roles of women in ancient rome?

Question

im writting a paper on the roles of women in ancient rome and i need help writting the Thesis Statement, any suggestions?

please help!!!!

Answer 1

Although the legal status of women in ancient Rome was quite restricted, in actual fact women played very influential roles in business, the arts, and politics.

How's that?

Be sure to include Livia!

Answer 2

Role Of Women In Rome

Answer 3

Go to the ancient sources! A great website is http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/women/womensbook.html.
Pick two or three elements of from a few categories, legal, cultural, etc. Also, in the ancient world, women played a huge role in funeral rites and mourning. For Rome, specifically, look for Fulvia, Agripinna, and Julia Masea (from the Republican, Imperial, and Late Antiquity periods, respectively). And be very conscience of class differences!
Good Luck!

Answer 4

Read a book on ancient Rome. You do not need to read it in its entirety; skim through looking for important details.
Basically their role was the same as in modern America. Women had bikinis to wear to the beach; they were involved in politics and often were instrumental in making government decisions. They had birth control. If you saw the movie "300", the king's wife gave a glimpse of the way women were in ancient Rome.
Of course, many were slaves and worked hard in the fields and kitchens, serving as maids and all the rest.

Answer 5

as one of the above posters mentioned, in theory women were horribly repressed. However, in practice, Roman women were some of the freest women in history until the modern era.

It was from the Etruscans that the Romans adopted a culture that respects and honors women. Numerous archeological digs show Etruscan art as portraying men and women as near equals.

Even one of Rome's most cherished legends, the rape of the Sabine, is outwardly mysogynistic, but well demonstrative of the power that women held in that society. During the final war between the Romans and the Sabine, as the two armies were about to clash, the women bravely ran out between the two and begged their fathers and brothers and their husbands not to kill each other. Both sides were so struck by the beauty of the courage of women who would risk everything for peace that they called off the war and signed a permanent alliance.

In Republican times, women exhibited a considerable amount of control. The men were still in charge, but we see instances where women are able to convince men one way or the other. One famous example was Cicero's daughter, who, along with her mother, planned and organized her own wedding, without telling her father (in Roman culture, the decision of marriage always rested with the eldest man of the family). When she finally did bring it up with him, he agreed to the marriage without much fuss.

middle class and upper class Roman women were expected and encouraged to become educated. Literature and poetry were considered the proper disciplines of women, as opposed to law and rhetoric which was the common disciplines for men. This is a stark contrast to the rest of the world; Carthaginians, Egyptians, and Persians almost certainly didn't. Even the Greeks didn't educate their women. As one Athenian once famously remarked "Educate our women?! Would be like giving venom to a dangerous snake!"

In Greece, women were completely excluded from any sort of activity that didn't involve rearing the household. But we see Roman women running their own business (an archeological dig once found an image of a woman running a pillow store), they were allowed to go to the baths, and even watch (and sometimes participate!) in the gladiatorial games!

In concluding, Women in Rome were treated something similar to modern values. There were expectations of them in terms of starting a family and listening to their fathers, but they also enjoyed considerable liberation, the best that any woman had until the 19th century.

Answer 6

well ok this might not be that relevant but its interesting lol. did you know they used to kill women in the colosseum in rome aswell. yep they used to force them to have smex with animals before killing them. gross aye. i just thought i would share that information with you, becuase its the kind of stuff my classics teacher talks about.

Answer 7

Lion food