ipl-logo

The Role Of Women In The Roman Republic And Roman Empire

1254 Words6 Pages

During the Roman Republic and Roman Empire, women were restricted to domestic life in a male-dominated society. Egypt’s capital, Alexandria, formally passed into Roman rule in 80BC , and was the greatest of the Roman provincial capitals, with a population of 300,000. In comparison, the Italian city of Pompeii had a population of only 20,000. To examine the role of women in Roman society, I will need to investigate the literature that survived from the period. This essay will compare and contrast the role of women in Alexandria and Pompeii.

The Roman Empire regarded males higher than they valued female children, with a daughter’s chances of being reared being less than her brother’s . If a father decided his new-born daughter was not to be reared, there was no law to prevent him from offering it to the Gods by exposing the child on a mountain, leaving the child to die, in hope that it would be rescued by a wealthy family or raised in service2. The sex ratio found from the tombstones in both Alexandria and Pompeii indicated that there were more adult males in the population1, which indicates that selected infanticide occurred, with more males reared than females. However, this under-commemoration of females could be indicative of the Roman valuation of males over females, since in general, a population should have an equal number of males and females. Had effective contraception been available, this may have been a more ethical solution to family planning for Roman families.

Show More
Related

  • What Role Did Tacitus Play In Russia

    924 Words  | 4 Pages

    This is different from the Roman structure in that the emperor had complete power, and the senate held power over everyone else because of their financial status. Although the citizens of Rome could elect their officials and consuls, not everyone was considered a citizen unlike the tribespeople of Rhineland. In particular, women had an immensely higher status and role in Germanic society, starting with the fact that they were considered “citizens”. In the eyes of the men, their mothers and wives were the “most sacred witnesses of his bravery”, and were the healers and caregivers of them all6.

    Read More

  • 5.3 History Of Rome Livy Analysis

    1055 Words  | 5 Pages

    In 218 B.C.E in Rome women were in protest about a law that was passed. During the second Punic war with carthage in North Africa, Rome went through desperate circumstances. During this time the law that was passed that unsettled all the woman was the Oppian laws. This law restricted women’s use of luxury goods so to preserve resources for the war efforts. In the document 5.3, History of Rome, written by Livy , talks about the thoughts of repealing the law and how the woman felt about this.

    Read More

  • Comparing Homer's Iliad And The Code Of Hammurabi

    704 Words  | 3 Pages

    The roles and social status of women in ancient times are being described by many well-known playwrights and poets. Yet, different works shows different opinions towards “women power”. In this essay, I am going to compare Homer’s Iliad and The Code of Hammurabi along with Sophocles’ Antigone.

    Read More

  • Athens Vs Rome Dbq Essay

    772 Words  | 4 Pages

    ” Once the government’s disrespect for these people was shown, they lost a lot of respect for themselves, contributing to people’s anger and makes them distraught. Rome was a little different, though. They would accept almost anyone as a citizen (except for slaves or freed slaves.) Rome would allow children of freed slaves, and even women, and though they could not hold public office or vote, they could own their own property. This proves that they had some level of respect for women at least, very much unlike many other ancient civilizations including the Athenian.

    Read More

  • Roman Republic Research Paper

    693 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Roman Republic was an ancient Roman civilization that was created after the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom in 509 BC, and ending in 27 BC with the creation of the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic was created in order for the rich men named aristocrats to gain even more power by removing kings from the Roman government. Soon after, the Roman upper class turned politics into a violent competition in their strive for power. Gaius Marius’ creation of “client armies” led soldiers to become more loyal towards their commander than the republic. This resulted in a commander named Lucius Cornelius Sulla overtaking Rome with his client army and establishing himself as a dictator.

    Read More

  • The Influence Of Pompeii's Religion

    105 Words  | 1 Pages

    Almost two thousands of years after being baried by falling ash from a two-day volcanic eruption, Pompeii reveals fascinating details about day to day life in the Roman Empire. Pompeii’s population roughly 20,000 inhabitants practiced several religions. This is evidenced by temples dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis, as well as the presense of Jews and worshipers of Cybele (called the “Great Mother” by her followers). Pompeii’s citizens practiced all of these religions in apparent peaceful coexistence with followers of the state religion, but worshipped Jupiter and the Roman emperor they led astonishingly long lives, assisted by doctors and dentists, and were very well educated.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Whores, Wives, And Slaves By Sarah B. Pomeroy

