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 Since the women protested this law with so much force, it was eventually repealed (Female Fury).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 middle and elite classes of women previously described, "we can conclude that the lower classes of women in Rome's society, freedwomen, slaves and the poor of the Head Count poor led much different lives". Little is known about these women besides the fact that they "ran shops, were nurses, laborers, domestic weavers, and skilled craftsmen". Even still, some of these lower class women were prostitutes (The Roman Family).
An important aspect in the lives of Roman women living in the classical world was family. Prior to the Imperial Age, everyone in the family lived in the same home. This included great grandparents, grandparents, parents and their children (Donn). As one may assume, Rome was a patriarchal society.
