Women in Roman Life and Letters
Author(s): F. E. Adcock
Source: Greece & Rome, Vol. 14, No. 40 (Jan., 1945), pp. 1-11
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association
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GREECE
AND
ROME
I945
JANUARY
XIV,
NO.40
VOL.
LIFEANDLETTERS
IN ROMAN
WOMEN
By F.E.ADCOCK
tT>HE infantcommunityof Romegrewup with neighbourswho
1 concededa fairlyhigh placeto women. Etruscansepulchralart
suggestsas much; the tomb paintingsof early Campaniashow the
rule
womenfolkspruce,dignified,and house-proud;the authoritarian
of the Sabinemotherwas traditional.2Grantedthatin certainplaces
andat certaintimeswomenweretaboo,in a sense'infectious',to use
WardeFowler'sword,yet in the homethe Romanwifehadneverbeen
banishedto a gynaeceum. The Atrillm,the heartof the Romanhouse,
asmuchasthehusband's.ThougheveryRoman
wasthewife'sterritory
householdwasa monarchywiththepaterfamilias as king,the womenfolk wereno more,if no less, his subjectsthan the sons. Whenthe
Romanhusbandcarriedhis wife into the Atrium,and she spokethe
words'ubitu Gaiusibi ego Gaia',she madea claimthat,
sacramental
in its due sphere,was admitted.In this spherethe Romanhusband
wasmoreat homethanthe Greek,whohatednot to be out of doorsin
the daytime.In a speechwhich'racituswritesforValeriusMessalinus3
post laboremquod
there is the truly Romanphrase'revertentibus
?' 'thereliefof a wife'ssociety'
honestiusquamuxoriumlevamentum
a society,that is, to quoteanotherphrasefromthe samepassage,
When Lucretius
'consortiumrerum secundarumadver*arumque'.
writes:
te laeta,nequeuxor
iamiamnondomusaccipiet
osculanati
optimanecdulcesoccurrent
tangent4
et tacitapectusdulcedine
praeripere
the adjectivescarrya weightof feeling. We shallnot go farwrongin
supposingthat, whateverher legal position,the Romanwife of the
Republicenjoyedthe regardthatcomesfromdomesticity.
The law,indeed,whichwastrulyRomanin its instinctfor the conandits logicalabsolutismin authority,was
centrationof responsibility
slow to give legalrightsto women. It wasto takethreecenturiesfor
This is a shortenedversionof a paperread to the ClassicalAssociationon
2 Horace, Od. iii. 6. 38-40.
April, I944.
4 iii. 894-63 Snn. iii. 34; see xii. 5. 5.
I
I3
387I.4o
B
WOMEN IN ROMAN LIFE AND LETTERS
the law to redressthe inequalitybetweenthe husband'srightsagainst
a peccantwifeandthoseof a wifeagainsta peccanthusbandwhichthe
elder Cato pointedout in his uncompromising
way.I Legislationto
extendthe powersof womenin mattersof propertywas slow and
hesitating,as it hasbeenin communities
otherthanRome. In public
law within the militaryand strictlypoliticalstructureof the State
womenhad,to beginwith, no place. But, apparently
fromveryearly
times, there was a spherein which womenhad a settledfunction,
honouredand safeguarded
by formalright- the sphereof the State
religion.Thiswasparallelto, orderivedfrom,thepositionofthewomen
in the home. Whenthepaterfamilias
madehis offeringsto his householdgods,thematerfamilias
hadherappointed
share,ashadthedaughters
of the houseno less thanthe sons. In the Stateworshiptheflaminica
hasno less a placethantheflamen.
The VestalVirginsare,as it were,
the daughtersof the Statebeforethe altar. Manyof the olderpriests
wereassistedby theirwivesin theirsacredoffice. Fromthe participation in somecultswomenwereexcluded,but therewasalsoelsewherea
parallelexclusionof men. Womenhad an authorizedand accepted
religiouslife of theirown, as well as a sharein the State'seffortsto
secureandmaintainthepax deorum.
