Mundus Mulieris: A Number Of Issues Related To The Position Of Women In Rome

Abstract

Women in Rome always took a back seat to the men; in fact and law, the woman was subordinate to her husband, or pater; she was subject to perpetual tutelage and had no political rights. The fact that right from the beginning, the roman family was not based on blood ties but rather on the common bond of being subject to the authority of a pater familias determined the place of women both in the family and within society. However, this element of potestas which kept the agnatic family together and meant that it was regarded as such, evolved alongside the changes in the way in which the family was understood and therefore, affected the legal status of those subject to the power of the pater, specifically, that of women. Indeed, over the course of the roman Republic, particularly towards the end, this situation of total incapacity of women began to crumble due, to a great extent, to the economic position of some of them and to their social status. Thus, by way of praxis, roman women gradually gained access to a certain level of autonomy.