Women In Republican Rome (I)

An analysis of women’s roles in the ancient Roman society is unlikely to be done with a high degree of accuracy because of the ambiguity of the sources or the complete lack of information in certain fields. Most of the material we have regarding the participation of women in the important spheres of the Roman society comes from male ancient authors, who filtered the image of women through their own lenses, making it less likely to be concordant with truth. Additional sources such as epigraphy and archaeological material can be helpful when it comes to completing the image of Roman women in the broader context of political and religious life. 

The fundamental elements in the life of Romans were the relationship with gods, political activities and warfare. While all them were accessible to male Roman citizens and everyone could engage in specific activities related to these field, most of them were unapproachable by women. This is made clear in ancient sources, which tend to segregate men and women without equivoque, at least from a constitutional point of view. Thus, the tribune L. Valerius mentioned the elements that should constitute a woman’s world: “no offices, no priesthoods, no triumphs, no honorary insignia, no gifts or  spoils from war can come to women; elegance and adornment and apparel  – these are a woman’s insignia, these are what our forefathers called a woman’s world. 

The disadvantage of being a woman in ancient Rome is clear, mostly for the public sector. Women were excluded from participating in public affairs, having no right to vote or to be elected, they were not allowed to any action related to warfare and the only exception was that they were allowed to hold several priesthoods . Even though they had citizenship and they were legally free individuals, women were not free agents, since they were bound for life by the relationships with their fathers and husbands . The basis of a freeborn Roman woman’s relationship with the world was governed by a general incapacity, propter sexus infirmitatem, which was seen as a characteristic of every woman, regardless her age or status .