Nor wasthe highesthonourthatattendeda Romanfuneral,at least
amongthe aristocracy,
deniedto the Romanmatron.Whena noble
diedtherewasthepublicannouncement
of hisvirtuesandachievements,
andthismusthavegone backto the beginningsof theconsciouscommunity.Andit wouldbe rashto denyantiquityto thepracticewhereby
the funeralcortEge
of a nobleladyhaltedin the Forumwhileherpraises
weresaid. WhenCaesarspokehis famouseulogyof his auntJuliahe
wasmakingno innovation-'quaestor
IuliamamitamuxoremqueCorneliamdefunctaslaudavite moreprorostris'.2
The heroinesof the earlyRomantradition,howeverlegendaryor
timelessthey maybe, wouldnot havehadtheirplace,did theynot fit
intothe frameof whatthe MiddleRepublicregardedas appropriate.
Thus whenwe passto the earliestcontemporary
picturesof women
in Romancomedy,in whichwe musteliminatethe characters
which
thepalliatatookoverfromits Greekoriginals,we neednot doubtthat
the pictureof the Romanmatronin theseplayswastrueto Romanlife,
thattheAlcumenain theAmphitryowas notunlikea Romangrande
dame
of the period. A moredoubtfulcaseis thatof the shrewishwife-the
domineering
high-spirited
cantankerous
ladythatappears,forinstance,
as the Matronain the Menaechmi,for the parallelpictureof a shrewin
I
Malcovati,Orat. Rom. Frag. i, p.
2I3,
2
Suetonius,Div. Iul. 6.
WOMENIN ROMANLIFE AND LETTERS
3
the fragmentsof Caeciliusis quotedby Gelliusas a close imitationof
Menander.IWe wouldbe betterable to judge had moresurvivedof
the morepurelyRomanformthe togata.Therein the Geminaof Titinius,2the ladiesdiscussthe waysthey copewith theirhusbands,and
in the Suspectaof Afraniusthereis the phrase-possiblymocking,but
We
sanctitudinem'.3
et nominismatronae
significant 'tuammaiestatem
Roman
wouldfindthere,perhaps,a truerpictureof the authoritarian
household.Donatusmakesthe interestingremarkthatin the palliata
the comicpoetsare allowedto representslavesas clevererthantheir
masters,but thatin the togatathis is not usuallyallowed. It is to be
thatthe togatais concernedwith Italianlife, not Roman
remembered
life only,andin whatmaybe a prototypeof the togata,the Tarentilla
of Naevius,the famouspictureof the flirtis likelyto be the pictureof
somethingnot Roman the girl fromTarentum.But in the bourgeois
dramaof the late secondand earlyfirstcenturyit is worthobserving
of women,
howverymanyof thetitlesthathavesurvivedaredescriptive
of Atta,with,
of Titiniusto the Mother-in-law
fromthe Steydaughter
betweenthem,the Sistersandthe Auntsof Afranius.
Not all Romanwomenunderthe MiddleRepublicwere,afterall,
fine ladies,and the homelyvirtueswhichCato4in the de agricultura
demandsof the Villicamay also havebeen demandedof the Roman
housewife:
neatandclean.Shemust
shemustbe neatherselfandkeepthefarmstead
cleanandtidytheheartheverynightbeforeshegoestobed. OntheKalends,
a holydaycomes,shemusthanga garland
Ides,andNones,andwhenever
godsas opportunity
overthehearth,andonthesedaysprayto thehousehold
occurs.Shemustkeepa supplyof cookedfoodon handforyouandthe
servants.Shemustkeepmanyhensandhaveplentyof eggs.
We maynowturnto the Romannotionof the faultsthatparticularly
belongedto womenunderthe MiddleandlaterRepublic.Therearea
a beliefthatwomenmightbeproneto drunkenindicating
fewreferences
to sobrietyasa virtueworthnoting,references
ness,anda fewreferences
whichimplythe possibilityof its absence.The earlycaseof a woman
put to deathby her familyfor stealingthe keys of the wine cellar
weretakenagainstthis,Sand the elder
suggeststhat someprecautions
Catoin his de dotereferredto wine-bibbingas a groundof divorce.6
Therewasa readinessto believethatwomenweremoreinclinedto use
I
3
5
6
N.A. ii. 23
L. 326 Ribbeck.
FabiusPictorap. Pliny,N.H. xiv. 89.
