During the time of the Roman Republic, women were controlled by the men in their lives, having no rights of their own (The Roman Family). In their lifetime, they went from obeying their father to obeying their husband. According to the law under Gaius, propter animi levitatem, or “’on account of the lightness of the mind’”, women of all ages were to be cared for by a guardian. Fortunately, by Constantine’s reign, this law no longer existed. Marriage with manus, or marriage where the wife is legally dependent on the husband, eventually became unpopular (Martin). Roman women were typically married off at the age of eighteen to bridegrooms considerably older than they were, approximately thirty years of age (Martin). During the time when marriage with manus was the social norm, women could not claim dower rights in her husband’s property and could not appear in court. She was als

o not allowed to “hold office, vote or serve as a judge or advocate” until the days of the Republic, when she was then able to own property and wealth (The Roman Family). “Free marriage” became more common, where the woman remained part of her family of orientation and, upon the death of her father, was able to inherit property (Martin). The Oppian Law, passed in 216 BC as a result of the defeat of the Romans by Hannibal at the battle of Cannae, allowed the wives and daughters of the soldiers of the deceased soldiers to inherit their land and money, making many women quite wealthy. Despite this positive aspect of the law, its true purpose was to pay for the damages caused by this battle in that it was passed to benefit from the women’s wealth. The Oppian Law “limited the amount of gold women could possess and required that all funds of wards, single women, and widows be deposited with the state”. Since the women protested this law with so much force, it was eventually repealed (Female Fury). By the time of Julius Caesar’s reign, wives had gained much freedom and were able to lead less restricted lives (The Roman Family). After Caesar’s reign, during the Imperial Age, women were then permitted to “own land, run businesses, free slaves, make wills, be heirs themselves, and get a job in some professions” (Donn). Some women in the elite class during this time became powerful because of their riches and “influential through marriage, adulterous liaisons and intrigues”. Roman women, in state religion, were priestesses, and in the home, “mea domina”, or honored madam. Besides weaving, which was viewed by their society as an “expression of ideal virtue in a woman”, women did little or no work in the home (The Roman Family). Compared to women in other nations of the classical world, the women of Rome “had comparative stature, independence and a value recognized by their society” (Cross). Contrary to the lives of these upper middl

Some topics in this essay:
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