Though the Romans rivalled all preceding nations in justice and kindness toward women, yet husbands were intrusted with a degree of power, which modern nations would consider dangerous. A man might divorce his wife, if she violated the matrimonial vow, poisoned his offspring, brought upon him suppositious children, counterfeited his private keys, or drank wine without his knowledge. Valerius Maximus says that Egnatius Metellus, having detected his wife drinking wine out of a cask, put her to death, and was acquitted by Romulus.
The ancient Romans did not allow women to inherit property; but as wealth increased, fathers did not like to leave their fortunes to distant male relatives, while their daughters were left portionless; they therefore managed to elude the law, by making such provision for their children, as rendered theestates so taken of little value. The people, vexed at these proceedings, passed the Voconian law, by which no woman could inherit an estate, even if she were an only child; but after a time, the right of succession, both in moveables and land, was granted to females after the death of their brothers.
Women could not dispose of property, or transact any business of importance, without the concurrence of a parent, husband, or guardian. Sometimes a man appointed a guardian to his widow, or daughters, and sometimes they were allowed to choose for themselves. In some cases, discreet elderly women were appointed guardians. No women, except the vestal virgins, were allowed to give evidence in a court of justice concerning wills. The favorite attendants of noble Romans were sometimes intrusted with an extraordinary degree of power over the wives of their masters. Justinian’s principal eunuch threatened to chastise the empress, if she did not obey his orders. These facts show that Roman women were by no means admitted to the social equality, which characterizes the intercourse of the sexes at the present time; but they ate and drank with the men, were present at convivial entertainments, enjoyed the evening air in the public groves, accompanied by fathers, husbands, or brothers, and enjoyed many privileges to which the women of neighboring nations were entire strangers.
The Romans treated female captives with shameless brutality. Queens and princesses were compelled to submit to the grossest personal indignities,and were often dragged through the streets chained to the conqueror’s chariot wheels. The stern ferocity that mingled with their better qualities is shown in the story of one of the Horatii, who killed his sister, merely because she wept for her lover slain by his hand; and the example of Marcia, wife of Regulus, who shut up some Carthagenian prisoners in a barrel filled with sharp nails, to revenge her husband, who had been put to death in Carthage. It is, however, true that these actions were not sanctioned by public opinion; for Horatius was punished, and the senate interfered to check the wanton cruelty of Marcia.
The Romans followed the common practice of hiring mourning women to sing funeral songs in praise of the dead. The nearest female relations sometimes tore their garments, and covered their hair with dust. In the funeral procession, sons veiled their faces, and daughters went with uncovered heads and dishevelled hair, contrary to the usual practice of both. They followed the Grecian custom of burning the corpse, and depositing the ashes in an urn. Infants, that died before they had teeth, were buried, not burned; and all children not weaned were carried to the grave by their mothers. The sepulchres were covered with flowers and garlands, and a small altar was placed near, on which libations were made, and incense burnt.
It was thought dishonorable for men to mourn; but the law prescribed that women should mourn ten months for a parent, or a husband. During thistime they laid aside ornaments, and purple garments, and staid at home, avoiding all amusements; some even refrained from kindling a fire in the house on account of its cheerful appearance. Under the republic, women dressed in black like the men; but under the emperors, when party-colored garments came in fashion, they wore white for mourning. If a widow married within ten months after her husband’s decease, she was held infamous. Indeed second marriages were never esteemed honorable in women. Even in the most corrupt days of the empire, those who had been married but to one husband were treated with peculiar deference; hence Univira is often found on ancient sepulchres, as an epithet of honor.
Plutarch says maidens never married on festivals, nor widows on working-days, because marriage was honorable to the one and seemed not to be so to the other; for which reason they celebrated the marriage of widows in presence of a few, and on days that called off the attention of the people to other spectacles. Those who remained widows had the first place in certain solemn ceremonies. The crown of chastity was decreed to them; and if they married again, they were never after allowed to enter the temple of that divinity.