Malcovati,op. cit. i, p. 2I3.
2
Lls.4Z-7Ribbeck.
4
de agri culturaI43.
4
WOMENIN ROMANLIFE AND LETTERS
poison in a Medea-likeway than was perhapsprobable. Salomon
Reinachhas an interestingpaperon the pronenessof the Romansto
attributewhatwerereallyepidemicsto suchactivities(fraus muliebris)
andto subjectwomento an ordealby poisonat timesof popularexcitement in the fourthcentury.t The famousscandalof the Bacchanal
conspiracy
in I86 B.C. reflectsa willingnessto supposethatwomenwere
especiallyaddictednotmerelyto secretcultsbutto misbehaviour
under
coverofthemorexcitedbythem 'notumque
furensquidfeminaposset'.
Butthe epigraphic
evidencefor the accuracyof Livy'saccountof what
wasthe officialactionin thatmattershouldnottoo readilyinduceus to
believethatthe Senatewasnot sweptby panicintomuchinjustice,orto
doubtthatverymanyinnocentwomenwerefalselyaccusedby informers.
To leavethesemoreseriousmatters,therearetracesof a readiness
for display,if, for example,the practiceof Romanwomenmentioned
by theelderCatozof dyeingtheirhairredcanbe calleddisplay.Plautus'
descriptionof the toilet devicesof ladiesmaybe truefor Rome,and
thereweresomeearlysumptuary
laws. But the Romansadmittedthe
appropriateness
of thepompandsplendour
of a greatladylikethepublic
magnificence
of Aemilia,the wife of ScipioAfricanus,3
whosecarriage
andpairwerea treasuredbequestto the motherof the youngerScipio.
The religiousfestivalsat whichthe womenwentabroadin statewere
greateventswith the bourgeois,
as they werein Greeklife. The good
housewifein Varro'sgerontodidascalos4
who sperlther time spinning
wool,withoneeyeon the porridgeto see it didnotburn,didgo driving
abroadonceor twicein the year.
Even beforethe Gracchiwomenhad begunto takean interestin
affairsof State. Thoughthe figureof the motherof the Gracchiin
Plutarchis colouredby the idealizingof the tribunesthatis characteristic of his mainsource,the fragmentsof a letterto GaiusGracchus
foundat the end of the manuscriptof CorneliusNepos have z11the
marksof genuineness.
You will say it is a fine thingto punishyourenemies. I, as anyoneelse,
thinknothingcouldbe greateror finer,but onlyif it can-be doneleavingthe
Stateunharmed.So far as that cannotbe secured,it is far betterthatyour
enemiesshouldlive thanthatthe Statebe castdownto destruction.
This doesnot meanthatat Romein the secondcenturytherewaswhat
John Knox wouldhavecalled'a regimentof women',or that Cato's
paradox'Allmenruleoverwomen,we ruleoverall men,andourwives
I
2
+
'Uneordalieparle poisona Rome'in Cultes,mythes
etreligions,
iii,pp.
Origines,
frag.II4, Peter.
3 Polybius,
xxxii.I2.
Frags.3 and4, Riese,p. I40.
254 5.
WOMEN IN ROMAN LIFE AND LETTERS
5
ruleoverus'Iwas meantto be takenseriously.It wasin the last centuryof the Republicthatwomenplayan increasingrolein politics.
