The Historical Child: Paidology; The Science of the ChildChrisman, Oscar
History
The Historical Child: Paidology; The Science of the Child
Chrisman, Oscar
Children; Manners and customs
=Women.= There were three classes of women at Rome--the citizen-woman,
the alien, and the slave. Unlike as in Athens, the foreign woman never
rose to prominence at Rome but it was the citizen-woman who took rank
always before any other. Nor was a male citizen allowed to marry an
alien woman, for citizens were wanted and, therefore, both parents
needed to be citizens. But as citizenship was expanded to the parts of
the world outside of Rome, the alien woman became a citizen, and so a
Roman could marry her and still maintain his own and his offspring's
rights.
In the early times the woman remained at home. She engaged in spinning
and weaving and other household duties, and she had supreme control of
household affairs. She was under the authority of her husband and she
had no individual rights in property and she could not make a will.
Later she acquired more rights and privileges. The condition of women at
Rome was quite a deal better than at Athens or in any other country
previous to Roman times. For at Rome women were allowed more freedom and
participation in public affairs, they were allowed more to share in the
joys and pleasures of the husband and other people, and they enjoyed a
greater confidence and esteem of the men.
That Roman women appeared in public and that they were not afraid to
stand up for their rights is illustrated in the following. In 215 B. C.,
when Rome needed resources for the second Punic war, the Oppian Law, was
passed which forbade any woman to have gold trinkets of the weight of
more than half an ounce, to wear a parti-colored garment, or to ride in
a chariot within the city of Rome or a town occupied by Roman citizens
or within a mile of these places, except for a religious purpose. Twenty
years later, when the war was over and prosperity had returned, the
women asked for the repeal of this law. They started a campaign and
talked about it in every place, they interviewed men on the street, and
they stated the case to every one that had a vote. Women from towns and
villages came into Rome to help. On the day of the vote, the women rose
early and filled the streets to the Forum and used every means to gain
their cause. They finally overcame the opposition, the law was repealed,
and the women recovered their liberty of riding and dressing as they had
formerly done.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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