Roman Women

The matrona

Wifey

• Connubium or marriage was very important to Rome

• A happily married husband and wife were supposed to share an eternal bond.

• Women were supposed to be chaste and to be virgins when they married soon after puberty.

• There were few options for a woman apart from marriage.

Epitaph from Roman Italy – late 2nd century BC

• Stranger, my message is short. Stop and read it. This is the unlovely tomb of a lovely woman. Her parents gave her the name Claudia. She loved her husband with all her heart. She bore two children, one of whom she left on earth, the other beneath it. She had a pleasing way of talking and walking. She tended the house and worked wool. I have said my piece. Go your way.'

feminine virtues mentioned in the epitaph

• affection.• good housewifery.• chastity. • Wool work was very much a

symbol of a good woman.

Companion

• A woman would share in her husband’s authority over the household and stand in for him when he wasn’t there.

• Accounts• Authority over children and slaves• A woman would accompany her husband to

dinner parties and recline next to him.• Much more freedom than a Greek woman, who

was expected to stay at home.

Terentius Neo and his wife –bakers in 1st century Pompeii

Women at Work

• Work within the home.• Work in the family business• Disreputable jobs: barmaid, actress

or prostitute • Work for wages – nursemaid,

domestic service• Clothworkers in Pompeii

Task:

• Using the information in the Powerpoint and page 33-34 of the textbook,

- write about the role of the Roman woman.- 1) how was she expected to behave?- 2) what were her responsiblities?- 3) would the life of a Roman woman be a

pleasant one? (Think what factors might affect this).