanda on Hadrian's Wall , there are also letters from women.
Legal Status
Views on the position of Roman women have changed dramatically in the last century. In older books their position is often described as having equal rights, but today reference is made to the restrictions. The reason for this lies in the development of the last 100 years with regard to ideas about women's rights . Compared not only with their Greek contemporaries , but also with women in the Middle Ages and modern times well into the 20th century, the women of Roman antiquity were actually very free and emancipated. Really equal in the modern sense but they were not.
In accordance with their social function as a complement to men, the legal sphere of action of women hardly extended beyond themselves. As long as they represented their own interests alone, they were only slightly restricted, but they could hardly stand up for others. The legislation of the imperial era, which improved the legal capacity of women, did nothing to change this: women had no share in the officia , public duties and tasks. They were therefore not allowed to hold any political office and had neither active nor passive voting rights . They were not allowed to adopt, vouch for, be a guardian (except for their children to a limited extent), bring charges on their own, appear on a jury in court and were discriminated against by various laws in terms of inheritance and inheritance. So it was according to the lex Voconia from 169 BC. BC it was forbidden to use women from the top census class as main heirs.
Patria Potestas
As long as his father was alive, a Roman was generally considered to be incapable of doing business regardless of age, gender and any descendants of his own. Men and women were under this patriotic power of disposal ( patria potestas ); even freedmen were the Patria Potestas subject of their former masters. Like slaves, all those under paternal power could freely dispose of only the peculium , a credit granted to them by their head of family or guardian. A legal difference between the sexes did not emerge until the person was released from paternal power. This happened through his death or the so-called emancipation , the release from paternal power (literally: e : from, manus : hand, capere : to take). A man of at least 14 years of age became completely free ( sui iuris ) through this act and could again exercise patria potestas himself . A woman, on the other hand, only had limited legal capacity. They needed a tutor ( guardian ) for all transactions. Because the woman remained a member of her father's family in the manus-free marriage , her guardian was not allowed to be her own husband or father-in-law, but a relative or a freedman of her family. They were also not allowed to draw up a will without the consent of their guardian.
A woman could never have the Patria Potestas over someone (“her family begins and ends with a woman”) and therefore could not adopt anyone . In manus-free marriage, she was not even legally related to her own children. Roman women, on the other hand, were seldom dependent on their husbands, unless they had entered into a Manu marriage , which, however, had seldom been used since the time of the Roman Republic. During the late republic, women were given more freedom. The woman described in the Laudatio Turiae , who was still unmarried at the time of the inheritance dispute , appealed in the 1st century BC. Chr. That after the death of her father she would no longer be under any potestas . According to the marriage laws of Augustus ( Lex Iulia de maritandis ordinibus or Lex Iulia et Papia ), a woman was only allowed to freely dispose of her property after she had given birth at least three times. This so-called three-child right was intended to stop the population decline and also promote the old virtues and therefore curtailed the right of inheritance of unmarried and childless people. Freed or Italian women needed at least four children, and women of different civil rights five. Emperor Claudius passed a law according to which the guardianship did not pass to his descendants after the death of the father, so that a woman whose father had died or who had released her from paternal power was free from patria potestas and legally competent , like a man it concerned herself. She was thus free to marry and divorce and to dispose of her property and to bequeath it in her will. Only for the sale of assets such as real estate and slaves did they need a guardian whom they could choose themselves to lend auctoritas to their businesses .
Wedding and marriage law
The engagement and marriage took place early, with girls from the upper class sometimes before the legal minimum age of 12 years, since the marriage of a daughter always meant a political-business connection with the family of the son-in-law. The physician Soranos of Ephesus took the view that the wedding should take place as soon as possible after the menarche . Augustus' marriage laws stipulated that a woman should be a mother by the age of 20. It was impossible to get married without the consent of the pater familias , but the consent of the bride, especially when she was very young, was purely a matter of form.
Various rituals were part of marriage. The most important thing that legally established marriage was the home, the domum deductio . The presence of the groom was not necessary. The dowry , which was made available to her husband only for the duration of the marriage, was usually paid in three installments on the anniversaries of the marriage.
In the early days of the Republic prevailed manus marriage before, in which the wife (and their property) to the law of God ( manus ) passed over the man (or his father). In the new family, she assumed the status of a daughter and also bore her family name . A Manus marriage could come about in three ways: through a symbolic act of purchase ( coemptio ), through living together for a year in which the woman did not leave the house for more than three days and nights in a row ( usus ), or through joint sacrifice and consumption an offering cake in the presence of a priest ( confarreatio ). The last form required observance of many customs. So the bride had to get married in a white dress ( tunica ) made of flannel and was wrapped in the flame . A Manu marriage could not be divorced without the consent of the pater familias - but certainly without the consent of the spouses. A widow ( vidua - also called divorced) of a Manu marriage was considered a separate legal person ( sui iuris ) as long as she did not enter into a new Manu marriage.
From the 3rd century BC onwards, the Manus marriage was more and more replaced by the manus-free marriage, in which the woman was no longer dependent on her husband, but continued to belong to her father's family as long as she left his house for at least three days a year . The woman remained the owner of her dowry and was able to acquire and inherit property independently of the husband. If she was the richer, she could support her husband financially, as did Cicero's wife Terentia . She could not inherit her husband, however, and could only bequeath her own property to her children with the consent of her guardian, as they did not belong to her father's family . It was not until AD 178 that the Senate allowed women to bequeath their property to their children ( senatus consultum Orphitianum ). She could - with the consent of her father, if he was still alive - get a divorce at any time by leaving the house with what she owned. Just as easily the man could get divorced by saying the divorce formula.
The marriage had to be befitting. In the early days of Rome, connections between patricians and plebeians were not allowed. Romans were forbidden to marry non-Romans (and vice versa). Marriages with freedmen of the first and second generation were forbidden in the lex Iulia, at least for the senatorial families. Soldiers and slaves could not have legal marriages either. The cohabitation was therefore widespread. Children from such relationships were considered illegitimate. Because they officially had no father, they were sui iuris , since the mother had no potestas over them. Even if the parents later legally married, these children before Justinian I could only be legitimized by adrogatio . If one of the parents was not a Roman citizen, which often happened in the provinces before the constitutio Antoniniana , the children were also considered peregrini foreigners according to the lex Minicia .
If a partner lost their citizenship , be it because they were enslaved, be it because they were exiled or convicted of a capital crime, the marriage was automatically dissolved. Since Roman soldiers were forbidden to marry, marriages previously concluded by men who entered the Legion were also invalid.
Adultery
The lex Iulia de adulteriis is the first law on sexual offenses that has come down to us. During the Republican era, adultery was considered a crime against women only. The pater familias was allowed to kill an unchaste daughter. According to the Augustan marriage laws, adultery was withdrawn from family law. The husband had to divorce or report his unfaithful wife and her lover if he did not want to be considered a pimp himself . A betrayed wife, on the other hand, could not prosecute her husband. However, she was able to get a divorce and reclaim her dowry. The penalties for convicted adulterers were severe: loss of much of their property and banishment. Convicted women were on a par with prostitutes and lost the right to stand as witnesses in court, to marry and inherit a Roman citizen. Later emperors tightened these laws, but trials for adultery were rare.
