Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Why we picked this topic:

We picked this topic because in almost every era there has been laws that gave women very few rights. So we decided to do the topic because we wanted to find out if women had rights in Rome. We also wanted to find out what role they played in daily life. Women play an important role in society so we wanted to find out if women were equal to men in Ancient Rome.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

What role did women play in ancient Rome?

What we thought:

We think that the women in ancient Rome usually did all the houses chores and brought up the children. We think that the work that women did was the work we do everyday such as cook, do laundry, clean the house, etc. We think this was important because men were usually at work most of the day and there had to be someone that had to stay back to look after the children.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Role of Women (Website Source):


Women in ancient Rome were married by 12 years old. Some of them were even younger when they got married. In Rome while the women were raising the children they had to teach their kids Roman culture. When the boys were old enough the mother would invest her money and time to "advance their political career." The girls would receive training because they would have to one day teach their own children the Roman Culture.

Even though it seems that women had no rights, they still had their own personal freedom. Although thinking about it they didn't have enough freedom. They were constantly under supervision. For Roman Women drinking wine was forbidden so the males would often kiss them on the lips to see if they drank wine or not. When the women were named they were named in a way that when you hear the name you would be able to tell who their father was.

Women were considered citizens of the society but didn't have the right to vote. Women that were lower class had to work but the upper class women had to stay home.

Since bathing " was a recreational activity enjoyed by all ages, sexes, and social class," women would allowed to regularly attend public baths. Women were allowed to attend some events, like "Ambarualia, Lupercalia, and amphitheater events such as gladiator matches."

Source: http://www.moyak.com/researcher/resume/papers/roman_women.html

Sunday, November 30, 2008

In the Internet Source we found:

Women were an important part in Roman society. Women were basically the house wives of the Roman society. Overall, the only places women went to were Amphitheater events like gladiator mathces and the other place that most women went to were public baths. Other then that they stayed at home. If there was only one bath the women would use the bath in the morning and the men would use it in the afternoon. Overall, the women and the men couldn't use the bath together at once. Basically, women had freedom but we think that they didn't have enough.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

In the second internet source we found:

Roman women were always under auythority of someone all their life. As a child they were under the authority of their fathers, then as they grow up they were under authority of their husbands and so on. Never in Rome were women allowed to run in elections or vote for a leader of Rome. For some time the women weren't even able to give advice or suggestions. Women in Rome had better conditions than the women in Athens and none of the women in Rome wanted to work because work was like a job for slaves in Ancient Rome.

Internet Source #2: http://www.womenintheancientworld.com/women_in_ancient_rome.htm
Role of Women (Book Source):

Men and women had the same oppertunity to go to school. This only happened if their parents were able to afford the schooling. Women however had to stop school at the age of eleven. If they decided to they were able to continue school, they could stay at home with a private tutor. If they were not able to continue their schooling they usually began to prepare for marriage. Women usually began to marry off at the age of fourteen.

Women in ancient Rome didnt have the same rights as men did, even though they were considered citizens. Men saw them selves in a higher position because they recieved more schooling. But in time women began to gain more rights. They were able to have their own property, get a divorce is she chose to, and become more men's partners than their servents. Unlike other ancient civilizations Romen women were able to go to parties, and other functions with their husbands.


Women even became roles that were only played by men. They became doctors, writers, business owners, and even gladiators. Even though women were able to gain some power, they were still not able to vote.

Sources: The Ancient Romans By: Kathryn Hinds and Life In Ancient Rome By: Don Nardo

Friday, November 28, 2008

In The Book We Found:

In the books we found out what women were able to do. We found out that women were able to do much more than other ancient civilizations. We discovered that women had the power to be a doctor, writer, business owner, have their own property, and get a divorce if they chose to. Even though they had the power to do all of this they still weren't able to vote. Even though they couldn't vote they still accomplished alot because a few years before they had the power to do all of this they were seen in an lower position as a man because they recieved less schooling.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Our Conclusion:

In the end we discovered that we were kind of wrong with our guess. We thought that women only stayed home with the children, and took care of the household. After research we discovered that women had the power to do much more. They had much more freedom than the other ancient civilizations. Eventhough they recieved less schooling, and wasnt able to vote they were show men that they could do alot more. Women were able to go to many events and had more freedom than we thought but after thinking about it we don't think the women had enough freedom.