The Romans borrowed their mythology from the Grecian, where female deities abound. When they invoked the gods by name, in their temples, the Romans, in order to avoid mistakes, were accustomed to add, “Whether thou art a god, or whether thouart a goddess.” Women, as well as men, filled the sacred office of the priesthood. The vestal virgins were young girls, six in number, devoted to the service of Vesta. When any vacancy occurred, twenty maidens, not younger than six, or older than sixteen, were selected from the families of Roman citizens. It was required that their parents should both be living, and free-born, and that they themselves should be without any bodily imperfection or infirmity. It was determined by lot which of the twenty should be chosen; unless some one, with requisite qualifications, was voluntarily offered by parents, and approved by the pontifex maximus, or high priest. The vestals were bound to their ministry for thirty years. For the first ten, they learned the sacred rites; for the next ten, they performed them; and for the last ten, they taught the younger virgins. It was the business of the vestals to keep the sacred fire continually burning; they watched it in the night time alternately; and whoever allowed it to go out, was severely scourged. The fire was relighted from the rays of the sun, and extraordinary sacrifices were made to avert the unlucky omen. Certain sacred images, on the preservation of which the safety of Rome was supposed to depend, were likewise intrusted to the care of the vestals. Wills and testaments were often deposited in their hands, by people who were afraid that relations would commit frauds and forgeries. They were chosen as the umpires of difficulties between persons of rank; and their prayers were thought to have peculiar influencewith the gods. Even the prætors and consuls, when they met them in the street, lowered theirfasces, and went out of the way, to show them respect. They were supported by a public salary; had a lictor to attend them in the streets; rode in chariots; and sat in a distinguished place at the spectacles. Any insult to them was punished with death; and if a criminal chanced to meet one of them on his way to execution, he was immediately set at liberty, provided the vestal affirmed that the meeting was unintentional. They were allowed to make their wills, although under age; and were not subject to the power of parents or guardians, like other women. They were not forced to swear, unless so inclined; and their testimony was admitted concerning wills, though no other female was allowed to give evidence on the subject. Beside these exclusive honors, they enjoyed all the privileges of matrons who had three children.
If any vestal violated her vow of chastity, she was buried alive, with funeral solemnities, after being tried and sentenced; and her paramour was scourged to death in the forum. Such an event was always thought to forebode some dreadful calamity to the state, and extraordinary sacrifices were offered in expiation.
When the vestals were first chosen, their hair was cut off, and buried under an old lotus tree in the city; but it was afterward allowed to grow. They wore long white robes, edged with purple, and their heads were decorated with fillets and ribands. Whenthey left the service of the temple, they might marry; but this was seldom done, and always reckoned ominous.
There was at Rome a temple to the goddess who presided over the peace of marriages, and the appeasement of husbands. Gibbon remarks that her name, Viriplaca, shows that repentance and submission were always expected from the woman. When domestic quarrels occurred, sacrifices were offered in this temple, to procure reconciliation.
Beside innumerable religious ceremonies appropriated to certain families, and performed on certain occasions, it was customary for the Roman women, at the end of every consular year, to celebrate in the house of the consul, or prætor, certain rites in honor ofBona Dea, or the good goddess. No man was allowed to be present; even the consul himself was obliged to leave his dwelling. Before the ceremonies commenced, every corner and lurking-place was carefully searched; all pictures and statues of men contained within the building were covered with a thick veil; and male animals of every kind were driven away. All being in readiness, the vestal virgins offered the customary sacrifices; and women kept a secret so much better than free masons have done, that to this day there is no conjecture in what the ceremonies consisted, or why they were observed. Only one attempt was ever made to violate the prescribed rules. While Pompeia, the third wife of Julius Cæsar, was celebrating the mysteries, Clodius, a profligate Roman, who was enamored of her beauty,habited himself as a singing girl, and walked through the rooms, avoiding the light as much as possible. A maiden asked him to sing; and as he did not reply, she followed him so closely that he was obliged to speak. His voice betrayed him, and the maiden shrieked aloud that the sacrifices were profaned by the presence of a man. He was driven out with ignominy, and soon after brought before the judges; but the populace were in his favor, and he was acquitted. Cæsar did not believe that Pompeia was aware of the intentions of Clodius; but he immediately repudiated her, saying, “the wife of Cæsar must not even be suspected.” On this occasion, Cicero made the following remarks: “This sacrifice, which is performed by the vestal virgins—which is performed for the prosperity of the Roman people—which is performed in the house of the chief magistrate—celebrated with unknown ceremonies—in honor of a goddess, whose very name it is sacrilege to know—this sacrifice Clodius profaned!”
Beside the augurs, or soothsayers, the Romans believed in certain women, supernaturally inspired, called sibyls. The most celebrated is the sibyl of Cumæ, in Italy. It was said that Apollo became enamored of her, and offered to give whatever she would ask. She demanded to live as many years, as she had grains of sand in her hand; but unfortunately forgot to ask for a continuance of youth and health. She usually wrote her prophecies on leaves, which she placed at the entrance of her cave; and unless they were gathered up before the wind dispersedthem, they became incomprehensible. The Roman historians declare that one of the sibyls came to the palace of Tarquin the Second, with nine volumes, which she offered to sell at a very high price. The proposal being disregarded, she burned three, and asked the same price for the remaining six; and when Tarquin refused to buy them, she burned three more, and still required the same sum for the remainder. This singular conduct surprised the king so much, that he consulted the soothsayers, who lamented the destruction of so many of the books, and advised him to purchase those that remained. The sibyl disappeared, and never returned. The books were intrusted to the care of the priests, and consulted with the greatest solemnity on all important occasions.