By the timeof Ciceroandof Augustanwritersthe effectsof various
socialchangeshad workedthemselvesout. Fromthe middleof the
secondcenturythe wealthof Romehaddrawnto it an expensivedemimonde,oftenhighlycultivatedandaccomplished,
and Romanmatrons
undauntedly
foughttheirrivalswiththeirownweaponsgoodor badon the onehand,Maecenas'wifeTerentia,if it is she whois described
underthe nameof Licymniain Horace,
quamnec ferrepedemdedecuitchoris
nec certareioco nec darebracchia
ludentemnitidisvirginibussacro
Dianaecelebrisdie 2
on the otherhand,that Clodiawhosedispraisefills the pro Caelioof
Cicero.GastonBoissier3
haswell observedthatClodiawasthe female
counterpart
of her brotherPubliusClodius,a formidabledabblerin
matterspolitical.SuchanotherwasthatPraeciawhomthe proudand
rigidLucullusstoopedto flatterto winforhimselfthe commandagainst
Mithridates.4
Politicalinfluencewasparalleled
by a degreeof economicenfranchisement. The comparative
disuseof themarriage
cummanu,withits result
that the husband'scontrolof the wife's propertybecamerare,5had
giverlpointto quipsaboutthe dotatauxor fromthe Asinaria'argentumaccepi,doteimperiumvendidi'6to Horaceon the Scythianswhere
'necdotataregitvirumconiunx',7
a passagewhichmaybe compared
withthelikecriticismby contrastin theGermania8
of Tacitus.Withthis
greatereconomicfreedomwent a greaterfrequencyof divorce. The
practiceof mariagede convenance
and betrothalof childrenhelpedto
makeunionsbasedon realaffectionrarer,at leastbetweenthe more
well-to-do. Amongthe aristocracyconnubialallianceswere almost
dynastic,andin the kaleidoscope
of Romanpoliticspoliticalmarriages
wereincreasingly
matchedby politicaldivorces.The educationof girls
becameless an affairof the home. WhenScipioAemilianusreturned
fromNumantiahe washorrifiedby whathe wastold and by whathe
saw of a dancingschoolin which,if he maybe trusted,co-education
passedbeyondthe boundsof propriety.9
Plutarch,CatoMajor8.
Ciceronet ses amis,p. 175.
5 Malcovati,op. cit. i, p. I90.
7 Od. iii. 24. I 9-20.
9 Malcovati,op. cit. i, pp. 240 f.
I
2
3
4
6
8
Od. ii. I2. I7-20
Plutarch,Lucullus,6.
L. 87.
I 8.
6
WOMENIN ROMANLIFE AND LE;'l"l'ERS
The veryvigourof the drasticItaliancharacterproducedin a few
womena masterfulcriminality,
if we mayacceptSallust'saccountof
thatSempronia
whoadheredto the conspiracy
of Catiline,Ior Cicero's
accountof Sassiain the pro Cluentio.Yet if Semproniaor Sassiafell
farshortof the idealof the Romanmatron,it is fairto reflecthowoften
thatidealwasreachedor approached,
howoftengreaterculture,more
intellectual
interests,moreelegantaccomplishments
werematchedwith
tendernessandfidelityas in Pompey'swife Cornelia,'who',saysPlutarch,2doubtlessgoingbackto contemporary
writings,'waswell educated,playedthelyre,knewgeometry,andcouldtalkto advantage
about
philosophy,avoidingexaggerationand pedantry',and who plainly
regarded
hermarriage,
in thecrisisof Pompey'sfate,as the 'consortium
rerumsecundarumadversarumque'.
The womenof Cicero'scloser
circle,who did not belongto the verycreamof society,areperhapsa
goodcross-section.Cicero'swifeTerentiahadherfaults,but it should
not be forgottenthat for nearlythirtyyearsshe lived prettyhappily
with a man of moods. But the orator'sheartwas far closerto his
daughterTullia,whoseuntimelydeathleft him a brokenmar. His
brother'swife, Pomponia,had a temperunsuitablein Atticus'sister.
In a letterfromCiceroto Atticus3will be founda scene -'thesort of
thing',said QuintusCicero,'thatI haveto put up with everyday'.
Moretrulyakinto the good-natured,
if unenthusiastic,
Atticusthanhis
sisterPomponiawashis wife,whowasdevotedto himandto Cicero.
