On this subject Mr. Maine remarks:
I do not know how the operation and nature of the ancient Patria Potestas can be brought so vividly before the mind as by reflecting on the prerogatives attached to the husband by the pure English Common Law, and by recalling the rigorous consistency with which the view of a complete legal subjection on the part of the wife is carried by it, where it is untouched by equity or statutes, through every department of rights, duties, and remedies.[261]
Note.—As the position of women among the early German hordes was one of great dignity and respect, it may scarcely be argued that the sentiments embodied in the English Common Law relative to wives were in any degree the result of innate Teutonic prejudice against the female sex.
Note.—As the position of women among the early German hordes was one of great dignity and respect, it may scarcely be argued that the sentiments embodied in the English Common Law relative to wives were in any degree the result of innate Teutonic prejudice against the female sex.
Notwithstanding the efforts which for several centuries were put forth in Rome to secure to women that independence which under the earlier Roman law had been denied them, in the code of Justinian, which was compiled in the early part of the sixth century, no word respecting the remarkable degree of liberty which under the later Roman law was accorded to women appears; and but for the discovery of the manuscript of Gaius, to which reference has already been made, we would never have become acquainted with the changes which had been wrought in this particular branch of Roman jurisprudence. In the Justinian code, instead of the humane edicts of the later, or middle Roman law, appeared the Canon or ecclesiastical law, by means of which women were condemned to a state of servitude even more degrading than that which had been imposed on them by the older law.
Had mediæval scholasticism succeeded in concealing from the world the information contained in the manuscript of Gaius, still there would have remained sufficient evidence left to prove that in the second century of the present era woman’s freedom had been practically won. That women themselves were claiming absolute legal equality with men may not be doubted. Honoria, a Roman matron, first enunciated the principle: Taxation without representation is tyranny.[262] Cato’s celebrated oration in which he passionately exclaims: If you allow your women to be your equals how long will it be before they become your superiors?[263] shows that a certain type of men were becoming alarmed over the growing independence of women.
The freeing of women from the bondage entailed on them by the older Roman law, an achievement which had required more than three centuries to accomplish, was a triumph for civilization unparalleled during the historic period. That this triumph over tyranny was of short duration is shown in the sequel to this movement.
That the coming of Jesus at a time when the principles of justice and equality were becoming the recognized rule of life among the better class of Romans is not surprising. No one may study Greek philosophy without noting the similarity between it and the teachings of Christ. Justice, self-restraint, and regard for the rights and feelings of others, principles which when applied to Roman law had liberated women from the tyranny of the past, were also the principles taught by Jesus. It seems to have been the mission of the latter to convey these lofty doctrines to the multitude. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you was not however understood by the masses who knew no other rule of life than that of selfishness and ungoverned lust. Hence in process of time the new movement came to have no other effect than to add to the already established evils another quite as contemptible, namely—hypocrisy.
Among the earliest Christians theological disputes were unknown. Original sin and the doctrine of a vicarious atonement whereby a man is “saved” not from sin but from the penalty for sin were unheard of. To spread the simple principles enunciated by Jesus and by so doing to kindle into life the divine spark in man, seem to have constituted the object and aim of the earliest Christians. The activities necessary for the propagation of these principles were shared alike by both sexes. Women exhorted, prophesied, and prayed in the churches. They baptized their own sex. One of them wrote a gospel which, so long as woman’s influence continued, was in use among the Christians.
Such were the conditions when Paul, a Jew who had espoused the new religion, first appeared on the scene. An extant legend describes this man as small in stature and of ignoble bearing. According to this legend Paul was bald-headed and bow-legged. As to his intellectual ability we have the following Corinthians x., 10: “For his letters they were weighty and strong but his speech is of no account.” It is elsewhere recorded of him that “his speech was contemptible.” From what is known of this man Paul it is evident that he was domineering, self-sufficient, and aggressive. He quarrelled with Peter and was intolerant of the ideas of his associates. His forceful character, his untiring energy, his zeal for the cause which he had espoused and above all his capacity for organization soon gained for him the leadership of the new movement.
Nowhere is it recorded that during the earlier years of Paul’s Christian career he attempted to discourage, or curtail, the activities of women. On the contrary he refers to them as co-workers, acknowledges them as prophets, and praises their ministrations. In his writings, the name of Priscilla occurs many times. Phœbe, Claudia, Julia and others are regarded as worthy of mention by him. As his influence and power increased, however, his egoism began to assert itself. It is evident that Paul’s strong masculine nature could no longer tolerate a religion which might with some degree of consistency be regarded as a feminine movement. The old doctrine enunciated by Apollo during the reign of Cecrops namely that man is a divine emanation while woman is only human must be revived.