Women And Family In The Classical World

5 Pages 1336 Words

According to The Random House College Dictionary, family is defined as “any group of persons closely related by blood, as parents, children, uncles, aunts and cousins” (477). During the days of the classical world, the structures of family as well as the social roles of Roman women were different than how they have evolved today.
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 also 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 wa...