The generaleffectof the post-Gracchan
and Ciceronian
periodwas
undoubtedly
a greaterfreedomof Romanwomenfor goodor evil, and
less for goodthanfor evil in aristocratic
society. Butthe evidencefor
the Romanmiddleandlowerclassesis farlessat ourcommand.All one
cansayis thatthereareno discoverable
reasonswhytheseclassesshould
nothavein the maincontinuedto possessandpractisehomelyvirtues.
One resultof the CivilWarswas to producein Romansocietythe
kindof spiritthatmarkedthe periodof the Directoryafterthe French
Revolution,yet duringthatveryperiodtherelivedthe subjectof the
famousLaudatioTuriae.Apartfromthe heroismthat underliesthat
document,the catalogueof the wife'svirtuesis significant.
'You were', the husbandwrites, 'a faithfulwife to me and an obedientone:
you were kind and gracious,sociableand friendly:you were assiduousat your
spinning: you followed the religious rites of your family and the State and
admittedno foreigncults or degradedmagic: you did not dressconspicuously,
nor seek to make a displayin your householdarrangements.Your dutifulness
to our whole household was exemplary:you tended my mother as carefully
I
Bell. Catil. 25.
5s.
Z Pomp.
3 adAttic.v.I.
WOMEN IN ROMAN LIFE AND LETTERS
7
as if she had been your own. You had innumerableother e2ccellerlces,in
common with all other worthy matrons, but these I have mentioned were
peculiarlyyours.'t
Withthe LaudatioTuriaewe havereachedtheAugustanAge,andit
is timeto saysomethingaboutthe literaryportraiture
of women. The
Romanheroinesin Livy Lucretia,Cloelia,Volumnia,Virginia,andso
on (withTanaquilif she maybe borrowedfromher nativeEtruria)areliterarycreationsof thefirstorder.In theAeneidVirgilhaspictures
full of Roman,andperhapsstill moreItalian,feeling. Juno
astego,quaedivomincedoregina,Iovisque
et sororet coniunx 2
hasthe airof a Romangreatlady. Venus,no goldenAphrodite,hasa
Romantenacityof purpose.MoreItalianromanticis Camillaat the
gatheringof the Italianclans3 muchmorethanthe epicpictureof an
Amazon.And thereis one morepicturein whichVirgil,to say it is
midnight,sketcheswhatyoumightseeby theflickering
firelightin some
homesteadanywherebetweenRomeandMantua:
Inde ubi prima quies medio iam Noctis abactae
curriculoexpuleratsomnum, cum femina primum,
cui tolerarecolo vitam tenuique Minerva
lmposltum, clnerem et SOpltOS
suscltat lgnes
noctem addens operi, famulasquead lumina longo
exercet penso, castum ut servarecubile
coniugis et possit parvos educere natos.4
.
.
.
.
*
.
TheAugustanreformswiththeiraimofproducing
a soundandprolific
Italianstockattempted,
probablynotwhollywithoutsuccess,to revive
older manners. Livia, Ulysses in petticoatsas the emperorGaius
calledher,5wasa suitableconsortto Augustus,the old poacherturned
gamekeeper.Butshewasalsothe firstof a seriesof princesses
whoseresolutionforgoodorevilremindsoneoftheseriesof Macedonian
queens.
Agrippina,
the wifeof Germanicus,
wasa virtuousvirago:the younger
Agrippina,
Nero'smother,addedto mostof thevicesof a womansome
of the virtuesof a man. Thesegreatladiesof the Principate
provided
Tacituswitha fieldforliteraryportraiture
whichhe cultivated
diligently.
How elaboratethis couldbe maybe seenfromthe sketchof Poppaea
Sabina,6
withwhichshouldbe compared
Sallust'saccountof Sempronia,
a passagewhichTacitushadplainlynotforgotten.WhereTacitus'own
Paraphraseby W. WardeFowler,Social Life at Romein theAge of Cicero,
f.
2 Hen. i. 46-7.
3 Aen. vii. 803 ff.
4 Aen. viii. 407 ff.
5 Suetonius,Calig. 23.
6 Ann. xiii. 45
I
pp.
