discuss about the gender , literacy and culture of roman society
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Answer:
Gender Roles in Roman Empire .
1.One of the more modern features of Roman society was the widespreadprevalence of the nuclear family. Adult sons did not live with theirfamilies, and it was exceptional for adult brothers to share a commonhousehold. On the other hand, slaves were included in the family.
2.The typical form of marriage was one where the wife did nottransfer to her husband’s authority but retained full rights in theproperty of her father’s family. While the woman’s dowry went to thehusband for the duration of the marriage, the woman remained aprimary heir of her father and became an independent property owneron her father’s death.
3.Marriageswere generally arranged, and there is no doubt that women were oftensubject to domination by their husbands.Whereas males married intheir late twenties or early thirties, women were married off in the lateteens or early twenties, so there was an age gap between husband andwife and this would have encouraged a certain inequality.
4.Divorce was relatively easy andneeded no more than a notice of intent to dissolve the marriage byeither husband or wife. On the other hand,Augustine, the great Catholicbishop, tells us that hismother was regularly beaten by his father and that most other wivesin the small town where he grew up had similar bruises to show!
5. Finally, fathers had substantial legal control over their children –sometimes to a shocking degree, for example, a legal power of life anddeath in exposing unwanted childr1.It is certain that rates of casual literacy variedgreatly between different parts of the empire. For example, in Pompeii,which was buried in a volcanic eruption in 79 CE, there is strong evidenceof widespread casual literacy.
2. Walls on the main streets of Pompeiioften carried advertisements, and graffiti were found all over the city.
3. By contrast, in Egypt where hundreds of papyri survive, most formaldocuments such as contracts were usually written by professionalscribes, and they often tell us that X or Y is unable to read and write.
4.But even here literacy was certainly more widespread among certaincategories such as soldiers, army officers and estate managers.
5.Plurality of languages that were spoken in Roman Empire. They were Aramaic, Coptic,Punic, Berber and Celtic. Butmany of these linguistic cultures were purely oral, atleast until a script was invented for them. Among the above mentioned languages Armenianbegan to be written as late as the fifth century.