CLASSIC 20 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Olive Oil, Sicyon, Social Policy
Document Summary
Roman women and marriage: not a choice but an obligation of almost all women a. i. It was imposed by society, religious beliefs, and their parents: only women who didn"t marry b. i. Could get married after 30 years of being a vestal b. ii. Independent women aka prostitutes: women were always under the legal control of a man c. i. Usually male relative or family friend was appointed when the father or previous legal guardian died c. ii. Patria potestas: absolute authority of a father that made it legal to kill a son, conspiracy of catiline b. i. A senator proudly boasted that he killed his own son because he participated in this conspiracy: first brutus kills his two sons who were plotting to restore the tarquins c. i. Vergil laments this choice: during augustus" reign, there was a law passed that frees sons from their fathers" authority.