The Romans, like the Greeks, had firm belief in omens and enchantments, over which they supposed the moon presided; hence their witches were represented as haggard old women, muttering incantations, and accompanied by dogs howling at the moon.
Paulus Æmilius, having been appointed commander-in-chief against Perseus, and conducted home from the Campus Martius in a very splendid manner, found his little daughter Tertia in tears. He took her in his arms, and asked her why she wept. The child embraced him, and said, “Don’t you know, then, father, that Perseus is dead?” The girl alluded to her little dog; but Æmilius replied, “I hail the lucky omen!”
The Romans likewise used philtres. Luculluslost his senses by a love potion; and Caligula was thrown into a fit of madness by a philtre which his wife Cæsonia administered.
The ancient dress of Roman women was modest and simple, like their characters. They wore a tunic and toga, like those of the men, excepting that the tunic had sleeves, was high in the neck, and long enough to reach to the feet. The toga was a sort of ample robe fastened on the shoulder, and falling in graceful folds. They wore bands, or fillets, wrapped around the limbs, instead of stockings. Their covering for the feet were of two kinds; one consisting of a pair of soles, fastened with straps, nearly like what we call sandals; the other, a kind of half boot, open from the toe, and laced in front.
Women usually wore white shoes, until Aurelian allowed them to use red ones, forbidding all men, except the royal family, to wear the same color. The fashionable wore them very tight, with high heels, to give them a majestic appearance.
As luxury increased, the ladies became less scrupulous about exposing their persons. Tunics were made shorter, lower in the neck, and with sleeves open from the shoulder to the wrist, to display the beauty of the arm. A good deal of coquetry and grace was manifested in arranging the ample folds which fell from the girdle. The number of tunics increased, until it was customary to wear three. The last invented was a very full robe, calledstola; and after this was introduced, thetogawas worn only by men and courtesans. Thestolahad a longtrain, often embroidered with gold and purple. The upper part was fitted to the form, and being open in front displayed the second tunic. This gave the first idea of bodices, which soon became the most brilliant article of Roman dress, enriched with gold and pearls, and precious stones. Above this dress the ladies wore a very long mantle, fastened by a clasp on the shoulders, from which it flowed loose, supporting its own weight. It commonly rested on the left arm and shoulder, leaving the right arm entirely uncovered, according to the custom of the men. Under the reign of Nero, women began to wear silken robes, instead of linen or woollen; yet more than half a century later, we find Aurelian refusing his empress a mantle of silk, because the threads were sold at their weight in gold. Afterward a kind of transparent stuff became very fashionable. The texture was so delicate that they were obliged to color it before it was woven; and the fabric was so open, that the body might be distinctly seen through it. Varro called them “dresses of glass,” and Jerome loudly declaimed against them.
Roman fans were round, like hand-screens; generally made of feathers, and sometimes with small metallic mirrors inserted above the handle.
At first, garments were generally white; none but people of great dignity wore them of purple; but in process of time, all manner of brilliant and varied colors came into fashion. Women of rank loaded their shoes with embroidery and pearls, and prided themselves on the variety and costliness of theirnecklaces, bracelets, ear-rings, and rings. Pliny says that even women of the utmost simplicity and modesty durst not venture abroad without diamonds, any more than a consul without the marks of his dignity. “I have seen,” says that writer, “Lollia Paulina, wife of Caligula, load herself with jewels, even after her repudiation; not for any pompous festival, but for simple visits. The value of those she affected to show amounted to forty millions of sesterces, (more than two hundred thousand pounds.) They were not given by the prince, but were part of the effects which descended to her from Marcus Lollius, her uncle.”
The Roman women in primitive times arranged their hair in simple braids, neatly fastened with a broad ribbon, or fillet. But afterward, they wore structures of curls, high as a towering edifice; wigs of false hair, like a helmet; combs made of box inlaid with ivory; golden bodkins loaded with pearls; and fillets embroidered with precious stones.
Those who peculiarly studied decorum, still wore the plain broad fillet of olden times, and arranged their hair in simple, graceful knots at the back of the head. This style was calledinsigne pudoris, or a sign of modesty.
