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Roman women had little legal independence, and virtually no political rights except by their status as a Roman citizen woman. Most Roman women mentioned by historians come from elite groups, with very rare exceptions such as a courtesan mentioned in the scandals of the Bacchanalia, and a few maidservants who exposed misdeeds (by elite women) in great families.

Women's individual identities even are often hard for a historian to disentangle as a look at the list below confirms. Due to this background position in the society, women referred by name in the ancient sources are scarce.

Ironically, early Roman society gave much honor (in theory) to their women, possibly as a result of treaties between the Romans and the Sabines and an emphasis on child-bearing. Women had no legal or political rights, but divorce was rare and men were expected to honor women (through their speech, their clothing etc). In practice, women were made legally and financially dependent on their husbands entirely after marriage which was made a holy rite and all but indissoluble.

The first recorded Roman divorce took place in 230 BC, when one Spurius Carvilius Ruga (possibly the former consul Spurius Carvilius Maximus Ruga) divorced his wife on grounds of infertility or sterility.[1]; however, the first Roman divorces probably took place around 604 BC or earlier, according to Valerius Maximus.(see note 1 below).

While divorce was all but impossible, and marriages for elite couples were held sacred, this did grant women certain security for themselves and their children, which was wanting in the days of the Middle to Late Republic.

Contents 1 Roman law 2 Roman Women in Private 3 Education of Women 4 Roman Women in Public 5 A listing of Roman women of note 5.1 Distinguished women of the Middle Republic 5.2 Distinguished women of the Late Republic 5.3 Distinguished women of the Julio-Claudian House 5.4 Distinguished women of the Roman Empire 6 External links 7 Notes

Under Roman law, marriages were of three kinds - sacred by the sharing of bread (conferrateo), by purchase (coemptio), and by mutual cohabitation (usus). Patricians always married conferrateo, while plebeians married by the latter two kinds. In the last type of marriage, a woman could absent herself from her husband's home for three successive nights to avoid his establishing legal control over her. Other types of marriage involved legal control (and ownership) of a woman and her dowry and inheritances passing from the father (or the pater familias, his lineal ancestor) to the husband (or his paterfamilias).^{[citation needed]}

Women were always held to be minors in Roman law. A married woman fell under the guardianship of her husband (or his pater familias); a widow or a fatherless girl fell under the guardianship of her nearest male agnate. Under the Twelve Tables, if a man died intestate, his property passed to his nearest male agnate, and if no such agnate lived, to his nearest clansmen. However, by will, until the lex Voconia (169 BC), a man could leave property to his widow and his daughters or his granddaughters.

Most women were given dowries when they married to enable them to marry well and to compensate for their loss of rights in their natal family. However, control of the dowry usually rested with the husband (or his pater familias), although in the Late Republic, many women were able to control their dowries and inheritances on their own.

The place of the matrona (a Roman woman) in the society was taking care of the family and household. She was under the protection of the pater familias (the master of the house), either the father or the husband. She was not entitled to have any public office or to participate in any political activities. Travel, even accompanied, was all but impossible.

In the early to middle years of the Republic, women were forbidden to leave (or discouraged from leaving) the house with their heads unveiled, to attend the games without the consent of their husbands, to speak privately to any slave or freedmen, to drink wine publicly or privately. (If they did, they could be punished or even be divorced).^{[citation needed]}

Women were not allowed to dine with their husbands; they dined alone or with other women or with their children. They attended their husbands and sons while the latter dined, but sat upright, never lying or reclining on couches. In the Late Republic, all these customs changed, although they continued to persist in more conservative families.

Women were expected to take care of the household, to spin wool and weave cloth (of wool or linen), to take care of the children, and to minister to the needs of the men in the family. In wealthier families, slaves took over the actual tasks, but women were still expected to supervise all chores.

Education of women began around 200 BC, possibly in the household of Scipio Africanus Major and his relatives. These more liberal Romans wanted their wives and daughters educated so that their moral fibre would be improved, they themselves would be better companions to their husbands, and most importantly, so that they could better supervise the education and upbringing of their children. One of the reasons that Tiberius Gracchus Major chose to marry the much younger Cornelia was that he wanted an educated wife. Within a century, the education of elite Roman women was the norm. Education meant literacy, presumably numeracy, knowledge of both Greek and Latin, and reading of the classics in both languages, and also history. Girls were educated along with boys in some households, but their lessons tended to differ as they grew older.^{[citation needed]}

Some women (i.e. the Vestal Virgins) were able to gain respect and honor as priestesses. The primary task of the Vestal Virgins was to maintain the sacred fire of Vesta; priestesses' presence was considered necessary in certain rituals. Wealthier women could also gain respect by funding these ceremonies. (See Mary Lefkowitz's article, "A Woman's Place Was in the Temple", Wilson Quarterly, Winter '93).

