Faecenia's Argument Analysis

Marriage was a large part of the ancient world and exclusively in Rome because who a woman married could gain them citizenship into the empire. That being said a freeborn person could not marry a slave. However, a freeborn male could marry a freeborn prostitute, even though it was disgraceful. Livy covers what exactly a married woman could obtain and what a prostitute could and could not receive out of the marriage.
“A Decree of the Senate was passed…to the effect that the consul should encourage the tribunes of the plebs to promulgate, at the earliest opportunity, a plebiscite…to the effect that Faecenia be granted the power of alienating property, changing her legal status, marriage outside her gens, and likewise choice of a tutor, as if
First, the passage states what her privileges are as a woman and then goes on to discuss what exactly she is entitled to as a freeborn prostitute. The quote goes on to say that whoever married her does not lose his rights to citizenship and if he were to pass away whoever took her after would have to ensure that she was protected. This would have to mean that there was some huge transgression when marrying a woman of her occupation. Furthermore, it suggests that if the man passed away after marrying such a disgraced woman then the family could not abandon her. It’s all very interesting to note because this is the first time in writing that one sees such language and distaste for a prostitute. Conversely, Ulpiani’s Tituli ex corpore Ulpiani, which is thought to have been rewritten in 320-342AD because the title does not match the words, states a whole other set of rules for marrying a prostitute mostly that a freeborn male cannot marry one even if she herself was a freeborn. It states, “Moreover, all other freeborn men are forbidden to marry a procuress and a woman manumitted by a male or female pimp and a woman caught in the act of adultery and her who has been an actress: Maurianus adds also a woman condemned by the Senate.” Between the time of Livy and the time of the rewritten Tituli there is an evolution in thinking that a prostitute was just disgraceful to marrying her was no longer legally allowed to marry. This also pertains to the laws and views on adultery within the Roman