I66
WOMEN IN ROMAN LIFE AND LETTERS
8
of
feelingshadbeenevokedthereis a simplernote in the description
Agricola'swife: 'DomitiamDecidianam,splendidisnatalibusortam,
ad maioranitentidecusac roburfuit,
sibi iunxit:idquematrimonium
vixeruntquemira concordia,per mutuamcaritatemet in vicem se
anteponendo
. . .'I Andtherearethelivingfiguresof the heroicAntistia
Pollitta,Paulina,andthe elderandyoungerArria.
To the satiristlike Juvenalthere is somethingbizarreaboutthe
in a man.
womanwho has literaryfortesand foiblesunexceptionable
of theworldof the satirist
The unreality,orat leasttheunbalancedness,
has oftenbeenstressed.Juvenal,in fact,weighsthe faultsandcrimes
of men,andstillmoreof women,in suchsavagehastethattheyallcome
onthebluestocking2
outthesameweight.Wemaycontrasthisonslaught
withthe conclusionof the kindlyMusoniusRufusthatall the qualities
of a goodwifewillbe foundin onewhostudiesphilosophy.3It maybe
suspectedthat most Romanwomenof the upperclasseswereaccomof philosophy,the
plishedratherthan educated.The enlightenment
ancientwayof trainingthe mind,wasin generalnottheirsto command.
werenot all showyand for show. The
But theiraccomplishments
of Juvenalwasprobablyrarerthanthe womanwho
femalegrammarian
hadlearntto writewithgrace. 'Hereadsme',writestheyoungerPliny,
'someletterssayingtheyarefromhis wife. I thoughtI waslisteningto
PlautusandTerencein prose Plautumvel Terentiummetrosolutum
legi credidi.'4The wife, however,must rememberthat the husband
comesISrst.JaneAustenherselfmightnot havedisdainedwhatfollows
- Plinywritingof his thirdwifeto heraunt:
is turningout worthyof her
Youwill be veryglad to learnthatCalpurnia
senseandis an
fatherandyourselfandof hergrandfather.Shehasadmirable
excellenthousekeeper.Sheis fondof me,whichspeakswellforhercharacter.
Throughheraffectionformeshe hasalsodevelopeda tasteforliterature.She
possessesmybooksandis alwaysreadingthem,sheevenlearnsthemby heart.
WhenI amto makea speechin Courtshe is all anxiety;whenI havemadeit
to let herknowwhateffect
she is alljoy. She arrangesa stringof messengers
I produce,whatapplauseI win,andwhatresultI haveobtained.If I give a
readingshe sits in the nextroombehinda curtainandlistensgreedilyto the
complimentspaidto me. She evensets my versesto musicandsingsthem
to teachherbut onlylove,whois the bestof
to the harpwithno professional
masters.I havethereforeeveryreasonto hopethatourharmonywillnotonly
lastbut growgreatereveryday.'5
To this maybe addedthe perfecthusbandletter,the one-hundred
I
3
4
2 Sat.Vin434ff
Xgric.6 I
See M. P. Charlesworth,Five Men, p. 42.
5 Ep. iv.
Ep. i. I6. 6.
I9
I-5*
WOMEN IN ROMAN LIFE ANI) LETTERS
9
andfourthof Seneca:'Thisis whatI toldmy wifePaulina,whourges
me to takecareof my health.Foras I knowthatherlife'sbreathhangs
on mine,I ambeginningto considermy healthoutof consideration
for
her.' Fromthis interestingrevelationof affectionwe mayturn to the
coolereulogyof an epitaph'quaecum eo vixit sine litibuset iurgiis's
or the curtphrase'sineverboscabro',withouta roughword.2
The mariagede convenance
prevailed:solid folks believedin solid
folks. WitnessPliny'srecipefor a husband.
'Youaskme' writesPliny3to JuniusMauricus,'to lookfor a husbandfor
yourniece.... Thereis no needto lookfar, for I knowa manwho might
seemto havebeenprovidedfor the purpose.His nameis Minicius. He is
well-connected
and comesfromBresciawhichyou knowto be a good oldfashionedplace,retainingthe simpleand modestmannersof the country.