Roman women kept out of the public sphere until 195 BC when women revolted against proposals to retain laws against luxuries which prevented them from wearing gold or silver or expensive clothing, or from riding in chariots or in expensive litters. These laws had been passed in 215 BC in the aftermath of Cannae, but they were no longer felt necessary. Cato the Censor chided Roman women for speaking out and congregating in public, and for their aggressiveness in what should have been left to their menfolk to decide or represent in public. Nevertheless, the laws were abolished and the women triumphant. (His opposition did not hurt Cato's political career). Much later, Roman women, led by Hortensia, would successfully protest against laws designed to tax Roman women in an early version of "No Taxation Without Representation". In both cases, elite women mingled with women from the lower classes in joint protests.^{[citation needed]}

Other women like Livia Drusilla, (58 BC-AD 29), Augusta (honorific), was the wife of Caesar Augustus and the most powerful woman in the early Roman empire, acting several times as regent and being Augustus' faithful advisor. Several women of the Imperial family, notably Agrippina the Younger, gained political influence as well as public prominence.

Most Roman women known to us were living in the Late Republic or in Imperial Rome, partly because Roman women living in the Early to Middle Republic had little political power, virtually no legal independence (except as Vestal Virgins or in other rare cases), and were absent in official histories. However, many role models, such as Lucretia, Aemilia Paulla, and Cornelia Africana available to Roman women lived in or were born in the Early to Middle Republic.

The list below includes women who were notable for their family connections, or their sons or husbands, or their own actions. In the earlier periods, women came to the attention of (later) historians either as poisoners of their husbands (a very few cases), or as wives, daughters, and mothers of great men such as Scipio Africanus. In later periods, women exercised or tried to exercise political power either through their husbands (as did Fulvia and Livia Drusilla) or political intrigues (as did Clodia and Servilia Caepionis), or directly (as did [[[Agrippina the younger]] and later Roman empresses).

• Aemilia Paulla (3rd century BC-2nd century BC), wife of Scipio Africanus Major and mother of Cornelia Africana (see below), noted for the unusual freedom given her by her husband, her enjoyment of luxuries, and her influence as role model for elite Roman women after the Second Punic War. Her date of birth, marriage, and death are all unknown (but then so are those for her illustrious husband whose birth and death dates are approximated!).
• Cornelia Africana (2nd century BC), mother of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus; virtually deified by Roman women as a model of feminine virtues and Stoicism, but never officially deified. The first Roman woman, whose approximate birth year and whose year of death is known, thanks to a law she had passed to allow her granddaughter to inherit.
• Licinia, the name of the women of the gens Licinius. Notable members include
  • Licinia, a woman killed by her relatives in 142 BC for murdering her husband;
• Mucia, the name of the women of the gens Mucius.
  • Licia, a woman killed by her relatives in 142 BC for murdering her husband. Both Licinia and Mucia appealed for a trial, and before they could come to trial, they were tried by their relatives and executed. This was a major scandal in the censorship of Lucius Mummius Achaius and Scipio Aemilianus.
• Pomponia (mother of Scipio) (2nd century BC), daughter, niece, wife, and mother of consuls; born a plebeian noblewoman but married to a patrician. Mother of Scipio Africanus Major and Scipio Asiaticus. She was reportedly very religious and devout, but nothing else is known of her including the year of her marriage or death.
• Publilia (1st century BC), the name of a woman of the gens Publilius. She was killed in 154 BC for poisoning her husband, the consul of the preceding year.