Sexual harassment or rape was only punished when it concerned free women. Slaves and prostitutes had no legal rights.
Divorce and widowhood
In early Roman times, only men could get a divorce, but only under very specific conditions, such as adultery or infertility of the woman. In the Roman tradition, the first divorce case is dated 230 BC. When the consul Spurius Carvilius Ruga divorced because his wife was sterile. Towards the end of the Roman Republic, women in a manus-free marriage also gained the right to apply for divorce . From the 2nd century BC, the initiative for divorce came increasingly from women. During the imperial era , divorce became more and more common. The Roman religion had no rules to prevent divorce.
To dissolve a marriage, it was sufficient for one of the spouses to pronounce the formula "tuas res tibi habeto" ("take your things with you") or "i foras" ("go out of my house") in front of witnesses . These sentences could also be recorded in writing and given to the partner by someone released. Children from a dissolved marriage remained under the paternal potestas , but often grew up with their mother. Since most marriages were arranged, divorces were the order of the day, be it because the families involved were no longer interested in the marriage, or for personal reasons. However, it was only under Marcus Aurelius that a law prohibited the pater familias from dissolving a happy marriage.
Divorce and death of a partner in a manus-free marriage were associated with the return of (part of) the dowry to the woman or to her pater familias . Dowry issues were a large part of Roman law .
Men were allowed to remarry immediately after their wives died. Women had to wait at least ten months to remarry after their husbands' death or divorce; in the Augustan marriage laws this period was extended to twelve months. The reason for this regulation was the wish, in the event of the widow's pregnancy, to leave no doubt as to who the father of the child was - Mater semper certa est . However, it was expected that no more than 24 months would pass before a new marriage, at least for a vidua of childbearing age.
Names
Until the second century BC, women also had an individual first name ( praenomen ). In the period of the late Republic it became customary Girl Only with the names of their family ( gens to name). With several daughters, additions such as maior (= the older one), minor (= the younger one) or tertia (= the third one) occurred. If a woman entered into a Manu marriage, she took the name of her new family, in which she assumed the status of daughter. Towards the end of the republic there was a move to give girls more individual cognomina , mostly using either the feminine form of the paternal cognom (as in Iunia Torquata and the sisters Vipsania Agrippina and Agrippina the elder ) or the names of maternal ancestors. For example, Iunia Lepida , daughter of Marcus Iunius Silanus Torquatus , “inherited” the name of her mother Aemilia Lepida, while Claudia Antonia , daughter of Emperor Claudius , was named after her grandmother Antonia the Younger . Of course, women were also given individual names within the family and friends circle. For example, that the daughter of Titus Pomponius Atticus is mentioned in various sources Caecilia, Pomponia or Attica . Also nicknamed as Tulliola for Cicero's daughter Tullia are occupied. During the imperial era, this rigid system was abandoned and the nickname was freely chosen , as was customary for most of the peoples living in the Roman Empire.
Slaves bore the names their masters gave them. Freedmen kept their slave names as cognomen next to the family name of the person who had released them. Likewise, new citizens took the gentile name of whoever granted them citizenship in addition to their own name.
Social status
In ancient Rome the division into sexes was not a given, but an object constructed by law . Marriage and family were considered the cornerstones of the res publica , the Roman state. Both sexes had their social functions: the man as pater familias was responsible for the continued existence of society and the family, the woman stood by him as mater familias . Her main task was giving birth to (male) offspring.
Jurists such as Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder and Cicero saw women, following the Aristotelian philosophy, as inherently inferior to men. Women have a limited mind ( Imbecillitas Mentis ), an inconsistent character ( Levitas Animi ) and are physically inferior to men ( Infirmitas Sexus ). The necessity of guardianship and marriage was derived from this. In recent research, the restriction of the rights and sphere of influence of women are interpreted as protection against their own inability.
Mater familias
Women had their value in Roman society as mothers. When they got married, they entered the mother state ( matrimonium ) as matrona and mater familias (“woman from home” ). It made no difference whether they really had children. Her duties included raising children, overseeing the house slaves, spinning wool , weaving fabrics, and sewing clothes for the family. In poor families, household chores such as cleaning, washing up, shopping and cooking were added. In wealthier households, slaves were responsible for this work, which was considered to be very low.
The matrona , the wife of the Roman citizen and mother of his children, was an authority figure for the family, administered the house and farm and had to be a social role model with regard to her virtue. Her duties included participating in private and public cults. There were also various cults such as that of the Bona Dea , which were reserved for married women.
A woman's rank was dependent on that of her father and, after marriage, that of her husband. The wives of the senators enjoyed certain privileges like their husbands: they were allowed to wear purple stripes on their clothes and use carts in the city. If a woman from the upper class married a man of lower class, she lost her status. Therefore, marriages between the estates were rare until the 3rd century.
Feminine virtues
Since the social role restricted the Roman woman to the mother role, the Roman matrona was originally required to remain as invisible as possible - domiseda = sitting in the house. She was supposed to lead her husband's household in accordance with the traditional virtues of the early Roman peasant society of simplicity, thrift, honesty and piety. In addition, there was chastity ( pudicitia ) as a specifically female virtue , the symbol of which was the processing of wool ( lanificium ). Therefore, a basket of wool and a chair are depicted on many of the women's tombstones. The so-called Univira , the woman who was married in the first marriage and the widow who was not remarried, was considered particularly chaste . Nor was it proper for women to be named in public speeches. That Caesar held public funerals for his aunt and wife was considered unusual.
Lucretia was revered as a shining example from the early days , who committed suicide before she brought shame on her family by rape. Girls were therefore brought up to be self-disciplined and, like young wives, should always be under supervision. It was considered virtuous for a young wife to abstain after giving birth three times. Plutarch wrote his own work De Mulierum Virtutibus - On the virtues of wives. The upper class women were the focus of public attention. Cornelia, the mother of the Gracches , Livia , Agrippina the elder and Octavia were revered as role models because they corresponded to the ideal. Women who did not give in to their role were also often accused by contemporary historiography of an immoral lifestyle and unfeminine behavior.
childhood and education
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While boys celebrated this lustricus on the 9th day after their birth by sacrificing cleaning and naming them, girls had this festival on the 8th day of their lives because it was assumed that girls developed faster. As a counterpart to the bulla of the free-born boys, girls received a lunula , a moon-shaped metal pendant, as a protective amulet , which was supposed to place them under the protection of Diana .