He is a manof activeenergyandhas heldhighpublicoice. In appearance
he is a gentleman,well-builtandwith a wholesomeruddycomplexion.His
fatherhas amplemeans,and thoughyourfamilyis not perhapsmuchconcernedon thatpointwe haveto rememberthata man'sincomeis one of the
firstconsiderations
in the eyesnot onlyof oursocialsystembut of the law.'
Throughoutthe Empiredivorceremainedcommon. This is not
merelya deductionfromthe instancesin high society-for thesemay
be exceptionalr fromthe stricturesof moralists as Seneca's'exeunt
matrimoniicausanubuntrepudii'4 but fromthe fact that so many
epitaphsthinkit worthwhileto placeon recordthata womanhadonly
been marriedonce. The economicindependenceof womenbecame
evenmoremarked;dowriesranhigh,as did extravagance,
not always
withoutvulgarity,fromFortunata
in the CenaTrimalchionis,5
whopulls
Offher braceletsto showthemwhileTrimalchiocallsfor a balanceto
provetheirweight,to LolliaPaulina,oncewifeof the EmperorGaius,
whomthe elderPliny saw coveredfrom head to foot in pearlsand
emeralds,
readyto producethereceiptsto attestwhattheyhadcosther.6
Underthe Empire,too, womenbeganto makefor themselvesprofessionalcareers. This was particularly
so in medicine,as was not
unnatural.Eminentphysicianstaughtwomenstudents,and the right
to practisewas admittedbeforethe Codeof Justinianwhichrefersto
physiciansof eithersex. But as most doctorsin Romewereof Greek
origin,so, to judgefrominscriptions,
weretheirfemalecolleagues.The
medicalwriter Soranus,who practisedat Rome underTrajanand
Hadrian,beginshis Gynaeceia
with a catalogueof the qualitiesof the
midwifewhich includethe capacityto study the theoryof her art.
C.I.L. v. 2. 7066.
Paraphrasedfrom Ep. i.
5 Petronius,Sat. 67.
2
I
3
I4.
4
6
C.I.L. vi. 3. I5696.
de benef.iii. I6. 2.
Pliny, N.H. ix. II7.
Io
WOMENIN ROMANLIFE AND LETTERS
Thereis a specialwarningagainstsuperstition,
whichmayreflectthe
fact that womenused somethinglike faith-healing,
to judgefrom an
inscriptionfoundnear Rome,in whicha certainFelix declaresthat
'havingbeen givenup by his physicianshis sight had been restored
throughthe kindnessof the goddessBonaDea andthe medicaltreatment of her priestessCanniaFortunata'.IThe grammarand orthographyof the inscriptionsuggestthat Felix was less educatedthan
grateful,and he mayhavemisinterpreted
whathad happenedto him.
The mosteminentof Romanprofessions,
thatof thelaw,wasapparently
not alwaysclosedto women. ValeriusMaximus,2
that usefulgossip,
gives instancesof womenpleadingtheirowncases,and thatthis had
occurredmaybe deducede contrario froma passageof Ulpian3forbiddingwomento appearas advocatesin the casesof others.
Dressmaking
andweavingaretradesoftenmentionedin the inscriptions aboutwomen,4and the peculiarallianceof fish and wives was
commonin antiquity.A superficialview of the epigraphicevidence
mightsuggestthatwomenof highrankespeciallyconcerned
themselves
withthemakingof bricks,fortheirnamesconstantly
occurin thestamps
whichwerethetrademarks
of Romanbricks,butthenamesareprobably
the namesmerelyof the ownersof the estatesin whichthe brickfields
lay. Fromthe time of LiviusAndronicusRomanwomenof rankhad
takenI?artin certainStateperformances
of music,but thesewereof a
religiouscharacter.Withthe firstcenturyB.C. womenappearon the
Romanstage,buttheirnamesarealmostwhollyGreekandtherewasno
Romanactressof note.