• Aemilia Lepida (1st century BC), wife of Metellus Scipio, daughter of Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus Livianus, Princeps Senatus (and son-in-law of Sulla, by his second marriage); unrequited love of Cato the Younger who was her first cousin. She was mother of Cornelia Metella (below).
• Aemilia Scaura (1st century BC), second wife of Pompey and stepdaughter of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the dictator; she had little influence on either man or on history.
• Atia (1st century BC), mother of Augustus Caesar, and niece of Julius Caesar, noted for her domestic virtues and her strict but affectionate upbringing of her two children. (Nothing like her portrayal in HBO's Rome!).
• Aurelia Cotta (about 124 BC - 54 BC), mother of Julius Caesar (last century BC); reputedly noted for her beauty and her strict upbringing of the future statesman and general.
• Caecilia Metella, the women of the Caecilius Metellus family
  • Caecilia Metella Calva (2nd century BC), daughter, niece, sister and mother of consuls; notorious for her promiscuity for which she was divorced. One of the first such cases in Late Republican Rome.
  • Caecilia Metella Dalmatica (1st century BC), third or fourth wife of Sulla, daughter and niece of consuls, wife of a Princeps Senatus and then of a Dictator of Rome. Possessed of great wealth in her own right. Her tomb or mausoleum is still extant, albeit in ruins.
  • Caecilia Metella Celer, daughter of Clodia (see below) by her second husband Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer; known for her scandalous affair with Publius Cornelius Dolabella then son-in-law of Cicero.
• Calpurnia Pisonis (1st century BC), third wife and then widow of Julius Caesar
• Cornelia Cinna, or Cinnilla (1st century BC), first wife of Julius Caesar and mother of his only legitimate child.
• Clodia, a sister of Publius Clodius Pulcher, infamous for her lack of morals, and reputed to have murdered her husband (her own cousin). Possibly the first patrician woman to have got herself adopted by a plebeian, for reasons unknown.
• Cornelia Metella (1st century BC), fifth wife of Pompey and descendant of Aemilia Paulla (above); notable after her second husband's death, for her devotion to his memory.
• Cornelia Sulla (1st century BC), daughter of Dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla, first cousin to Julius Caesar and mother of Pompeia Sulla; she served as hostess to her father for some time and was mother of Pompeia Sulla (below) and thus ancestress of Scribonia, her daughter Julia the Elder and the women of the Imperial family.
• Fulvia (1st century BC), wife of Publius Clodius Pulcher, Gaius Scribonius Curio The Younger, and Mark Antony; a descendant of Aemilia Paulla and Cornelia Africana with none of their virtues save fecundity.
• Hortensia, notable orator; daughter of a consul and sister-in-law of Servilia Caepionis Major, who led Roman women in their protest against taxation of incomes of widowed and unmarried or working married Roman women.
• Julia Antonia (1st century BC), mother of Mark Antony and relative of Julius Caesar
• Julia Caesaris, the women of the Julii Caesares family
  • Julia (aunt of Caesar and wife of Marius)
  • Julia (daughter of Julius Caesar) (1st century BC), wife of Pompey.
  • Juliae Caesares (sisters of Julius Caesar)
• Licinia, the name of the women of the gens Licinia. Notable members include
  • Licinia Gracchi (2nd century BC), the wife of Gaius Sempronius Gracchus; and
  • Licinia (2nd century BC-1st century BC), the wife of Quintus Mucius Scaevola (and mother of Mucia Tertia) who was noted for her beauty and her adultery with another consul who divorced his wife to marry her.
• Mucia Tertia (1st century BC), wife of Pompey and mother of his children. Notable for her beauty, her (forced) remarriage by Sulla to the young Pompey, and her later divorce on charges of adultery.
• Octavia, the women of the Octavii family. Of them,
  • Octavia Thurina Minor (1st century BC), full sister of Augustus was the most famous.
• Pompeia, the name of women of the gens Pompeius. Of them, the most famous was
  • Pompeia Sulla (1st century BC), granddaughter of the Dictator Sulla and second wife of Julius Caesar; mother of Scribonia and grandmother of Julia the Elder. Renowned for her beauty and her lack of intelligence (or common sense). The wife who was divorced because "Caesar's wife must be above suspicion."
• Porcia, the name of women of the gens Porcius, often related to Cato the Censor and his great-grandson Cato the Younger
  • Porcia Catonis (1st century BC), second wife of Marcus Junius Brutus, daughter of Cato the Younger, and an ardent Republican.
• Servilia, the name of women of the gens Servilius. Of them the most famous were two sisters
  • Servilia Caepionis Major (1st century BC), mistress of Julius Caesar, mother of Brutus and half-sister of Cato the Younger whom she despised, mother-in-law of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus the triumvir, the consul Publius Servilius Vatia, and Gaius Cassius Longinus (another of Caesar's assassins); notoriously haughty and wealthy patrician noblewoman. Divorced by her second husband for adultery, after her affair with Caesar was exposed inadvertently in the Senate. Notably adept at political intrigue, and kept her great wealth intact for herself and her youngest daughter (widow of Cassius and possibly Caesar's daughter) in the reign of Augustus.
  • Servilia Caepionis Minor was the second wife of the general Lucius Licinius Lucullus, epicure, bon vivant, debauchee, and also conqueror of Mithridates the Great and Tigran of Armenia in the Third Pontic War. She was divorced for adultery, but bore her husband one son.
• Terentia, wife of Cicero, noted for her independence, her wealth and her freedom in choosing her husband. Like Fulvia (above), she was an heiress.
• Tullia, daughter of Cicero and Terentia, whose death was mourned by her father.
• Turia, an otherwise unknown Roman woman, whose real name is not known, but whose [tomb inscription (an elegy by her widower) has been studied at length by modern scholars. She was held up as an ideal univira (a Roman woman who had been married only once), like the more illustrious Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi and the younger Antonia Minor below).[2] Turia had no children, but her husband refused to divorce her.

