Grubbs J.E.. Women and the Law in the Roman Empire. Routledge,2002. — 374 p.. 2002

It is widely recognized that Roman law is an important source of information about women in the Roman world, and can present a more rounded and accurate picture than literary sources. This sourcebook exploits fully the rich legal material of the imperial period — from Augustus (31 BCE—14 CE) to the end of the western Roman Empire (476 CE), incorporating both pagan and Christian eras, and explaining the rights women held under Roman law, the restrictions to which they were subject, and legal regulations on marriage, divorce and widowhood. The main focus is on the major legal texts (the Digest, the Institutes of Gaius, the Code of Justinian, the Theodosian Code), but a significant number of non-legal documentary sources are included. These are particularly important as they illustrate how the law worked in practice, and how this practice (particularly in the provinces) could differ from the letter of the law. Accessible English translations are enhanced by clear, concise background material, which includes useful explanation of historical and geographical context, and a helpful glossary of Roman legal and administrative terms adds to the volume. Comprehensive and user-friendly, this will be a core text for students and an essential reference guide for more advanced scholars.

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CONTENTS

PREFACE

A sourcebook on women and the law in the Roman Empire: marriage, divorce, and widowhood

ABBREVIATIONS

GLOSSARY OF LATIN LEGAL TERMS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

Historical and legal background

The legal sources

A The sources of classical law

B Sources of late Roman law

Roman social structure and the legal system

III Timetable of important events and laws

THE STATUS OF WOMENIN ROMAN LAW

Definitions

A Gender and inclusiveness

A Patria potestas (“paternalpower”)

B Manus (marital subordination)

C Tutela impuberum (guardianship of minors)

A Legal sources on tutela mulierum

Lex Irnitana 28—9 Irni (Spain), c.80—90

B Tutela mulierum in non-legal sources

Apuleius, Apologia 101.4-5, 158/9 C.E.

C The guardianship of women in the Roman East

D The ius liberorum

E Tutela mulierum in late antiquity

Legal stereotypes of women’s abilities and behavior

The Romans, like the Greeks before them, held many traditional ideas about women's behavior and the role women should play in society.

A Legal assistance for -women

B Women’s modesty and the need for protection

C“Womanly weakness”

D The senatusconsultumVelleianum

Women in court: restrictions and rights

Under Roman law women were able to lay charges and appear in court, but there were restrictions on the circumstances in which they could act both in civil and criminal law.

A Restrictions on women's right to act legally

B Right to act legally on behalf of oneself or ones family

C A sister seeks to avenge her brother’s murder

D Women as defendants or witnesses

Women in public life: restrictions and responsibilities

At no time in Roman history could women themselves serve as senators or hold political magistracies on the imperial, provincial or local level.141

A The importance of status

B Prohibitions on holding public office

C Wealthy women and munera

MARRIAGE IN ROMAN LAW AND SOCIETY

Marriage and its consequences in classical Roman law

Marriage was one of the fundamental institutions of Roman society, as it joined not only two individuals but two families.

A The purpose and nature of marriage

B The Augustan marriage legislation

C Preliminaries to marriage: age, betrothal, and consent

D Dowry

Marriage and its consequences in late Roman law

In the fourth and fifth centuries, Roman marriage law takes on quite a different appearance from the “classical” law of the first three centuries.

A Repeal of the Augustan penalties on celibacy

B Paternal power and consent to marriage

C Pre-nuptial gifts, arrhae sponsaliciae, and dowry

Marriage contracts from Egypt and the Near East

Roman law did not require documentation to make a marriage valid, though often contracts were drawn up stating the terms of the dowry [see Part I.D].

A Marriage contracts from Roman Egypt

B Marriage agreement from the “Cave of Letters”

C Marriage contract from Dura Europos

PROHIBITED AND NON-LEGAL UNIONS

Prohibited and non-marital unions in classical law

The main criteria for a valid marriage in Roman law were the consent of both parties (and the paterfamilias of each) and the absence of any legal prohibitions on marriage between the two people involved [see Chapter 2, Part I.A.2]. In both the classical and late antique periods, the major prohibitions on marriage derived from kinship and status.

A Prohibitions based on kinship

B Non-marital unions based on social status

C Other prohibitions

Prohibited and non-marital unions in late antiquity

Late Roman law, like classical law, denied legal validity to some unions.

A Prohibitions based on kinship

B Prohibitions based on status

C Forced marriages

D Other prohibitions

DIVORCE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

I Divorce in classical law

Classical Rome had a very liberal divorce policy (as did Greco-Roman Egypt; see Part III). By the first century B.C.E., women who were not married with manus [see Chapter 1, Part II.B.] had the right to divorce their husbands unilaterally, and eventually the same right was enjoyed by women married with manus.