Light colored hair was most admired. Both men and women dyed it, to make the color more lively; they perfumed it, and applied essences to give it lustre. Sometimes they powdered it with gold dust; which custom Josephus says was practised by the Jews. The hair of the emperor Commodus is saidto have been rendered so brilliant by the constant use of gold dust, that when he stood in the sunshine, his head appeared on fire. In the early ages, women never appeared in public without a veil; but in later times this was dispensed with, or used merely in a coquettish manner. The beautiful but infamous Poppæa always partially shaded her face with gauze, to increase the power of her charms.
The Roman ladies enlarged their eyes by stooping over the vapor of burning powder of antimony; and increased their expression by staining the eyelashes, and gently tinting the lid underneath with the same powder. The eyebrows likewise were finely pencilled. Pliny speaks of a wild vine, the leaves and fruit of which were bruised together, to make a cosmetic for the complexion: and Ovid says some women bruised poppies in cold water, and applied it to their cheeks. Martial says Fabula was afraid of the rain, because of the chalk upon her face, and Sabella of the sun, on account of the ceruse with which she was painted. Poppæa made use of an unctuous paint, which formed a crust, that remained some time; it was taken off with milk, and greatly increased the fairness of the complexion. Ladies were accused of keeping the crust for a domestic face, and reserving the beautiful one for seasons when they went abroad. Poppæa, from whom this paint derived its name, had a troop of she-asses following her, even when she went into exile. Juvenal says she would not have dispensed with them if she had gone to the hyperborean pole. Every day they milked five hundred asses,for a bath to maintain the softness and freshness of her complexion.
The Roman ladies were very careful of their teeth. They cleansed them often with little brushes and tooth-picks. Some were silver; but those made of lentisk wood were considered the best. Artificial teeth were sometimes used; for Martial, in one of his epigrams, says to Maximina, “Thou hast only three teeth; and those are of box varnished over.”
Ladies usually went to the bath when they first arose, and from the bath to the toilet. This important business occupied many hours. The attendants were numerous, and each one had a separate department. One combed, curled, and braided the hair; a second arranged the jewels; a third poured the perfumes; and a fourth prepared the cosmetics. Each one had a name expressive of her employment; hence the wordsornatrices,cosmetæ, &c. Some, who were calledparasitæ, were merely required to look on, and give advice; those who were the best skilled in flattery were, of course, the greatest favorites. If a curl was misplaced, or a color unbecoming, the waiting maids were abused for the fault. Juvenal, speaking to one of these women, says, “Of what crime is that unhappy girl guilty, because your nose displeases you?”
It was not surprising that such a state of things should exist among women, when the men wore golden soles to their shoes, plucked out the hairs of the beard one by one, and applied bread dipped in milk to the face, to freshen the complexion.
Still, in all periods of Roman history, there were bright examples of female excellence. When Coriolanus, in revenge for ungrateful treatment, threatened to destroy Rome with an invading army, the remonstrances and proposals of the nobility and senate had no effect on his stubborn pride. The Roman matrons persuaded his mother Veturia, and his wife Vergilia, to go to his camp, and try their influence in appeasing his resentment. The meeting between Coriolanus and his family was extremely affecting. For a while he remained inflexible; but the entreaties of a mother and a wife finally prevailed over his stern and vindictive resolutions. The senate decreed that Veturia and Vergilia should receive any favor they thought proper to ask. They merely begged permission to build a temple to the Fortunes of Women, at their own expense. The senate immediately ordered that it should be erected on the very spot where Coriolanus had been persuaded to save Rome. They likewise decreed them public thanks; ordered the men to give place to them upon all occasions; and permitted the Roman ladies to add another ornament to their head-dress!!
Veturia was made priestess of the new temple, into which no woman who had married a second husband was allowed to enter.
Portia, the daughter of Cato and wife of Brutus, was remarkable for her prudence, philosophy, and domestic virtues. She wounded herself severely, and endured the pain in silence, to convince her husband that she had sufficient courage to be intrustedwith his most dangerous secrets. Brutus admired her fortitude, and no longer concealed from her his intended conspiracy against Cæsar. On the day when she knew the assassination was to take place, she fainted away with excess of anxiety; but she faithfully kept the secret that had been intrusted to her. When she parted from Brutus, after the death of Cæsar, a picture of Hector and Andromache, that was hanging on the wall, brought tears to her eyes. A friend of Brutus, who was present, repeated the address of the Trojan princess:
“Be careful, Hector! for with thee myall,My father, mother, brother, husband, fall.”
“Be careful, Hector! for with thee myall,My father, mother, brother, husband, fall.”
“Be careful, Hector! for with thee myall,My father, mother, brother, husband, fall.”
“Be careful, Hector! for with thee myall,
My father, mother, brother, husband, fall.”