• Agrippina Major (1st century), wife of Germanicus, granddaughter of Augustus Caesar, mother of emperor Caligula and Agrippina the Younger (below)
• Agrippina Minor (1st century), wife of emperor Claudius, mother of emperor Nero; held up as an bad example.
• Antonia Major (1st century BC), grandmother of Emperor Nero
• Antonia Minor (1st century BC-1st century AD), mother of Emperor Claudius and Germanicus, favorite niece of Augustus Caesar, considered a role model for women in the Roman Empire after she refused to remarry and spent the rest of her life raising her children and grandchildren.
• Claudia Julia (1st century),
• Claudia Pulchra, wife of Varus
• Claudia Marcella, nieces of Caesar Augustus
• Domitia Lepida Major - aunt of Emperor Nero
• Domitia Lepida - sister of the following, Mother of the Empress Valeria Messalina
• Domitia Longina - wife of Emperor Domitian
• Domitia Lucilla - mother of Emperor Marcus Aurelius
• Domitia Paulina - female relatives of Emperor Hadrian
• Julia the Elder, daughter of Augustus
• Livia Drusilla (1st century BC), wife of Tiberius Claudius Nero, and then of Augustus Caesar. The first woman to be officially deified.
• Livilla (1st century), granddaughter of Livia
• Messalina, Emperor Claudius' wife, notorious for her promiscuity.
• Plautia Urgulanilla, Emperor Claudius' first wife
• Scribonia, second wife of Augustus and mother of his only legitimate child (whom she apparently ignored until her exile).
• Vipsania first wife of Tiberius and the only one he loved.
• Vipsania Julia, Granddaughter of Augustus

• Clodia (1st century BC), Catullus's Lesbia
• Domitia Decidiana - wife of Roman General Gnaeus Julius Agricola and mother-in-law to historian Tacitus.
• Galla Placidia, (5th century)
• Julia Domna (3rd century), wife of Septimius Severus
• Julia Maesa (3rd century), grandmother of Elagabalus and Alexander Severus
• Pomponia Graecina, possibly the saint Lucina, a descendant of Vipsania (above)
• Saint Procula wife of Pontius Pilate

• FEMINAE ROMANAE: The Women of Ancient Rome (2001-2006). An excellent site discussing women of all walks of life.
• Dr. Susan Martin, Private Lives and Public Personae, 1997.
• WomenintheAncientWorld.com (2005).

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1. Timing the first Roman divorce
Dionysius of Halicarnassus in Antiquitates Romanae, 2.25 (written ca. 7 B.C.E.) wrote that "in the one hundred and thirty-seventh Olympiad, in the consulship of Marcus Pomponius [Matho] and Gaius Papirius [Maso, i.e. in 231-230 BC], Spurius Carvilius, a man of distinction, was the first to divorce his wife." The cause was her barrenness; however, this divorce did not make him popular among the people. It is ironic that this would be the first divorce (as Dionysus states, based on hearsay), since the Twelve Tables (450 BC) promulgated over two hundred years earlier did make provision for divorce. According to Dionysus, Spurius Carvilius was a man of distinction; other sources (without specific citations) claim that he was a freedman (i.e. a former slave).[3]. The Wikipedia entry on Spurius Carvilius suggests that the date given for this divorce is wrong; that the divorce probably took place well before the Twelve Tables legalized divorce, perhaps as early as 600 BC.

A Roman consul by the name of Spurius Carvilius Maximus Ruga served with Manius Pomponius Matho in 233 BC; it is possible that the historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus (writing more than 200 years later from hearsay accounts) confused the freedman Spurius Carvilius (living circa 600 BC?) with this man living in 233 BC.

Aulus Gellius in the Noctes Atticae (ca. 150 C.E.), 4.3.1 writes that "Spurius Carvilius, who was surnamed Ruga, a man of rank" [thus possibly the man who was consul] divorced his wife for barrenness in the "consulship of Marcus Atilius and Publius Valerius" (i.e. in the year 227 BC when Publius Valerius L.f. Flaccus and Marcus Atilius M.f. Regulus were consuls. However, in other accounts, Gellius varies the story in dating and is less certain of his sources. In all sources however, it is agreed that Spurius Carvilius divorced his wife for barrenness in the first recorded Roman divorce.[4] Valerius Maximus differs saying that one L. Annius divorced his wife (without consulting his friends) and was removed from the Senate by the censors in 307 BC. A modern writer suggest that divorces took place earlier, and were not properly regulated; hence the need to include a law on divorce in the Twelve Tables.[5]