Women -- Italy -- Rome; Women -- Italy -- Rome -- Social life and customs
also, there went with the bride a slave, who, it was stipulated, was not
to be subject to the husband's disposal or command. The wife of
Apuleius, who married him when she was a widow and possessed four
million sesterces in her own right, transferred only three hundred
thousand in the marriage settlement. This power of the wife to own
personal property of a non-distrainable character afforded the Roman an
opportunity, such as is frequently seized to-day by men on the verge of
bankruptcy, to secure his assets by making them over to his wife.
It often happened, of course, that a maiden's family, though honorable,
was not in such circumstances that she could base her hopes of marriage
upon the tempting bait of a rich dowry. Then her personal qualities were
her sole reliance. In the later days of the Republic, Roman parents seem
to have been fully appreciative of the desirability of a liberal
education for their daughters. Even in the most wealthy families, before
the days when Roman society entered upon its decadence, the girls were
zealously instructed in those domestic duties which would prepare them
to become good housewives. In addition to this, they were thoroughly
trained in both Greek and Latin literature, especial attention being
given to the poets. Their accomplishments also included music, singing,
and dancing; for these, says Statius, helped to procure a husband. But
we may be certain that in those times, as in the present, the natural
anxiety of many a mother caused her to resort to other arts besides that
of music, in order to provide a good match for her none too much sought
after daughter. If the comedies are to be credited, that which the
father's wealth could not accomplish it was hoped might be attained
through the mother's wiles. "Look at the mothers," says one of Terence's
characters; "they are carefully occupied in lowering their daughters'
shoulders, in drawing in their waists to make them look slender. Is
there one of them who is inclined to be stout? The mother immediately
exclaims, 'she is an athlete,' and diminishes the girl's meals until, in
spite of constitutional tendencies, she has rendered her daughter as
thin as a spindle."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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