In childhood, Roman girls played with dolls and other toys. They learned how to run the household from their mothers. However, since the time of the late republic, sources have also spoken of girls attending public elementary schools where reading, writing and arithmetic were taught. It is not known whether girls were able to attend high schools in which a grammaticus introduced the students to Roman and Greek grammar and literature, history, philosophy, geography, arithmetic and geometry, nor is it known how many girls went to school. After all, quite a few women, including those from the lower ranks, could read and write, like the butcher's wife on a relief who does the accounting for the business, or the little Magnilla, whose tombstone she describes as super annos docta - about her tender age advanced by seven years in class - describes.
Women from the lower classes often learned an occupation that they practiced, or they worked in their husbands' workshops, were traders in food, clothing and cosmetics or ran cookshops. Many women also worked in the textile manufacture. Slaves were often trained for a specific task and as freedmen could earn money with this activity. While musicians and actresses were under general suspicion of prostitution and were therefore poorly viewed, artistic training for girls was considered appropriate. Pliny the Elder mentions several famous female painters in his natural history. Upper-class women are also praised for their poetry .
The sources are largely silent about what the girls learned from the upper class. While her brothers were prepared for later careers through rhetoric lessons, their sole aim was a family-friendly marriage, and since they tended to marry early, their classes in public schools or private tutors ended much earlier than those of boys, unless that her husband encouraged her further education. The stoic philosopher Musonius , however, took the view that daughters should be taught like sons, since philosophy lessons serve to promote virtue.
Only a few educated women who also dealt with philosophy and literature are known by name, such as Cornelia Metella or the speakers Hortensia , the daughter of the famous speaker Quintus Hortensius Hortalus , and Maesia Sentia. Tullia was valued by her father Cicero as a doctissima - the most learned conversationalist. Otherwise the attribute docta (taught) rarely occurs for women. The puella docta , the “learned girl” in Ovid's love songs, had a similarly disreputable reputation as the woman who studied in the 19th century, referred to as blue stocking . For example, Sallust Sempronia's Greek education was directly related to her (allegedly) immoral way of life. Knowledge of Greek philosophy seems to have been fashionable for women in the 2nd century as well. Lukian insinuated that rich women only kept their private tutors to show off their alleged education. With Sulpicia the Elder and Sulpicia the Younger , only two Roman poets are known by name who wrote Latin poems. Iulia Balbilla , court poet of Empress Vibia Sabina, wrote in the ancient Aeolian dialect of Greek .
A similar ritual for the end of childhood as the solemn donning of the toga virilis , the simple white toga that symbolized the coming of age, did not exist for girls. Instead, the wedding ritual involved offering toys to Venus .
marriage
Roman girls, especially from the upper classes, married very early. Sources from Rome as well as from Roman Egypt show a large percentage of married women in their teenage years, sometimes even below the official marriage age. The marriage was probably consummated even if the bride had not yet reached the menarche. The custom of marrying very young girls spread throughout the Roman Empire. If it was their first marriage, the groom was usually ten years older. If he was already widowed or divorced, the age gap could be far greater. In a second or third marriage, the adult vidua had more of a say in the choice of her next spouse, and the ages of the partners converged, or even adopted a younger man, like Fabia, of whom Cicero ridiculed for twenty years was thirty when she was married to Dolabella, who was in her twenties .
As a wife, she assumed the rank of matrona , the unrestricted landlady. For the first time she was able to participate in social life and was responsible. Originally she was only a mater familias when she was married to a pater familias through the Manus marriage.
Spouses often had little in common in everyday life. The man went about his business, while the woman took care of the family ( familia - includes all people belonging to the household) and the house ( domus ), which could include the management of all his property, even if the spouses were in one Manus-free marriage had separate coffers and the husband was not obliged to support the wife. There were times when she lent him money from her property - and demanded it back when the house blessing was wrong.
Marital fidelity was considered an ideal, but - at least according to writers like Suetonius - women of the upper class, whose marriages were concluded and dissolved mainly for political or economic reasons, often had extramarital relationships. Valeria Messalina , Claudius' third wife , had a particularly bad reputation in this regard . Nevertheless, many grave inscriptions speak of affection. Valerius Maximus tells of a goddess Viriplacia , to whom married couples turned to ask for a settlement .
maternity
Motherhood raised a woman's status, especially when her sons had made it into prestige. Within the family, she was considered a person of respect. In manus-free marriage, mothers were not considered direct relatives of their children. Agnates , between which there was an automatic succession, were only the paternal relationship. The mother and her family were considered cognati - blood relatives, but without the legal consequences resulting from the relationship. The rights of mothers were therefore not anchored institutionally, but only customary law . Most of the women who are reported to have had great influence for and on their children were widows whose children were already sui iuris when they were minors . Due to the often large age gap between the spouses, quite a lot of women came into this situation if they survived childbirth. Since Roman women, unlike women in Greek culture, were not confined to the women's quarters of their home, they were able to use their relationships to advance their sons' careers and to enter into marriages that were beneficial for their daughters. Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, and Caesar's mother Aurelia were considered particularly praiseworthy examples of committed mothers. However, mothers had no potestas over their children, so they could not enforce obedience.
Breastfeeding was considered virtuous, but many Roman mothers who could afford it gave their newborns to a wet nurse . It was not uncommon for children to spend at least their early childhood ( infantia - the age at which the child cannot speak) in the care of slaves or released foster parents. Ancient writers criticized this practice. Tacitus, for example, emphasized in his Germania that the Germanic women breastfed and cared for their small children themselves. Nevertheless, and despite the high child mortality rate, grave inscriptions and letters show a close emotional bond with small children. The wet nurse, too, often remained an important person for her former protégé until old age. The supervision of childcare and a good upbringing from an early age were considered less than tenderness for the mother. Her role was not very different from that of the father, although the father's influence was rated higher.
Participation in public life
In contrast to the Greek women, who were expected to lead a withdrawn life, the Roman woman took part in public life. On the other hand, she was not allowed to take part in political life: women could listen to public speeches by the Rostra in the Roman Forum or at court events, but were not admitted to the Comitium or the Curia .
Employment
Even if many women, just like a large proportion of men, had only limited legal capacity, many had a job. Doctors and midwives were particularly respected . Owners of factories , traders and innkeepers are known from Ostia . Women also worked as musicians such as monodiaria (= solo singer) Heria Thisbe, whose grave stone marked victories in various competitions, or actresses. Professional musicians and actresses were, however, under general suspicion of prostitution and were therefore poorly regarded.
Leisure time
In contrast to the Greek customs, where the housewife did not show herself to her husband's guests, women also appeared as hosts at feasts. When eating in the triclinium , the women did not originally lie on loungers, but sat on chairs on the free side of the table. They were expected not to interfere in the men's conversations. If the men went to drink after the meal, the decent women said goodbye. At official festivals, men and women usually celebrated separately.
Public thermal baths and baths either had different opening times or separate rooms for women and men. In the theater and amphitheater women originally sat with men. According to the rules of Augustus, they were only allowed to sit in the top ranks, where slaves and non-citizens also had their seats. Only vestals and members of the imperial family had the right to seats in the front rows. Existing mocking poems suggest that Roman women and girls organized a similar star cult around the gladiators and charioteers as today's groupies .
