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WOMAN

VOLUME II

In All Ages and in All Countries

ROMAN WOMEN

by

Rev. ALFRED BRITTAIN







Philadelphia
George Barrie & Sons, Publishers

Copyright, 1907 by George Barrie & Sons
Entered at Stationers' Hall, London




[Illustration 1:
TULLIA, DAUGHTER OF SERVIUS
_After the painting by E. Hildebrand_

_We have had the good queen, now we encounter the
bad..... Tullia was of that type of which Shakespeare
has given a picture in Lady Macbeth.....
Lucius, her husband, with an armed band, repaired  to the
Senate and seated himself on the throne. King Servius
appeared, but no one thought it worth while to hinder
Lucius from throwing the aged ruler down the steps of
the Senate house; which me manfully did.

Tullia was the instigator of this_ coup d'etat; _and
impatient to learn its success, drove to the Forum, and,
calling her husband from the Senate chamber, was the
first to hail him as king. But Lucius commanded her
to return home; and the tradition runs that as she was
going thither her chariot wheels passed over the dead
body of her royal father._]




PREFACE

The student of history does not proceed far in his researches before he
discovers that human nature is a fixed quality. Other lands, other
manners; other times, other customs. But the man behind the manner is
essentially the same; the woman under the changed custom is not thereby
rendered essentially different, any more than she is by a varying of
costume. The women of ancient Rome exemplified the same virtues, and
were impelled by the same foibles as are the women of to-day. And the
difference in environment, the vanished conditions of Roman life, gain
large scientific interest from the fact that they did not result in any
dissimilarity of fundamental character. If, by the most violent exercise
of the imagination, it were possible to transport a female infant of the
twentieth century, and cause her to be reared among the women of the
Augustan age, she would fit as naturally into her surroundings as she
would into the present society of London or of New York. Her legal
status would be different; her moral conceptions would be unlike those
of the present age; her duties, pleasures, privileges, and limitations
would combine to make the accidents of life very different. But
underneath all this, the same humanity, the same femininity, the same
habits of mind are revealed. Herein is the chief use of history--above
that of gratifying natural curiosity--the ascertaining how human nature
will comport itself under varying conditions. The author hopes that the
following pages, wherein the Roman woman is taken as an illustration,
will be found of use to the student of the science of humanity, and not
uninteresting to the reader inquisitive as to the manner of the ancient
civilization.

                                                      ALFRED BRITTAIN.




I

THE WOMAN OF LEGENDARY ROME

The conditions which governed the life of woman in the earliest days of
Roman history are too far removed from the searchlight of historical
investigation for us to essay to indicate them with any degree of
fulness and accuracy of detail. While it is true that the ancient
writers have bequeathed to us records of historic events from the very
founding of their nation, the source of their information is very
questionable and its authenticity extremely doubtful. Rome did not
cultivate literature until very late in her history; she was too greatly
preoccupied in her role of conquering the world. At a time when every
Greek was acquainted with the noblest poetry produced by his gifted
race, Rome had not produced a single writer whose name has been
preserved. And if at that time she had possessed any men of letters, it
is quite certain that there were few of her citizens who would have been
able to read their works. Hence, when the first attempt was made to
write her history, the authors depended principally for their material
on traditions and legends which, as is the case with all such lore, had
gained greatly in marvellousness at the expense of historical value. In
addition to these sources, it is probable that during the early
centuries annals were kept of the principal happenings in the State.
According to Cicero, they were written at the end of each year by the
high priest. These records were used by the first historians; and it is
likely that the latter were