Read Online A History of the Wife by Marilyn Yalom - Free Book Online
Authors: Marilyn Yalom
Tags: Family & Relationships, Social Science, History, womens studies, Marriage, Marriage & Long Term Relationships, Civilization
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married for some thirty years. Although his wife Terentia had been very generous to him by lending him money from her personal fortune to finance his elec- toral campaigns and had been very dear to him when he was in politi- cal exile, he later decided to leave her because he felt she was no longer providing adequately for him, nor for their daughter, Tullia. 31 But Ter- entia had another view of the matter: Cicero left her for a younger, richer woman. According to Plutarch, Cicero married his pupil because “the young woman was very rich . . . he was persuaded by friends and relations to marry her, notwithstanding his disparity of age, and to use her money to satisfy his creditors.” This second marriage was destined to be short-lived. When Cicero’s daughter, Tullia (who had been mar- ried three times), died in childbirth, he divorced his second wife because she did not show sufficient grief at his daughter’s death. Cicero’s expedient treatment of his two wives is indicative of the ease with which men could initiate and obtain divorce, without public condem- nation. At this period of Roman history, women also began to have access to divorce, as long as they had their father’s approval.
Adultery, too, during the late republic and early empire seems to have been on the rise for members of the ruling class. Some married women became as famous for their affairs as other Roman wives for their virtue. Clodia, the wife of the consul Metellus, was known to have had many lovers, including Catullus, who called her Lesbia in his poems. The emperor Augustus’s daughter Julia was exceptionally flam- boyant in her affairs, so much so that Augustus felt compelled to banish her to an island. Four of her lovers were sent into exile and the fifth was executed.
Attempts to correct this moral laxity were codified in 18 B . C . E . in the
Lex Julia promulgated by the emperor Augustus. Henceforth, a hus-
band was required to prosecute an adulterous wife within sixty days of his discovery of the act. The law took a different view of what was appropriate action for an injured wife, since it explicitly stated “that wives have no right to bring criminal accusations for adultery against their husbands, even though they may desire to complain of the viola- tion of the marriage vow, for while the law grants this privilege to men it does not concede it to women.” 32 When a wife was convicted of adul- tery, the husband was required to divorce her, and she had to forfeit half her dowry and a third of her property, and be banished to an island. Pliny the Younger, obliged to officiate at a divorce trial under this law, gives us an eyewitness account of the proceedings:
The case heard on the following day was that of Gallitta, charged with adultery. She was the wife of a military tribune who was just about to stand for civil office, and had brought disgrace on her own and her husband’s position by an affair with a centurion. Her husband had reported it to the governor, and he had informed the Emperor. After sift- ing the evidence the Emperor cashiered the centurion and banished him. There still remained the second half of the sentence . . . but here the husband held back out of affection for his wife and was censured for condoning her conduct. Even after he had reported his wife’s adultery he had kept her in his house, apparently satisfied once he had got rid of his rival. When summoned to complete his accusation he did so with reluctance. . . . She was duly found guilty and sentenced under the Julian law. 33
The way that class and gender issues play out in this case is quite striking. In the first place, the husband and wife are of senatorian rank and the centurion is not, which makes the affair a “disgrace” on the social level—an insult to the husband’s superior position. The centu- rion is easily disposed of. Once his rival was out of the way, the hus- band would have been content to take his wife back, but the law said
Adultery, too, during the late republic and early empire seems to have been on the rise for members of the ruling class. Some married women became as famous for their affairs as other Roman wives for their virtue. Clodia, the wife of the consul Metellus, was known to have had many lovers, including Catullus, who called her Lesbia in his poems. The emperor Augustus’s daughter Julia was exceptionally flam- boyant in her affairs, so much so that Augustus felt compelled to banish her to an island. Four of her lovers were sent into exile and the fifth was executed.
Attempts to correct this moral laxity were codified in 18 B . C . E . in the
Lex Julia promulgated by the emperor Augustus. Henceforth, a hus-
band was required to prosecute an adulterous wife within sixty days of his discovery of the act. The law took a different view of what was appropriate action for an injured wife, since it explicitly stated “that wives have no right to bring criminal accusations for adultery against their husbands, even though they may desire to complain of the viola- tion of the marriage vow, for while the law grants this privilege to men it does not concede it to women.” 32 When a wife was convicted of adul- tery, the husband was required to divorce her, and she had to forfeit half her dowry and a third of her property, and be banished to an island. Pliny the Younger, obliged to officiate at a divorce trial under this law, gives us an eyewitness account of the proceedings:
The case heard on the following day was that of Gallitta, charged with adultery. She was the wife of a military tribune who was just about to stand for civil office, and had brought disgrace on her own and her husband’s position by an affair with a centurion. Her husband had reported it to the governor, and he had informed the Emperor. After sift- ing the evidence the Emperor cashiered the centurion and banished him. There still remained the second half of the sentence . . . but here the husband held back out of affection for his wife and was censured for condoning her conduct. Even after he had reported his wife’s adultery he had kept her in his house, apparently satisfied once he had got rid of his rival. When summoned to complete his accusation he did so with reluctance. . . . She was duly found guilty and sentenced under the Julian law. 33
The way that class and gender issues play out in this case is quite striking. In the first place, the husband and wife are of senatorian rank and the centurion is not, which makes the affair a “disgrace” on the social level—an insult to the husband’s superior position. The centu- rion is easily disposed of. Once his rival was out of the way, the hus- band would have been content to take his wife back, but the law said
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