Prostitutes and courtesans
The prostitution was a strictly organized sector. During the late imperial era there were around 45 brothels in Rome alone, most of which were attached to hairdressing salons or baths. The majority of the prostitutes were foreign slaves who were traded in separate markets. All prostitutes ( lupae, scorta, meretrices ) were registered by the police with the aediles who supervised the brothels. There were also self-employed prostitutes who looked for their customers in shady neighborhoods. Most of the time, you could recognize them from afar by their garish clothes, the exaggerated make-up and perfume . By the way, in the founding history of Rome it is said that Romulus and Remus were raised by a she-wolf. Possibly a daring play on words , because the she-wolf had the same name as the whore lupa .
Before the law, free prostitutes were also disadvantaged compared to “decent” women. Slaves had no rights anyway. Women from the upper classes occasionally took advantage of the opportunity to register as prostitutes to avoid charges of adultery before this was banned in the late 1st century AD.
A courtesan was a prostitute for a long time; it was usually endured for half a lifetime by the same man. Since she also represented her “lover” with her at various events, she had to meet further requirements. Mind and spirit were just as indispensable as a well-groomed, elegant and attractive appearance. Many men who had the financial means even paid their courtesan an apartment of their own with a slave who, of course, was supposed to not only make work easier, but also to monitor. Not infrequently, young men fell into debt not because of a political career but because of a girl. Because only a few marriages were love marriages and the chastity of a wife was not only virtuous, but also life-saving with the high maternal mortality, the concubines were often chosen by the wives. Even Livia provided Augustus with young girls whom he deflowered.
- Sex acts with women
Two men and one woman; Pompeii , Stabian thermal baths
Woman and man; Pompeii, Stabian thermal baths
Sex act on a Pompeian mural
Man and woman doing cunnilingus ; Pompeii, Stabian thermal baths
Women and politics
Due to their lack of rights in public space, women could only exert political influence indirectly, for example through male family members. Her ancestry could have a beneficial effect on her husband's career, because marriage was the process of establishing family relationships and alliances. She herself was more of a pledge than a self-determined person. As the matrona of a patron , she could be present when he greeted his clients early in the morning and received his guests in the afternoon, took part in the conversation and let her influence play. If her husband was absent, she could even represent him and negotiate on his behalf. But she always stayed in unofficial, private space. Political participation of women is therefore only known from individual personalities such as Porcia and Servilia , wife and mother of the Caesar murderer Marcus Iunius Brutus , of whom it is reported that they took part in the deliberations of the conspirators. Cicero also said of Servilia that she announced that she would revise the decision of the Senate, which had given her son-in-law Cassius the unappealing office of grain supply. "For Cicero this seemed to be a matter of course." An exception in the time of the republic was Fulvia , who actively supported her first husband Publius Clodius Pulcher and later, as the wife of the triumvir Marcus Antonius, participated in the proscriptions and even in military matters like that Engaged in the Peruvian War . Her opponents denied her femininity for this.
Political action is known only from a few ordinary women, most often through participation in election campaigns, as revealed by election slogans on Pompeii walls. Tacitus deserves a special mention that women also participated in the Pisonian Conspiracy in 65. Epicharis, a freedman, was arrested when she tried to incite the officers of the fleet in Misenum against Nero, but even under the torture did not betray the conspirators, but hanged herself from her bosom, a bravery that Tacitus even more than the cowardice of respected men more praises.
Resistance to special taxes
Direct participation in political events was rarely possible. Only two cases from the time of the Republic are known in which rich women banded together to defend themselves against a special tax directed against rich matrons: Livy reports of a demonstration by women in 195 BC. To abolish the Lex Oppia , which 215 BC BC the wearing of jewelry and expensive fabrics was banned in order to finance the war against Carthage . With peace and prosperity restored, rich women no longer wanted to be restricted by a law of war. The censor Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder was indignant about this meddling of women in politics:
- It made me blush with shame and anger when I had to push my way through the crowd of women on the way here - Roman matrons roam the streets instead of staying at home, speaking to complete strangers. ... Where is that supposed to lead? Decency and morals, yes, the order of the state is in danger! And it's not just about this one law - to put it very clearly: women desire freedom, even arbitrariness, complete independence in everything; they want to be like you men, and then they will soon have dominion over you too! And just watch out: if you don't give in to your wife's luxury desires, then someone else will soon - you are now used to asking strangers for something!
The tribune Lucius Valerius defended women:
- Public appearances by Roman women are one of the most glorious acts in our history. Didn't women bravely interfere when the Romans and Sabines fought a battle in the middle of Rome? Didn't they go outside the city and move the hostile Volscians under Coriolan to withdraw? And when the Gauls conquered Rome, the women with one accord gave all their jewelry to raise the ransom. And one need not fear that the Roman state will sink into anarchy if a law that was born out of necessity when Hannibal was at the gates is now abolished again. Should the men wear purple robes, should strange women be allowed to drive in Rome, and our women not? They don't want anarchy at all - you should definitely keep your position in the family, but you should also represent the interests of women, not keep them dependent and prefer to be called fathers and spouses rather than masters. The stronger you are, the more moderately you have to exercise your power.
The law was repealed.
In 42 BC Chr. Was Hortensia , the daughter of a famous orator chosen by women in order before the triumvirate to speak against a unilateral taxation of land ownership by women to finance the Civil War. In this case, too, the matrons were successful.
Women of the imperial family
During the imperial era, the empresses and imperial mothers gained considerable influence. Augustus was advised by his wife Livia Drusilla . The title Augusta , which Livia was the first to receive, albeit only in Augustus' will, underscores the importance of the women of the imperial families. However, the "First Lady" had more representative and ceremonial tasks and no official and direct political power. Tacitus and other writers, however, saw this influence of the imperial women at the expense of the Senate as a systemic flaw of the Principate. Even more than in the time of the Republic, the role of the women of the imperial families was to secure claims to power, often by being married to a potential successor like Augustus' daughter Julia .
Agrippina the Elder , who accompanied her husband Germanicus on all his travels, once took command of the troops in an emergency and suppressed a mutiny, which, according to Tacitus, earned her the envy of Tiberius and apparently also the displeasure of some soldiers like Aulus Caecina Severus , who wanted to have an old law renewed in AD 21, which forbade provincial officials to take their wives into the province, although by then it had long been the custom for the governors and their subordinates to be accompanied by their wives, not for years to be separated from them. In Fort Vindolanda on Hadrian's Wall , writing tablets have been preserved that provide information about the living conditions of those stationed there, including a birthday invitation from the wife of the commandant of the neighboring fort to the wife of the commandant of Vindolanda. After the death of her husband, Agrippina fought for her sons' claims to the imperial throne. So she was in competition with her sister-in-law Livilla . Since both had a large following, the dispute threatened to endanger the stability of the imperial family and, ultimately, the entire state.