    1899 Words  | 8 Pages

    This paper will discuss the well-published work of, Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken, 1975. Print. Sarah B. Pomeroy uses this book to educate others about the role women have played throughout ancient history. Pomeroy uses a timeline to go through each role, starting with mythological women, who were called Goddesses.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In The 16th Century

    1004 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout the 16th century Reformation through the Enlightenment in the 18th century, was a period of time that saw both change and continuation in European society. One of the biggest examples of this was the role of women and how they should function in European society. Women in this era faced a large amount of hardships and obstacles from great leaders and philosophers such as Martin Luther and Immanuel Kant, who were both against the equality of women to men at this time. From the time period of the 16th century Reformation all the way up to the Enlightenment in the 18th century, the women of Europe were viewed as fragile and unworkable women whose main priority and purpose should only be being a housewife. As time progressed, women

    Read More

  • Women In Ancient Greece Essay

    1413 Words  | 6 Pages

    In ancient times, there is a general sense that women were simply items and slaves to their husbands. Ancient Greece specifically has a renowned reputation of favoring men. Men possessed the dominant role in public affairs and events while most women were pressured to stay at home. Very few records extensively discuss women; the records focus mostly on men. Despite the lacking records, it is certain how ancient Greeks viewed their women and their relationships with their male counterparts.

    Read More

  • Women's Roles In Athens And The Hellenistic Era

    569 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women’s roles has changed dramatically throughout history. By looking at the lives of women, it would be possible to tell how the civilians at that specific period of time were living. In this paper, women’s lives in mainly three civilizations would be discussed, the Sparta, the Athens, and the Hellenistic era. In Sparta, women were needed to live at home, while their husbands remained in military barracks until the age thirty.

    Read More

  • Sexual Power In Ancient Rome

    1236 Words  | 5 Pages

    In Ancient Rome, sexual power was central to everything. From the traditional moral codes to the drama of the fights for political power, sexuality and acceptable behaviors were a constant. The societal systems in place required female sexuality to be monitored and controlled because of the Roman drive to expand an individual’s, a family’s or the empire’s influence as much as possible in all arenas. For much of the Roman Empire, this drive for influence was accomplished through making connections between families, either formally through marriage or informally through affairs. Sexuality was part of everyday life, since children and the question of inheritance both of property and of power were of the upmost importance.

    Read More

  • Comparison Of Women In Mesopotamian Society

    1261 Words  | 6 Pages

    Different societies view women in different lights. Therefore, a woman’s position is greatly different from one society to the other. The societies in question do not necessarily have to exist at the same time. Even in the same time frame, two societies could exist, where one treat women as equals to men, and another that treats women differently than men, whether better or worse. The societies in question are: Mesopotamia, Greece, China, Rome & Europe, and this essay aims to study different societies’ viewpoints on women, and to compare and contrast them against each other.

    Read More

  • Similarities And Differences Between Ancient Greece And Rome

    852 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the Greece civilization, ladies were not given a position, they were thought to be not as much as slaves. Rome’s general public was separated into

    Read More

  • Essay On Role Of Women In Ancient Society

    981 Words  | 4 Pages

    Over generations, the role of women in society has shifted and changed immensely, improving upon many aspects of rights and values that women have. The changes occurred gave women opportunities to provide ideas, to have the same rights as men, giving women freedom, leading to many contributions of many significant and valuable events. But from current roles of women being equal to those of men, how women stood in ancient society significantly differs and contrast with ours today. Throughout history, the role and significance of women were always outweighed by the dominance and influence of men. The role of women in ancient times varied throughout, depending on the place and area in the world, in which women had different roles and impacts on their own society.

    Read More

  • Role Of Women In Ancient Egypt

    1016 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the Ancient world, much like today, each society exercised, according to their custom, different treatment towards women. Today, unlike in the Ancient world, women enjoy more freedom, rights, and equality. In this essay, the status of women in ancient Egypt will be compared to the status of women in ancient Rome. Academic sources will be relied on to provide the necessary actualities when one investigates ancient lives and cultures. The legal status of women in society, the different roles that each unique nation’s women played, and the possible education permitted and occupations available to these women will be discussed, as well as, their domestic atmospheres will be critically compared in this short essay to demonstrate the different treatment (if there were a difference) of women in both these imposing periods of ancient history.

    Read More

More about The Role Of Women In The Roman Republic And Roman Empire

Open Document