Brutus replied, smiling, “I must not answer Portia in the words of Hector, ‘Mind your wheel, and to your maids give law;’ for in courage, activity, and concern for her country’s freedom, she is inferior to none of us; though the weakness of her frame does not always second the strength of her mind.” A false rumor having prevailed that Brutus was dead, Portia resolved not to survive him. Her friends, aware of her purpose, placed every weapon beyond her reach; but she defeated their kindness by swallowing burning coals.
The emperor Augustus is said to have seldom worn any domestic robes that were not woven by his wife, his sister, his daughters, or his nieces. His sister Octavia was celebrated for her beauty and her virtues. When her husband, Mark Antony, deserted her for the sake of Cleopatra, she went to Athens to meet him, in hopes of withdrawing him from thisdisgraceful amour; but she was secretly rebuked, and entirely banished from his presence. Augustus highly resented this affront to a beloved sister, but she gently endeavored to pacify him, and made all possible excuses for Antony. When she heard of her husband’s death, she took all his children into her house, and treated them with the utmost tenderness. She gave Virgil ten thousand sesterces for every line of his encomium upon her excellent and darling son Marcellus. The poet was requested to repeat these verses in the presence of Augustus and his sister. Octavia burst into tears as soon as he began; but when he mentionedTu Marcellus eris, she swooned away. She was supposed to have died of melancholy, occasioned by her son’s death. Augustus himself pronounced her funeral oration, and the Roman people evinced their respect for her character by wishing to pay her divine honors.
Agrippina, the granddaughter of Augustus, was a model of purity in the midst of surrounding corruption. She accompanied her husband Germanicus into Germany, shared in all his toils and dangers, and attached herself to him with the most devoted affection. She often appeared at the head of the troops, appeasing tumults, and encouraging bravery. Tiberius, jealous of virtues that reflected so much dishonor on his own licentious court, entered into machinations against them. Germanicus was poisoned, and Agrippina exiled and treated with the utmost indignity. Despairing of redress, she refused all sustenance, and died.
Arria, the wife of Pætus, not being allowed to accompany her husband to Rome, when he was carried thither to be tried for conspiracy against the government, followed the vessel in a fisherman’s bark hired for the occasion. She exerted every means to save his life; and when she found all her efforts unavailing, she advised him to avoid the disgrace and torture that awaited him, by voluntary death. Seeing that he hesitated, she plunged the dagger into her own heart, and gave it to him with a smile, saying, “It gives me no pain, my Pætus.” In judging of these examples, we must remember that the Romans, in their sternness and stoicism, regarded suicide as a virtue.
Eponina, the wife of Sabinus, lived with her husband concealed in a cave, for several years, rather than desert him at a time of disgrace and danger, the consequence of unsuccessful rebellion. Their retreat was at length discovered; and neither her tears, nor the innocent beauty of two little twins born in the cavern, could soften the heart of Vespasian. The faithful wife was condemned to die with her husband.
Valerius Maximus tells of an illustrious lady, whose mother being condemned to die by famine, the daughter obtained access to her prison, and nourished her with her own milk. When this was discovered, the criminal was pardoned; both mother and daughter were maintained at the public expense; and a temple to Filial Piety was erected near the prison.
Pliny, who lived as late as the time of Trajan, warmly eulogizes the talents and domestic virtues ofhis wife. He says: “Her taste for literature is inspired by tenderness for me. When I am to speak in public, she places herself as near me as possible, under the cover of her veil, and listens with delight to the praises bestowed upon me. She sings my verses, and untaught adapts them to the lute; love is her only instructer.”
Under the emperors, it was more easy to find women distinguished for talent than for virtue. Julia, the wife of Septimus Severus, was famous for her genius and learning, and for the generous patronage she bestowed on literature. Julia Mammæa, the mother of Alexander Severus, had a mind equally cultivated, with far greater purity of character than her namesake. She educated her son for the throne in a manner so judicious, that his integrity, virtue, and firmness might have effectually checked the tide of corruption, had he not met with an untimely fate.
As learning became fashionable, many acquired it merely for display. Juvenal, speaking of pedantic ladies, says: “They fall on the praises of Virgil, and weigh his merits in the same balance with Homer; they find excuses for Dido’s having stabbed herself, and determine of the beautiful and the sovereign good.”
The Roman women seem to have been less iron-hearted than the Spartans. When the Romans were defeated by Hannibal, women waited at the gates of the city, for news of the returning army. One, who had given up her son for dead, died at the sight of him; and another, having been told that her son was slain, died when the report was contradicted.
The Roman women strongly resembled the Spartans in the deep and active interest they took in public affairs. Upon the death of Brutus, they all clad themselves in deep mourning. In the time of Brennus, they gave all their golden ornaments to ransom the city from the Gauls. In reward for this generosity, the senate ordained that they should be allowed to ride in chariots at the public games, and that funeral orations should thenceforth be pronounced for them, as well as for distinguished men.
