Role of Women in the Roman Empire - Essay Example

? Women in the Roman Empire Women in Rome Introduction Over two thousand years ago, Rome ruled the world especially since all the way from Spain to Syria and Africa to England many people were under the Roman law (Kidner, 2014). The role of women in the Roman Empire was however undermined particularly because their role was seen of being homemakers. In comparison to women in ancient Egypt, women before the law were not seen as equal. This is why there is little information existing women in politics. My view however is that women played a very vital role but the men undermined them tremendously. This persuasive paper will show the different ways in which women were oppressed and how if it this did not happen the Roman Empire would have been better governed. For the few women who owned businesses, and were married “in manu” (meaning their husbands were in control of them), the groom together with his family was in charge of all the woman’s possessions. This law prevented women from owning anything they earned with the inclusion of her inheritance and dowry (Kidner, 2014). Women almost had no say in the ‘manus’ marriage and what the husband said was the last word on all the matters. I believe that if the women were given the opportunity to own property in the manus marriage, their families would have benefited more, as there would be two providers. In politics, women could not support their husbands in privacy and not in the public. Their public role was to attend to the traditional activities of household chores. At home they could weave, spin yarn in order to make clothes for their families (Kidner, 2014). If women had a say in politics and even participated in things like voting, most of the empire problems would be unheard of and the empire governed in a much better way. Women were also made to think that their role was to sit pretty at home, nurture their children and heed to their husband's decisions. Unlike today's society, fathers chose husbands for their daughters and girls got married at the legal age of 12 years (Kidner, 2014). Fathers allowing their daughters to become of age and then get married to the men of their choice would have resulted in decreasing the number of divorces as well as sexual promiscuity. The male dominance in the Roman Empire was a great influence on how women led their lives. The men were the determinants of what was good or bad for the women. They suppressed the voice of the women who only had an option of doing that which their husbands or fathers demanded from them. Their opinions did not matter and therefore were in no way an influence to the social norms nor the political attributes in the empire. This did not stop the women but they raised high above the norms and laws and managed to change their world. This persuasive paper shows how women changed some of the social factors of the Roman Empire. Women in the Roman Empire may not have had any political office or any voting rights but made great contributions in religion. They did this amidst the fact that they could not stand for their rights. Women always had to serve under a male figure, be it a husband or a father. Men dominated in the social field and politics but the amazing thing is that they were not a great influence on religion. As it was customary, the women took care of the homestead’s shrines, altars, and offering daily prayers. They would perform the necessary rituals to keep the household gods appeased. The Romans believed that these gods, when women appeased them, would live in harmony with the family. The appeased spirits would protect the home and family from any harm and so the women had to pay attention to how well they kept the gods. However, this changed over time as women became goddesses and there are coins present in the empire that have images of these goddesses. Helena was the woman who saw it that Christianity was the foundation of the Roman Empire (Winter, 2003). The chauvinistic male society made it clear that only males would assess education. Women, as per the social’s norms, did not require any education since they had traditional education. In such a restricted environment, women rarely took professional jobs. The society expected women to possess to a considerable degree the essential Roman quality of pietas. Pietas is a combination of duty, devotion, and loyalty, especially to the gods, and to one’s parents, husband, relations, and the nation. Women, the elderly, mothers and grandmothers taught these lessons. The male species on the other hand, had superior power and therefore attended the formal education systems. This however did not stop Sempronia from pursuing her degree in education. Education, however, did not stop her from performing any of her customary duties for example being a mother to her children. Women for a long time relied on the dominating men to make their decisions. They made rules such as the rules for women to follow in order to ensure total submission to the husband. This however changed in 195 BC. Two tribunals of the Roman Empire suggested that there should be reviewing of the Oppian law. This law restricted women from owning more than half an ounce of gold, wear clothes that had a variety of colors. The law eliminated some of the women’s luxury such as riding in a carriage, which the horses drew in a town or city. The women would use this mode of travelling on holy days only. Women therefore saw this as an outstanding chance to declare their stand in the Oppian Law. They moved to the streets where they blocked most pathways. They demanded the tribunals to amend the law in order to institute woman’s glory. The tribunals assumed them and therefore the next day, the women flooded the streets. They only stopped demonstrating when the tribunal put their demands into consideration and amended the law hence restoring the women’s freedom to luxury (Winter, 2003). The role of women was taking care of the home. The men on the other hand provided for the family. They ensured there was availability of food, clothing and shelter. They provided women with all necessities including adornments. This traditional custom changed with time. As more women enrolled to school for formal studies, they specialized as professionals. This lead to increased number of working women and therefore women could help in providing for the family. They could handle both their customary duties of managing their homes and their newfound profession. It was the role of the man to ask for a bride’s hand in marriage. The man would go to the bride’s house and ask for permission from the girl’s parents to marry their daughter. He would pay dowry as per the tradition. The amount of the dowry depended on the family the betrothed came from. As time advanced, this changed. It started with the girls from the rich family. They would identify the man whom they would want to marry. The girl would ask for his hand in marriage. If he accepted, he would bring dowry to the bride’s home (Winter, 2003). In conclusion, with all these different kinds of oppression of women by men, there is no way women had a chance to rise up in society: The male dominating society was a motivator for women to crack from the nutshell the men had locked them into. Women managed to have some freedom such as education. They not only were home managers but they had careers. Men made crucial decisions, whether at home or within the empire. Sometimes even women were seen as sexual objects especially as seen through the art and literature sculptures and paintings of women. I believe that if women were allowed in the major decisions of both their families and empire, things would have run much more smoothly. References Kidner, F., Bucur, M., Mathison, R., McKee, S., Weeks, T., (2014). Making Europe, (2nd ed., Vol. I). Boston: Wadsworth Publishers. Winter, B., (2003). Roman wives, Roman widows : the appearance of New women and the Pauline communities. Grand Rapids, Mich. : W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Read More