Other women of the imperial family also expressed their ambition to put their son on the imperial throne. To this end, Agrippina the Younger successfully forged intrigues and did not shy away from murder so that Nero could succeed Claudius instead of Britannicus . However, her plan to rule by herself failed because she found no allies. At the beginning of the 3rd century, Julia Maesa , sister of Julia Domna , who was married to Emperor Septimius Severus , won the imperial throne with her daughter Julia Soaemias - even with personal commitment on the battlefield - her underage grandson Elagabal . Whether they really ruled in his place, as the Historia Augusta describes, seems rather doubtful today. When it was foreseeable that Elagabal would fail due to his eccentric behavior, she built the son of her second daughter Julia Mamaea , the only thirteen-year-old Severus Alexander , as her successor. Julia Mamaea ruled together with her son for eleven years and also accompanied him on the campaigns against the Sassanids . 235 both were murdered by enraged soldiers because they did not pay enough donativa to the soldiers . The historian Herodian blamed the imperial mother for Severus Alexander's failure.
Claudia Antonia , daughter of Emperor Claudius, participated in the Pisonian conspiracy.
Religious practice of Roman women
In ancient Rome, deities and ritual activities were assigned to all areas and stages of life. Although the domestic rituals were dominated by paterfamilias , women had to perform cultic tasks both in front of the house altar and in public religion . As every Roman had his or her individual genius , the Roman woman had her iuno , which was worshiped at a shrine in the house together with the spirits of the house and the spirits of the dead, the lares , penates and manes . Regardless of the legal form, various customs were part of the wedding. The women were also involved in the funeral rites as mourners .
On the other hand, women were excluded from many public rites, as these were closely connected with the officia in which women were not allowed to participate. The great Roman goddesses such as Ceres , Flora and Pomona were also represented by male Flemings . In addition, with a few exceptions, women were not allowed to make sacrifices. The prohibition on slaughtering, grinding and drinking unmixed wine ( temetum ) mentioned by Plutarch presumably refers to the exclusion of women from the sacrificial service, since the sacrifice was dusted with mola - sacrificial flour and a libation consisted of unmixed wine. With a few exceptions such as the Vestal Virgins, women only made bloodless sacrifices such as flowers and milk in their rituals. Livia as the sacrificing priestess of the male god Divus Augustus was an exception in the imperial cult .
Women cults
The protective goddess of women was Juno . Her epithets testify that she was active throughout women's life: Iuno Soraria made the adolescent girl's breasts swell, as Flounia she assisted women during menstruation, as Pronuba at weddings and as Lucina at childbirth. Other goddesses were also considered important in women's lives. This included Venus in her function as the goddess of fertility and love, to whom a bride sacrificed her doll before the wedding. Concordia and Mater Matuta were responsible for the harmonious family life , Fortuna Muliebris (= the happiness of the wives) for the pudicitia , the marital fidelity, and Fortuna Virgo (= the virgin Fortuna) for the wedding. The temple of these goddesses in Rome was renovated by the first wife of the emperor Livia in connection with the marriage laws of her husband Augustus. The area of conception, pregnancy and childbirth in particular referred to numerous deities, of which only a few will be mentioned here. Various rites had to be followed to ensure the protection of these gods. In the Lupercalia, for example, married women who wished for children had the naked priests of Faunus beat them with straps from the skin of the sacrificed animals. During pregnancy, the Roman women turned to Diana , the goddess of fertility , to Alemonia , who allowed the unborn to flourish, to Nona and Decima , the goddesses of the ninth and tenth months, who ensured the right time of birth, to Egeria , the one who brought forth, and to Carmenta for an easy birth. The newborns entrusted them to Levana and Cunina , the goddess of infants.
At the same time, every practice of religion was dependent on social status. In the official women's cults, insofar as they did not concern the stages in the life of women, matrons with children who were married in their first marriage took part almost exclusively. Only univirae were allowed to touch the statues of Mater Matuta and Pudicitia . The latter was of patrician and plebeian revered disconnected after a patrician who had been excluded because of her marriage to a plebeian of the cult exercise, in their house a private shrine for the Pudicitia plebeia built. A cult that was only accessible to the matronae from the most influential families was that of the Bona Dea . His rites were secret, so that the intrusion of Clodius, disguised as a woman, in 62 BC. Caused a scandal. For this festival, the matrons gathered in a private house, where a sow was sacrificed, a sacrificial meal was consumed and unmixed wine was drunk, which was brought to the house of the hostess and leader of the celebration in a honey pot labeled as “milk”. "All sources show this cult as an" upside-down world "in which women take over the role of men."
Priestesses
The female deities were also represented almost exclusively by male priests . Women usually only took on priestly roles in traditional Roman cults on a case-by-case basis, such as the hostess in the cult of Bona Dea or Claudia Quinta , who were considered pudicissima femina (= most chaste woman) by the matronae in 204 BC. Was chosen to receive the Magna Mater in Rome alongside Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica .
The wife of the Flamen Dialis , whom he must have married according to the rite of confarreatio , had her own cultic duties as Flamina Dialis or Flaminica at the side of her husband. Only together with her could the priest represent the perfection of the deity. If she died, her widower lost his position. It was probably similar with the lesser-known offices of the Rex sacrorum and the Regina sacrorum .
The Vestals , the priestesses of Vesta , one of the oldest Roman deities, had a special status . Their task was to solemnly light the fire in the Temple of Vesta on March 1st and never let it go out all year round. They were also responsible for making the sacrificial meal ( mola ), without which no sacrifice could take place. Since the fire of Vesta was understood as a symbol of political stability, the Vestal Virgins enjoyed a number of privileges over other women. They were the only women who were accompanied by a lictor in public and were allowed to sit in the front row of the seats reserved for the senators at events such as chariot races. When they entered the priesthood, they stepped out from under the patria potestas of their paternal family and, as unmarried women, had the status of matrona or vidua , but had to remain virgins for at least thirty years. Then they were allowed to look for a husband, but this rarely happened. A demonstrably unchaste vestal virgin was buried alive, and her lover was publicly whipped to death by the Pontifex Maximus .
Non-Roman Cults
In many oriental mystery cults that immigrated from the time of the late republic, such as those of Cybele and Isis , women had equal rights with men, which is why many women joined these cults. On the other hand, women were excluded from the Mithraism popular among soldiers .
Since the 3rd century BC The Bacchanalia were celebrated in Rome as an imitation of the Greek Dionysia . Originally they were purely a women's festival, during whose rituals alcohol - Bacchus was worshiped as the god of wine, among other things - and probably hallucinogenic drugs were consumed. Over time, men also joined the cult. The rituals increasingly turned into uninhibited orgies. 186 BC A senate resolution was passed that placed participation in the cult under such strict supervision that it amounted to a ban. Nevertheless, the cult spread throughout the empire during the imperial era. The matron cult was widespread in Gaul . Christianity , too , initially found more supporters among women because of its doctrine of the equality of men and women before God, as numerous contemporary witnesses show. At least in early Christianity, women could hold religious offices. Pliny the Younger reported from ministrae , Rom 16.7 EU mentions the apostle Junia .