After the fatal battle of Cannæ, the women again consecrated all their ornaments to the service of the state. But when the triumvirs attempted to tax them for the expenses of carrying on a civil war, they tried various means to resist the innovation. At last, they chose Hortensia for their speaker, and went in a body to the market-place, to expostulate with the magistrates. The triumvirs, offended at their boldness, wished to drive them away; but the populace grew so tumultuous, that it was deemed prudent to give the women a hearing. Hortensia spoke as follows: “The unhappy women you see here pleading for justice, would never have presumed to appear in this place, had they not first made use of all other means their natural modesty could suggest. Yet the loss of our fathers, brothers, husbands, and children, may sufficiently excuse us; especially when their unhappy deaths are made a pretence for our further misfortunes. You say they had offended you—but what have we women done, that we must be impoverished? Empire, dignities, and honorsare not for us; why then should we contribute to a war, in which we can have no manner of interest? Our mothers did indeed assist the republic in the hour of her utmost need; but they were not constrained to sell their houses and lands for that purpose; theirs was the voluntary offering of generosity. If the Gauls or the Parthians were encamped on the banks of the Tiber, you would find us no less zealous in the defence of our country than our mothers were before us; but we are resolved that we will not be connected with civil war. Neither Marius, nor Cæsar, nor Pompey, nor even Sylla himself, who first set up tyranny in Rome, ever thought of compelling us to take part in domestic troubles. Yet you assume the glorious title of reformers of the state! a title which will turn to your eternal infamy, if, without the least regard to the laws of equity, you persist in plundering the lives and fortunes of those who have given you no just cause of offence.”
In consequence of this spirited and eloquent speech, the number of women taxed was reduced from fourteen hundred to four hundred.
When the deification of emperors and heroes became fashionable at Rome, women soon had their statues placed in the temples, and incense burned before them; and these honors, instead of being the reward of virtue, were often bestowed merely to please the corrupt and the powerful. Poppæa, the wife of Nero, a most thoroughly vicious woman, had divine honors paid to her after death; the emperor himself pronounced her eulogium in the rostrum;and more perfumes were burned at her funeral, than Arabia Felix produced in a year.
Messalina, the profligate wife of Claudius, governed the emperor without control. She appeared with him in the senate, placed herself by him on the same tribunal in all public ceremonies, gave audience with him to princes and ambassadors, and did not even abandon him in the courts of justice.
Heliogabalus made his mother and grandmother his colleagues on the throne, and placed them at the head of a female senate, which he instituted to regulate all matters of dress and fashion; this, however, lasted but a short time. Extravagance, both in dress and style of living, went on increasing to such a degree that the details are almost incredible. During the Carthagenian war, when Rome was in great distress, an effort was made to check the growth of this evil, by a law, which ordained that no woman should wear more than half an ounce of gold, have party-colored garments, or be carried to any place within a mile’s distance, unless it was to celebrate some sacred festivals or solemnities. This created much discontent; and eighteen years after, the ladies petitioned to have it repealed. Cato strongly opposed it, and satirized the women for appearing in public to solicit votes; but the tribune Valerius, who presented the petition, urged their cause so eloquently, that the law was abrogated.
When the Greek custom was introduced of reclining full length upon their couches, while they ate their meals, the ladies for a long time continued tosit upon benches, because they considered the new mode inconsistent with modesty; but during the reign of the emperors, they began to imitate the men in this particular. In the early ages they were forbidden the use of wine; their relations were allowed to salute them, as they entered the house, in order to discover whether they had drunk it; and in that case their husbands or parents had a right to punish them. But in later times, they indulged themselves without restraint. Seneca says: “Women pique themselves upon carrying excess in wine as far as the most robust men; like them they pass whole nights at table, and holding a cup filled to the brim, they glory in defying, and even in surpassing them.”
The Romans were in the habit of drinking their crowns; that is to say, the wine in which they had been dipped. Cleopatra, perceiving that Antony was jealous she had designs upon his life, diverted herself with his precautions. At one of their splendid feasts she wore upon her head a crown of flowers, the extremities of which had been poisoned. Antony, being invited to drink the crowns, readily consented; but Cleopatra snatched the cup from his lips, saying, “The garland was poisoned. If I could live without you, I could easily find means for your destruction.”
