could own property, engage in business, and loan money.Still, some other things might surprise you. And, technically, their father held patria potestas, or ultimate life-and-death power, over them until they died. But I might rather be a woman in ancient Rome than, I don’t know, a 21st-century woman in some other countries in the world.įirst, the bad news: Ancient Roman women were citizens, but they couldn’t vote or hold political office. Let me make one thing clear: In no way would I rather be an ancient Roman woman than an American/Italian one (although, as a huge history nerd, making the trade for the chance to see the empire in its glory would be tempting…). The House of the Vestal Virgins in the Roman forum In fact, those who reached the age of 60 would, on average, die after their 70th birthdays. If you jumped through those hoops and survived your teens, 20s, and 30s, you’d have no reason to think you wouldn’t lead a nice, long life. If you did reach 10, you could expect to live into your 40s or 50s, at least. Then there’s all the Roman men who died in military service… and the women who died in childbirth. Meaning it factors in the ancient world’s very high child mortality rate: Up to half of all Roman kids died before the age of 10. Here’s the problem. Aside from the fact that the data is terrible, this 35-year life expectancy is the average. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this: “The life expectancy of the average Roman was 35.” What people, including many tour guides, usually draw from this is that 30- and 40-something Romans must have been very venerable indeed. Misconception #1: Ancient Romans had very short lives, and if you made it to 35, you were old Here are two that I find most irritating, and what the truth is behind them. Still, lots of other misconceptions are hanging around - and way harder to correct. These 4th-century Roman mosaics, located in the Villa Romana del Casale of Sicily, show women throwing a discus, running, even lifting weights – and may show an actual athletic competition WTF? That’s just f alse. Thankfully, I later became a contributor for Fodor’s… so it’s one error that was removed starting in the 2012 edition. My favorite myth about ancient Rome might be what I spotted in the Fodor’s Rome guidebook: The holes in the Colosseum come from the fact that it was shelled by Nazis. Over the years, I have heard a lot of misconceptions about ancient Rome (and ancient Romans).
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