Gynecology
In ancient medicine, gynecology was already an independent subject. The Corpus Hippocraticum contained four books on women's diseases ( De mulierum affectibus I – III and De virginum morbis ), as well as some on embryology , premature and newborn babies. The most important (preserved) writing of a doctor practicing in Rome is the Gynaikia of Soranos of Ephesus . His textbook for midwives has only survived in an adaptation from 500 AD. The midwife , who was often also a gynecologist, was an increasingly recognized profession for women. Wealthy women in the imperial era employed personal midwives in their household, as evidenced by various grave inscriptions.
The female body
The uterus was thought to be a freely movable organ in the body. Only regular intercourse or pregnancy would keep her in place. For this reason, Soranus recommended not to wait long to get married after menarche. Otherwise the uterus will wander through the body causing pain and disease. These migrations would be caused by an imbalance in the body. For example, overexertion can cause a prolapse of the uterus because the uterus flees from the overheated body into the coolness.
The menstruation was seen as draining the excess in the softer female body blood. The pregnant and lactating woman needs the blood to nourish the child. Otherwise it would cause disease. If the menarche did not occur as usual at the age of 14, some doctors considered marriage to be the appropriate therapy. Others recommended influencing the onset of menarche by increasing or avoiding physical activity. A low-fat diet was recommended for pubescent girls who were not yet about to be married to delay physical maturity.
Whether the woman's semen contributed to conception was not undisputed. Soranus saw in the womb alone the place where the man's semen is finished. Galenus , who practiced in Rome a hundred years later, already knew the function of the ovaries and knew that male and female semen must mix. Various behavioral and nutritional recommendations were given for conceiving a boy or girl.
Diseases and their therapy
Since it was believed that all body orifices were connected to one another, therapy against uterine prolapse and other things was considered to be to lure the uterus upwards by holding scents in front of the nose. However, pessaries were also known. Diseases such as hysteria , which were associated with upward movement of the uterus, were supposed to be cured with scented wool balls that were inserted into the vagina.
Inflammation of the female genital organs was preferably treated with ointments and suppositories. Surgical interventions were only carried out in an extreme emergency. However, uterine removals have probably already been carried out successfully and the reconstruction of the hymen has been practiced. Miscarriages were common. Medical literature as well as devices such as vaginal specula found in Pompeii suggest that scrapes were also made, but the risks were also known.
Obstetrics
The birth itself was also a high risk. Inscriptions show increased mortality among women between the ages of fifteen and thirty. For example, the women buried in the Calixtus catacombs died on average at the age of 23. In this context, Soranus criticized the marriage to young women whose uterus was not yet fully developed. The newborn and infant mortality rates were also very high: about half of the children did not reach their second birthday.
Birth control
Although fertility was considered one of the main virtues of women, childbirth and upbringing were seen as their main task for women, and childlessness was a reason for divorce, it was not only prostitutes who were interested in contraception . In addition to abstinence, women of the upper class also practiced various methods such as diaphragms or sponges coated with oil or honey . Her birth rate was so low that Juvenal scoffed: “But there is hardly a woman who gives birth in the golden bed. The arts can do so much, so much use the mixture of that medicine, which can render them sterile and kill people in the body. ” Augustus passed laws to increase the birth rate such as the so-called three - child right . Later emperors like Nerva and Trajan alimentierten Italic children.
The fetus was considered part of the maternal body until birth. Although the Hippocratic Oath that doctors committed no abortion potions to administer was an abortion allowed as long as the husband or the wife's father agreed. Doctors advised trying physical activity first before using potions or suppositories. They warned against using sharp tools, which could cause death for the woman herself. Often unwanted children were abandoned. The pater familias alone decided whether a newborn would be accepted into the family. If a mother killed or abandoned her newborn on her own initiative, it was considered murder. Child abandonment was so common that the Romans wondered at other peoples who all kept their children.
Fashion
dress
By and large, fashion has not undergone major developments over the centuries, and there was not much difference between the styles of clothing for men and women anyway. The Roman woman wore a tunica as her main item of clothing . Freedmen, slaves and girls only wore this garment, which was usually longer for women than for men.
Where previously the ricinium , a simple square cloak, was draped over shoulders and head, women later wrapped the palla , a very wide rectangular shawl that reached to the knees, around her shoulders and head. In later times, this throw was attached to the right shoulder with a decorated brooch ( fibula ).
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The stole , originally called vestis longa (= long dress), was a loosely falling garment with kimono-like sleeves that reached down to the floor, was tightened at the waist and sometimes under the breasts with a belt and over which the palla was worn. It was reserved for the matrona , the freeborn woman who was married to a Roman citizen. Since it was not originally sewn, but consisted of two wide, long panels of fabric that were only held together by the belts and cords at the shoulders and had to be draped, it was quite impractical and required a dignified posture and slow movements. At the latest at the beginning of the imperial era , the stole, together with the traditional vittae - wool ribbons worn in the hair - went out of fashion and was only worn by married upper class women on special occasions.
When traveling and when the weather was bad, women wore capes and coats similar to those of men, some with hoods.
The toga , actually a garment of men, was sometimes worn by women, but was considered a declassing feature by prostitutes and convicted adulteresses.
The bosom band ( fascia or strophium ), a band made of soft leather or sturdy fabric without a strap , and the intusium , a shirt-like sleeveless hanger, were important components of clothing. An additional undertunic was worn against the cold. When visiting the pool, you put on a kind of bikini.
The shoes were made of the same material and shape as the men's ( Calceus ), but the colors were livelier and brighter.
Although there were hardly any changes in the cuts, the material of the clothing changed significantly over the centuries, at least for the richer women. At first, woolen fabrics and linen were used to make clothes, which was due to the underdeveloped trade. As options increased, finer and lighter fabrics such as silk and cotton imported from China were preferred. Pliny called the silk a "means that makes clothed women appear naked." The most popular colors, besides plain white, were all tones between red and blue, such as purple and purple. Particularly dark pink ( nigrantis rosae ) and light scarlet red ( nimiae eius nigritiae austeritas illa nitorque ) seem to have been favorites among the Roman women. In principle, light colors should be preferred for darker skin tones and vice versa.
Roman women wore mustard-yellow dresses at the wedding.
Personal care and cosmetics
Over time, a great bathing culture developed in Rome. Basically, the women's baths were less splendid than those of the men, provided that the baths were spatially and not, as is usually the case, separated by gender.
A bath consisted of several different baths. Several rooms with hot baths, baths with lukewarm water, hot air rooms (comparable to today's sauna) were run through. Between bathing and after bathing, the body was cared for with oils. As it is only in very few spas was common naked to bathe, and this was considered indecent something you wore swimwear: the equivalent to our Bikini Bottom - Subligar - or swimsuit - balnearis vestis .