A love for exciting amusements kept pace with other forms of dissipation. Women, not content with music and dancing, and the entertainments of the theatre, began to delight in horse-races, and thecontests of wild beasts and gladiators, during which scenes of cruelty occurred too shocking to be described. Sometimes they fought on the arena with men, at the command of the despotic emperors. The celebration of the Bacchanalian mysteries, in which women took an active part, were a continuation of the most indecent and horrid crimes. In many instances they danced on the stage entirely without clothing, and enjoyed the luxury of public baths promiscuously with the men, totally disregarding the modest regulations of former times.
Roman husbands, from the earliest times, had the power of divorcing their wives whenever they pleased; and afterward the laws were equalized to such a degree, that either party had liberty to demand divorce. If the wife was blameless, she received all her dowry and goods; if culpable, the husband was allowed to retain a sixth part for each child; if she had been unfaithful to him, he kept all the dowry and marriage-presents, even if he had no children by her. Where there was a family, each of the parties settled a proportionable part of their fortune.
Notwithstanding the facility of divorce, five hundred and twenty-one years elapsed without an instance of it in Rome. Carvilius Ruga was the first one who repudiated his wife. He had great affection for her, and parted from her merely because she brought him no children. Notwithstanding this excuse, the Roman citizens were very indignant at the proceeding. But divorces gradually became frequent, and were made upon the slightest pretexts. WhenPaulus Æmilius repudiated Papiria, his friends said to him, “Is she not wise? Is she not fair? Is she not the mother of fine children?” In reply, he pointed to his shoe, and said, “Is it not fine? Is it not well made? Yet none of you know where it pinches me.” Sulpicius Gallus turned away his wife because she appeared bare-headed in public. Sempronius Sophus separated from his, because she had whispered to a freed-woman. Antistius Vetus did the same because his wife went to some public place of amusement without his knowledge. Cicero separated from Terentia on account of her extravagance and imperious temper; he espoused Publilia, a young heiress, who had been his ward; but he repudiated her for harsh treatment to his daughter Tullia. Cato gave up his wife Martia, by whom he had had several children, that Hortensius might marry her; and when some time after Hortensius died, and left her to inherit his great wealth, to the prejudice of his own son, Cato retook her. Some men married women of tarnished reputation, on purpose to find opportunity to divorce them and retain their dowry.
Polygamy was at no period allowed; and even a plurality of mistresses was prohibited. Mark Antony gave great offence to the Romans by living with Cleopatra during the lifetime of Octavia.
Papirius was accustomed to attend his father to the senate before he assumed the manly robe; and his mother one day inquired what had been debated there. The lad replied, a decree had been passed that every man should be allowed to have two wives.The news spread rapidly; and the next day many women presented themselves to demand that every woman might be allowed two husbands. The senators, surprised at such a strange proposition, did not know how to account for it, until young Papirius explained the mystery. They commended his prudence in thus evading female curiosity, and ordained that no young person, himself excepted, should attend the debates of the senate.
As corruption increased, the women made as bad use of divorce as the men. Seneca says there were some who no longer reckoned the years by the consuls, but by the number of their husbands. St. Jerome speaks with indignation of a man in his time who had buried twenty wives, and of a woman who had buried twenty-two husbands. When Severus ascended the throne, he found no less than three thousand prosecutions against faithless wives. Women of the highest rank unblushingly proclaimed their own licentiousness, and laughed at the appearance of modesty. A long train of cruel and disgusting crimes followed this utter abandonment of principle. At one time there was a general conspiracy to murder all husbands, in order that the last appearance of restraint might be thrown aside. Voluptas had a temple, and was worshipped as a beautiful woman, seated on a throne, and treading virtue beneath her feet.
Augustus, perceiving that facility of divorce, far from tending to promote happiness, only increased discontent, endeavored to restrain it by penalties.He likewise made the laws more severe with regard to infidelity. The father of a faithless wife might put her to death; and if the husband killed her and her gallant, he was not punished by the laws. Fines and banishment were likewise frequently resorted to.
The highest possible encouragement was given to matrimony. When the people were numbered, the censors asked each citizen, “Upon your faith, have you a wife?” and those who had none were subject to a fine. In the tribunals, those who came to make oath were asked, “Upon your faith, have you a horse? Have you a wife?” and unless they could answer these questions in the affirmative, they were not allowed to give testimony. Those who lived in celibacy could not succeed to an inheritance, or legacy, except of their nearest relations, unless they married within one hundred days after the death of the testator. Married men were preferred to all public employments; and the prescribed age was dispensed with in their favor, by taking off as many years as they had legitimate children. They had distinguished places at the theatre and the games, were exempted from guardianships, and other burthensome offices.
