Roles Of Men And Women In The Roman Republic

In almost every society, men and women have played very specific roles. The warriors who fought for the glory of their countries were usually men, while the carers of children and the cooks of the house were women. With a few exceptions, this stereotype wasn’t any different in the Roman Republic. There’s even a famous legend of Rome, that took place during the reign of its first king, Romulus, who begged the sabines to marry their women to Roman men in order to increase the population of Rome and build a strong army (Hunt pg.139). Women were mainly needed to bear children who would go on to either become soldiers or bear even more children based on their gender. Due to these factors, women in the Roman Republic dealt with countless problems
that made their lives difficult.
In the Roman Republic, women only gained respect through bearing children and educating them.
This meant that a woman who didn’t want to have children, or prefered not to marry, wouldn’t be respected and seen as a disgrace to her family and society. Between husband and wife, the husband usually had power over the slaves and children, which meant that after divorce he would most likely get the children. This was a part of a law called “patria potestas” which meant “father’s power” (Hunt pg.142). He also had the duty of teaching his children Roman values like women. Fathers also had complete control of life or death in the family, like whether they needed to limit the amount of kids and the disposal of physically impaired children (Hunt pg.143). The women had no say in whether they wanted to have more kids, even though they were the ones to bear the children. Though the husband had a lot of power, patria potestas didn’t allow him to control his wife because it was very common for the wife to remain under her father’s power as long as he lived (Hunt pg. 143). But most fathers didn’t live to see their daughters get
married. Roman women without living fathers were considered independent, but still needed a male guardian to legally handle any of their business (Hunt pg.143). But thankfully this changed by the first century B.C.E, when women in the elite class could demonstrate publicly, and people had started to change their opinions on guardianship and thought women of proper age could manage their own affairs (Hunt pg. 143). But this didn’t change the fact that women were still expected to nurture and educate their children and accompany their husbands to parties. Roman women were married at a very young age, around twelve to sixteen (Hunt pg. 143). Respect always came back to how much children a woman could produce for her husband’s family line. Cornelia, a famous aristocrat of the second century B.C.E, was famous for this virtue. She was also one of the few wealthy women who was able to influence politics through male relatives and friends (Hunt pg.143). Women were given education mainly to teach their offspring, while it was of great importance of boys to get proper education in order to become a part of politics (Hunt pg.143).
In religion, the only female priestesses were The Vestal Virgins, which consisted of six female virgins who were relieved from their father’s control and received high status and respect (Hunt pg.144). But they had to stay chaste and keep the eternal flame in Vesta’s shrine from going out and if it did, the Romans would assume that the priestess had sex and would bury her alive (Hunt pg.144). Women could also acquire property through inheritance and self-made businesses. Some women even owned large businesses by the end of the Roman Republic (Hunt pg.143). Because both men and women could own property, it allowed poor women to do the same work as men too, like manufacturing and working as laborers (Hunt
pg.143). Roman women faced many hardships and dealt with misogyny during the Roman Republic. But as time went on, they were able to gain some rights and freedom along with more respect for themselves, rather than the amount of children they were able to bear.