After the bath, the epilator was used. Since this procedure was usually too painful for women at the time - in contrast to men, who also had unwanted body hair removed - they resorted to pumice stone, resin and wax for hair removal. In the case of prostitutes, intimate shaving was also part of the (partly job-related) personal hygiene. In general, personal hygiene was seen more as a hygienic measure than an aesthetic need. Arms and legs were cleaned of dirt and sweat every day, and a full bath was taken once a week. In contrast to the Middle Ages , Roman women were much cleaner and neat.
Ovid writes in his for the time groundbreaking work ars amatoria in the chapter medicamina faciei femineae (means of feminine facial care ): Cura dabit faciem ; Frei: “Carefulness makes the face beautiful.” Make-up was widespread in all layers - including men. The make-up was applied to the face the night before and was heavily perfumed because of the unpleasant smell caused by the fat of the sheep's wool from which it was made. Juvenal scoffed: "The husband could already guess from the smell in the marriage bed that evening that his wife wanted to seduce her lover with the make-up the next day." For applying make-up, polished metal mirrors with elaborate decorations on the back were indispensable. Soot eyeshadow, mascara and lipstick , the color of which was obtained from ocher , were used. Lime white or white lead were used as a powder, as brown skin, as in the Middle Ages, would indicate heavy farm labor and was considered vulgar. Creams, ointments, masks made from donkey milk, honey and flour were very popular. Deer marrow ointment was considered a means of dental care. Painted fingernails and toenails should make the feet look even more attractive in chic shoes.
Hair, hairstyles and headgear
The Roman woman never wore her hair short. The hairstyles of Roman women changed over time and depended on age and social status. In the early days of Rome they were still quite simple and artificial hairpieces were considered attributes of prostitutes. Later they were artfully pinned up, smoothed, curled with a kind of curling iron ( calamistrum ), lavishly decorated with needles, hairnets ( reticulum ) and ribbons, tied as knots , provided with hairpieces or wigs , or worn as ponytails . In the imperial era, fashion was based on the empress. After the Cimbrian Wars , blonde and reddish hair became fashionable. To do this, the hair was either colored with sapo made from birch ash and goat fat or henna . Women's hair was one of the main export articles of Germania. For the complicated hairstyles, rich Roman women employed a specially trained slave, the ornatrix .
According to the tradition from the early Roman period, the hair of women had to be held and covered by fabric or wool bands ( vittae ). There were various veils for this purpose. Showing oneself in public without a head covering was seen as a sign of great shamelessness. In the early republic, this was how women had to cover themselves when leaving the house. Sulpicius Gallus allegedly even divorced his wife because she was out and about in public without a head covering. However, even in the late republic, very few women adhered to these old rules.
According to the incomplete dictionary of the Sextus Pompeius Festus , brides and vestals wore a special hairstyle with seven braids on their wedding day, which apparently was related to virginity.
Jewellery
Rich women often adorned themselves with tiara , rings, clasps, decorated ribbons, earrings, bracelets and necklaces. Some women carried real treasures with them, especially their ears, which sometimes had several earrings hanging from them at the same time. The less wealthy wore bronze and glass jewelry. Brooches were used not only as a garment holder but also because of their decorative effect. Pliny describes pearls as lictors of women.
literature
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- Philippe Ariès , Georges Duby (ed.): History of private life. Volume 1: From the Roman Empire to the Byzantine Empire. Augsburg 1999. (Ed. Paul Veyne).
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Web links
- Collection of links on the topic of Roman women ( Memento from February 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- Extensive lecture script: "Women in the Roman Republic
Notes and individual references
- ↑ Yan Thomas: The division of the sexes in Roman law. In: Schmitt Pantel: History of Women I Antike , pp. 105–171; P. 112.
- ↑ Digests 50,16,195.5.
- ↑ Yan Thomas: The division of the sexes in Roman law. In: Pauline Schmitt Pantel: History of women I antiquity. Pp. 105-171; P. 164.
- ↑ In such cases, the controversial legal status of the bride who had been repatriated but theoretically not yet married led to legal disputes more often (Jane F. Gardner: Women in ancient Rome. P. 45).
- ↑ The execution of the Christian martyr Valentin of Terni should be seen in this context.
- ↑ Jane F. Gardner: Women in Ancient Rome. P. 17.
- ^ Sextus Pompeius Festus , De verborum significatione 79.23 L.
- ↑ Yan Thomas: The division of the sexes p. 141.
- ↑ Jane F. Gardner: Women in Ancient Rome. P. 144.
- ↑ Jane F. Gardner: Women in Ancient Rome. Pp. 118-135.
- ^ Dionys of Halicarnassus , Antiquitates Romanae 2,25.
- ↑ Iulius Paulus , Sententiae 5,6,15. See Jane F. Gardner: Women in Ancient Rome. P. 17.
- ↑ Mommsen: Women's names in ancient Rome
- ↑ Yan Thomas: The Division of the Sexes. P. 113.
- ↑ Speech in Livy 34: 2-4 and Zonaras 9.17 (Thomas considers the latter to be more authentic): Natural subordination of women to men.
- ↑ Yan Thomas: The Division of the Sexes. P. 158f.
- ↑ Hemelrijk: p. 13.
- ↑ Valerius Maximus, Facta et dicta memorabilia 2,1,3.
- ↑ Aline Rousselle: The body and politics. Between abstinence and procreation in ancient Rome. In: Schmitt Pantel: The history of women I Antike p. 323–372; Pp. 352-357.
- ↑ Plutarch, De Mulierum Virtutibus ( English translation )
- ↑ Elke Hartmann: Women in antiquity. Pp. 158–172, exemplifies Valeria Messalina's portrayal in Tacitus.
- ^ Mary Harlow / Laurence Ray: Growing up and growing old in ancient Rome. A life course approach. Routledge, London / New York 2002, ISBN 0-415-20201-9 , p. 39.
- ↑ Annika Backe-Dahmen : The world of children in antiquity ; Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2008; P. 21.
- ↑ antique dolls
- ↑ Of 110 women mentioned in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri as women who were able to go about their business without a guardian thanks to the ius liberorum , 29 are described as illiterate , while 36 are known to be able to read and write (Jane F. Gardner : Women in ancient Rome, p. 271, note 70).
- ^ Beryl Rawson: Children and Childhood in Roman Italy. Oxford Press, New York 2003, pp. 47f.
- ↑ Pliny the Elder, Naturalis historia 35,40.
- ↑ Musonius, Diatriben 8.
- ↑ Sarah Pomeroy: Women's Life in Classical Antiquity. Pp. 260, 261.
- ↑ Emily A. Hemelrijk: Matrona Docta. Educated woman in the Roman elite from Cornelia to Julia Domna. Routledge, London / New York 1999, p. 7.
- ^ Sallust, De coniuratione Catilinae 25.
- ↑ Lukian, Περὶ τῶν ἐν Μισθῷ συνόντων 36.
- ^ Mary Harlow / Laurence Ray: Growing up and growing old in ancient Rome. A life course approach. Routledge, London / New York 2002, ISBN 0-415-20201-9 , p. 62.
