[482] Germania, c. 18.
[483] Ib., c. 19.
[484] Iliad, ix, 128.
[485] Il., ix, 663.
[486] The following condensed statement, taken from Charicles (Excursus, xii, Longman’s ed., Metcalfe’s trans.), contains the material facts illustrative of the subject. After expressing the opinion that the women of Homer occupied a more honorable position in the household than the women of the historical period, he makes the following statements with respect to the condition of women, particularly at Athens and Sparta, during the high period of Grecian culture. He observes that the only excellence of which a woman was thought capable differed but little from that of a faithful slave (p. 464); that her utter want of independence led to her being considered a minor all her life long; that there were neither educational institutions for girls, nor any private teachers at home, their whole instruction being left to the mothers, and to nurses, and limited to spinning and weaving and other female avocations (p. 465); that they were almost entirely deprived of that most essential promoter of female culture, the society of the other sex; strangers as well as their nearest relatives being entirely excluded; even their fathers and husbands saw them but little, the men being more abroad than at home, and when at home inhabiting their own apartments; that the gynæconitis, though not exactly a prison, nor yet a locked harem, was still the confined abode allotted for life to the female portion of the household; that it was particularly the case with the maidens, who lived in the greatest seclusion until their marriage, and, so to speak, regularly under lock and key (p. 465); that it was unbecoming for a young wife to leave the house without her husband’s knowledge, and in fact she seldom quitted it; she was thus restricted to the society of her female slaves; and her husband, if he chose to exercise it, had the power of keeping her in confinement (p. 466); that at those festivals, from which men were excluded, the women had an opportunity of seeing something of each other, which they enjoyed all the more from their ordinary seclusion; that women found it difficult to go out of their houses from these special restrictions; that no respectable lady thought of going without the attendance of a female slave assigned to her for that purpose by her husband (p. 469); that this method of treatment had the effect of rendering the girls excessively bashful and even prudish, and that even a married woman shrunk back and blushed if she chanced to be seen at the window by a man (p. 471); that marriage in reference to the procreation of children was considered by the Greeks a necessity, enforced by their duty to the gods, to the state and to their ancestors; that until a very late period, at least, no higher consideration attached to matrimony, nor was strong attachment a frequent cause of marriage (p. 473); that whatever attachment existed sprang from the soil of sensuality, and none other than sensual love was acknowledged between man and wife (p. 473); that at Athens, and probably in the other Grecian states as well, the generation of children was considered the chief end of marriage, the choice of the bride seldom depending on previous, or at least intimate acquaintance; and more attention was paid to the position of the damsel’s family, and the amount of her dowry, than to her personal qualities; that such marriages were unfavorable to the existence of real affection, wherefore coldness, indifference, and discontent frequently prevailed (p. 477); that the husband and wife took their meals together, provided no other men were dining with the master of the house, for no woman who did not wish to be accounted a courtesan, would think even in her own house of participating in the symposia of the men, or of being present when her husband accidentally brought home a friend to dinner (p. 490); that the province of the wife was the management of the entire household, and the nurture of the children—of the boys until they were placed under a master, of the girls until their marriage; that the infidelity of the wife was judged most harshly; and while it might be supposed that the woman, from her strict seclusion, was generally precluded from transgressing, they very frequently found means of deceiving their husbands; that the law imposed the duty of continence in a very unequal manner, for while the husband required from the wife the strictest fidelity, and visited with severity any dereliction on her part, he allowed himself to have intercourse with hetæræ, which conduct, though not exactly approved, did not meet with any marked censure, and much less was it considered any violation of matrimonial rights (p. 494).
[487] Vit. Rom., c. 20.
[488] Quinctilian.
[489] With respect to the conjugal fidelity of Roman women, Becker remarks “that in the earlier times excesses on either side seldom occurred,” which must be set down as a mere conjecture; but “when morals began to deteriorate, we first meet with great lapses from this fidelity, and men and women outbid each other in wanton indulgence. The original modesty of the women became gradually more rare, while luxury and extravagance waxed stronger, and of many women it could be said, as Clitipho complained of his Bacchis (Ter., Heaut., ii, 1, 15), Mea est petax, procax, magnifica, sumptuosa, nobilis. Many Roman ladies, to compensate for the neglect of their husbands, had a lover of their own, who, under the pretense of being the procurator of the lady, accompanied her at all times. As a natural consequence of this, celibacy continually increased amongst the men, and there was the greatest levity respecting divorces”—Gallus, Excursus, i, p. 155, Longman’s ed., Metcalfe’s trans.
[490] Systems of Consanguinity, Table I, p. 79.
[491] Systems of Consanguinity, etc., p. 40.