But when the condition of the people required laws like these, it was useless to make them. Mere external rewards are as feeble a barrier against the tumult of the passions, as a bar of sand against a rushing stream. The Roman knights loudly demanded that the edicts should be revoked; and many, to avoid the penalties, went through the form of marriagewith mere infants. Augustus, to prevent this fraud, forbade any one to contract a girl that was not at least ten years old, that the wedding might be celebrated two years after. Metellus, the censor, said to the people, “If it were possible for us to do without wives, we should escape a very great evil; but it is ordained that we cannot live very happily either with them or without them.”
Such was the diseased state of society, when Christianity came in with its blessed influence, to purify the manners, and give the soul its proper empire over the senses. Many women of the noblest and wealthiest families, surrounded by the seductive allurements of worldly pleasure, renounced them all, for the sake of the strength and consolation they found in the words of Jesus. Undismayed by severe edicts against the new religion, they appeared before the magistrates, and by pronouncing the simple words, “I am a Christian,” calmly resigned themselves to imprisonment, ignominy, and death. Taught by the maxims of the Gospel that it was a duty to love and comfort each other, as members of the same family, they devoted their lives to the relief of the sick, the aged, and the destitute. Beautiful ladies, accustomed to all the luxurious appendages of wealth, might be seen in the huts of poverty, and the cells of disease, performing in the kindest manner the duties of a careful nurse.
In the worst stages of human society, there will ever be seven thousand of Israel who do not bow the knee to Baal; and such a remnant existed in Rome.The graceful form of heathen mythology had some degree of protecting life within it, so long as it was sincerely reverenced; but the vital spark, that at best had glimmered but faintly, was now entirely extinguished, and the beautiful form was crumbling in corruption and decay. The heart, oppressed with a sense of weakness and destitution, called upon the understanding for aid, and received only the lonely echo of its own wants. At such a moment, Christianity was embraced with fervor; and the soul, enraptured with glimpses of its heavenly home, forgot that the narrow pathway lay amid worldly duties, and worldly temptations.
The relation of the sexes to each other had become so gross in its manifested forms, that it was difficult to perceive the pure conservative principle in its inward essence. Hence, though marriage was sanctioned, and solemnized by the most sacred forms, it was regarded as a necessary concession to human weakness, and perpetual celibacy was considered a sublime virtue. This feeling gave rise to the retirement of the cloister, and to solitary hermitages in the midst of the desert. St. Jerome is perhaps the most eloquent advocate of this ideal purity. His writings are full of eulogiums upon Paula, her daughter Eustochium, and other Roman women, who embraced Christianity, and spent whole days and nights in the study of the Scriptures.
Women were peculiarly susceptible to the influence of doctrines whose very essence is gentleness and love. Among the Jews, the number of believing womenhad been greater than converted men; the same was true of the Romans; and it is an undoubted fact that most nations were brought into Christianity by the influence of a believing queen. By such means the light of the Gospel gradually spread through France, England, part of Germany, Bavaria, Hungary, Bohemia, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia.
The northern nations bore a general resemblance to each other. War and hunting were considered the only honorable occupations for men, and all other employments were left to women and slaves. Even the Visigoths, on the coasts of Spain, left their fields and flocks to the care of women. They had annual meetings, in which those who had shown most skill and industry in agriculture, received public applause. They were bound by law not to give a wife more than the tenth part of their substance.
The Scandinavian women often accompanied the men in plundering excursions, and had all the drudgery to perform. The wives of the ancient Franks were inseparable from their husbands. They lived with them in the camp, where the marriages of their daughters were celebrated by the soldiers, with Scythian, and other warlike dances. A man was allowed but one wife, and was rigorously punished if he left her to marry another.
They could put their wives to death for infidelity; and if they happened to kill them without justifiable cause, in a moment of anger, the law punished them only by a temporary prohibition to bear arms.
The ancient German women could not inherit the estates of their fathers; but by subsequent laws they were permitted to succeed after males of the same degree of kindred.
Women of the northern nations rarely ate and drank with their husbands, but waited upon them at their meals, and afterward shared what was left, with the children. This custom could not have originated in the habit of regarding women as inferior beings; for the whole history of the north proves the existence of an entirely opposite sentiment. It was probably owing, in part, to the circumstance that women were too busy in cooking the food, to wish to eat at the same time with the men; and partly, perhaps, to the fact that these feasts were generally drunken carousals.
The eastern nations imagine the joys of heaven to consist principally in voluptuous love; but northern tribes seem to have believed that they chiefly consisted in drinking. In the Koran, the dying hero is assured that a troop ofhouries, beautiful as the day, will welcome him with kisses, and lead him to fragrant bowers; but according to the Edda,[2]a crowd of lovely maidens wait on heroes in the halls of Odin, to fill their cups as fast as they can empty them.