- ↑ Jane F. Gardner: Women in Ancient Rome. P. 45.
- ↑ Aline Rousselle: The body and politics. P. 335.
- ^ Mary Harlow and Ray Laurance: Growing up and growing old in ancient rome. New York 2002: p. 95.
- ↑ Quintilian , Institutio Oratoria Vi 3.73.
- ↑ Valerius Maximus , Facta et dicta memorabilia 2,1,5.
- ^ Suzanne Dixon: The Roman Mother. P. 5f; 175f
- ^ Mary Harlow and Ray Laurance: Growing up and growing old in ancient rome. New York 2002: p. 11.
- ↑ Tacitus, Germania 20.1.
- ^ Suzanne Dixon: The Roman Mother. Pp. 120-123; 141-155
- ^ Suzanne Dixon: The Roman Mother. P. 111; 129-135
- ↑ Scholler: Women in Roman History. P. 25.
- ↑ CIL VI, 10120
- ↑ Jane F. Gardner: Women in Ancient Rome. P. 132.
- ↑ Aline Rousselle: The body and politics. P. 355.
- ↑ Hildegard Temporini-Countess Vitzthum: The Empresses of Rome. P. 14.
- ↑ Cicero, Ad Atticum 15:11, 1.
- ↑ Cicero, Ad Atticum 15.12.1.
- ↑ Elke Hartmann : Women in antiquity: Female lifeworlds from Sappho to Theodora. P. 155.
- ^ Karl-Wilhelm Weeber : Election campaign in ancient Rome , Düsseldorf 2007; Pp. 33-39.
- ↑ Tacitus, Annals 15:48.
- ↑ Tacitus, Annals 15.51 and 15.57.
- ↑ Livy, Ab urbe condita 34.1 ff.
- ↑ Elke Hartmann: Women in antiquity. P. 169.
- ↑ Pliny, Naturalis Historia 14.60; Seneca , Dialogi 6,3,3.
- ↑ Stephan Schmal: Women for Freedom? On the function of “barbaric femininity” in the work of Tacitus. In: Christoph Ulf / Robert Rollinger (ed.): Women and gender. Images - roles - realities in the texts of ancient authors of the Roman Empire. Böhlau Verlag, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 2006, ISBN 3-205-77509-0 , pp. 221-256, p. 222.
- ↑ Tacitus, Annals 1.69.
- ↑ Tacitus, Annals 3,33.
- ↑ Hildegard Temporini-Countess Vitzthum: The Empresses of Rome. P. 93.
- ↑ Hildegard Temporini-Countess Vitzthum: The Empresses of Rome. Pp. 151-155.
- ↑ Hildegard Temporini-Countess Vitzthum: The Empresses of Rome. Pp. 283-288.
- ^ Herodian, History of the Empire according to Marc Aurel 6,9,8.
- ↑ Tacitus, Annalen 15,53.
- ↑ John Scheid: The role of women in the Roman religion. In: Pauline Schmitt Pantel: History of Women I Antiquity ; Pp. 417-449; P. 418.
- ^ Plutarch, Quaestiones Romanae 85.
- ↑ John Scheid: The role of women in the Roman religion. P. 419.
- ↑ Reinhard Gregor Kratz, Hermann Spieckermann: Götterbilder, Gottesbilder, Weltbilder. Volume 2 Greece and Rome, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2006, p. 81.
- ↑ This article cannot provide a complete list. Many deities were often only worshiped locally or for a certain period of time.
- ↑ See Augustine von Hippo , De civitate dei 4,11 ( online ).
- ↑ John Scheid: The role of women in the Roman religion. P. 446.
- ↑ Celia E. Schultz: Sanctissima Femina: Social Categorization and women's religious experience in the roman republic. In: Maryline Parca, Angeliki Tzanetou (ed.): Finding Persephone. Women rituals in ancient mediterrean. Indiana University Press 2007, pp. 92–113, p. 108 Note 8.
- ↑ Livy, Ab urbe condita 10: 23: 1-10.
- ↑ John Scheid: The role of women in the Roman religion. P. 433f.
- ↑ Pliny, Naturalis historia 7,120.
- ↑ 23 AD this law was weakened insofar as the flamina was only under the manus of the man in the cultic area , but otherwise had the rights of a manus-free marriage (Jane F. Gardner: Women in ancient Rome. P. 19).
- ↑ Celia E. Schultz: Sanctissima Femina. P. 95f.
- ↑ See Origenes , Contra Celsum 3,44 ( online ).
- ↑ Pliny, Letters 10.96 ( online ).
- ↑ Werner Golder: Hippokrates and the Corpus Hippocraticum: An introduction for philologists and medical professionals. 2007; P. 27ff.
- ^ Marion Kiechle: Gynecology and Obstetrics. Munich 2006, p. 2.
- ↑ In the museum in the Baths of Diocletian there is, for example, the inscription for Helena Lucretiae orstetrix - Helena, the midwife of Lucretia.
- ^ Ann Ellis Hanson: Continuity and Change: Three Case Studies in Hippocratic Gynecological Therapy an Theory. In: Sarah B. Pomeroy (Ed.): Women's History and ancient History. London 1991, pp. 73-110, p. 84.
- ^ Charlotte Schubert and Ulrich Huttner: Women's medicine in antiquity. Pp. 465-468.
- ↑ Aline Rousselle: The body and politics , p. 331.
- ^ Mary Harlow and Ray Laurance: Growing up and growing old in ancient rome. New York 2002: p. 57
- ↑ a b Soranus, Gynaecia 1:15.
- ↑ Galen, De semine 2.1.
- ↑ See the different sources in Charlotte Schubert and Ulrich Huttner: Frauenmedizin in der Antike. Pp. 98-149.
- ↑ Aline Rousselle: The body and politics , p. 335.
- ↑ Jane F. Gardner: Women in Ancient Rome. P. 47.
- ↑ Soranus, Gynaecia 1.33; 1.60; 4.4.
- ^ Charlotte Schubert and Ulrich Huttner: Women's medicine in antiquity. P. 495.
- ↑ Juvenal, Satura 6,594 ff.
- ↑ Werner Eck: Traianus. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 12/1, Metzler, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-476-01482-7 , Col. 746-749, here Col. 747.
- ↑ Corpus iuris civilis [B] 1 digest 25,4,1,1 and 1 digest 35,2,9,1. An abortion against the husband's will could be a reason for divorce, at least Nero cited it as an argument to justify his divorce from Octavia - after previously using her infertility as a reason.
- ↑ Soranos, Gynaecia 1.20.
- ↑ Aline Rousselle: The body and politics. P. 336. For child exposure see also August Mau : Suspension . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II, 2, Stuttgart 1896, Col. 2588 f.
- ^ Clothing in ancient Rome
- ↑ Pliny, Naturalis historia 11:26.
- ↑ Festus, De verborum significatu ( SENIS CRINIBUS ... online ).
- ↑ Reconstruction of the hairstyle of a vestal virgin based on historical representations