MuchasLatinliterature
owesto theLesbiaof Catullus,the Cynthiaof
Propertius,
andtheDeliaof Tibullus,it wouldbehardto saythatit owed
muchtotheworksof womenwriters.
Awordof praisemayfairlybe given
to the elegiesof Sulpiciaif not to the lamentable
hexameters
assigned
to a namesake;had the memoirsof the youngerAgrippinasurvived
somereputations
wouldhaveperished,andthatladywhocouldoutface
BurrusandSeneca5maywellhavepossesseda vigorousturnof phrase.
Afterthe deathof Domitiantherewas a periodduringwhichthe
ImperialHouseset a modelof correctness.The influenceof the princesseswasattimesdirectedto thefosteringof literature
andphilosophy.
Therewas,it seems the evidenceis slight-a hierarchical
orderingof
Romanfemininesociety.Thereluctance
of theRomanStateto approve
associations
was relaxedto allowassociations
of womenat Lanuvium
I Dessau I.L.S. 3513.
2 Viii.
3.
3 Dig.iii. I. 5.
+
5
Seeon allthisF. F. Abbott,SocietyandPoliticsin AlncientRome,pp. 77 ff.
Tacitus,Snn. xiii. 2I.
WOMEN IN ROMAN LIFE AND LETTERS
II
andNaples;andon the Quirinalandpossiblyin the Forumof Trajan
therewerecurivefor womento meet in. The storyin the Augustan
HistoryI that Elagabalus
createda Senateof Womenis highlysuspect
and is hardlyconfirmedby the statementfromthe samesourcethat
Aurelianrestoredit.2 Butthereis no doubtthatthe positionof women
in Stateaffairsbecamemoreandmoreadmitted.The titlematercastrorum3grantedto JuliaDomnais perhapsthe mostsignificant
signwhen
oneremembers
Tacitus'phraseaboutAgrippina 'novumsaneet moribusveteruminsolitum,feminamsignisRomanispraesidere'.4
Thereis
increasingevidenceof the powerand influencewhich highlyplaced
womeIlcouldwield,andnot onlyin the Palace,as didJuliaDomnaand
her daughter,but throughoutthe wholerangeof Romanofficiallife.
The patronageexertedby the VestalCampiaSeverinain the third
centuryextendedto thearmyon the onehandandthe ImperialLibrary
on the other,andwasgratefullyacknowledged
by its beneficiaries.5
The legalrightsof womenin mattersof bequestswereassimilated
to
thoseof menbeforethe end of the secondcentury.Powerandwealth
couldbothbe theirs. But whatmatteredmoreandwhatwe knowfar
less aboutis the quietadvanceof womenin the sphereof religion.To
discusstheirsharein the spreadof Christianity
wouldtakeone too far
afield.Morerelevantto thisimmediate
topicwouldbemoreinformation
thanwe possessaboutthe domestichappinessof humblefolk,whose
homes,shieldedby the pax Romana,sharedtheirjoys and sorrows
beyondthe sight of the satiristand the moralistwith mutualrespect
and affection.Onlyhereandthereis this revealed,and it is an act of
faithand o?justifiablefaithto believethatthis was the ruleto which
we haveso often only the exceptions.Despitevagariesand external
changesof mannersandfortune,thetruestepitaphof theRomanwoman
may afterall be the best known,whichmay serveas a perorationto
thesediscursiveremarks:
I
2
4
Hospes, quod deico paullum est; asta et pellege.
heic est sepulcrumhau pulcrum pulcraifeminae;
nomen parentesnomineruntClaudiam.
Souom mareitumcorde dilexit souo:
gnatos duos creauit: horunc alterum
in terra linquit, alium sub terra locat.
Sermone lepido, tum autem incessu commodo.
domum semauit. lanam fecit. dixi. abei.6
Ant. Hel. 4. 34
Ibid. Aur. 49. 6.
3 Dessau, I.L.S. 442-4, and possibly 2438.
Ann. xii. 37. 6.
5 Dessau, I.L.S. 4g28-g.
6 C.I.L. vi. 3. I5346.