To what extent did women enjoy political religious and social power in Essay

To what extent did women enjoy political religious and social power in archaic Rome - stress ExampleBecause layer upon layer of building has occurred in the bea in and around Rome, it is impossible to form a complete record from the archaeology, but as yet there is sufficient evidence to draw some conclusions roughly the way that people lived in Rome in this very early period. This paper focuses on the extent to which women in particular enjoyed power in archaic Rome, looking at political, religious and social dimensions of power in turn. In each casing a distinction is drawn between high status women, and low status women, because the experiences of each group is likely to take hold been very different. The origins of Rome are to be found in the migrations of the Latini tribe to Northern Italy from a region to the north and East around the river Danube. They settled in the area we now last as Latium. Other tribes in the area include the Etruscans, the Sabines, and various Gre ek-influenced groups to the south. This legend seems to have been passed down orally and it was recorded much later by the papistical historian Livy in his history of the city, a major work entitled Ab Urbe Condita Libri.1 The way that the early history is depicted, with a female wolf breast feeding twin baby boys sets up a number of interesting speculations about the role of women in that early society. Livy is very aware of the problematic and clearly mythic content of the founding story when he writes The traditions of what happened prior to the foundation of the City or whilst it was being built, are more fitted to adorn the creations of the poet than the authentic records of the historian, and I have no conceptionion of establishing either their truth or their falsehood. 2 Writing from a time when Roman society appeared to be heading for decline, in the frontmost decade of the new millennium, Livy sees the past as a time of comparative glory, and it is no coincidence that h e mentions the early Roman worship of the warlike divinity Mars as its most iconic feature Now if any nation ought to be allowed to claim a sacred origin and point book binding to a divine paternity that nation is Rome. For such is her renown in war that when she chooses to represent Mars as her own and her founders father, the nations of the origination accept the statement with the same equanimity with which they accept her dominion.3 Livy is an important source in terms of the way that later Romans wanted their past to be remembered, but his account must be read with care, since many of his ideas are shaped by a much later age, and a particular docket to show the Romans and their past in a positive light. Women appear from time to time in the narrative, but they are usually incidental to the main story, and Livys bias against women is only too obvious. An important source of political power, in the origins of Rome, as in all early civilizations, is the network of family alleg iances that comes about through marriage. Livy reports that the past origins of the Roman people came about because of an alliance between the Trojan super hero Aeneas, and the king of the Laurentian territory Latinus. This alliance may have come about due to a Latinus being defeated in battle, or due to the deference of Latinus before the supremacy of the Trojan warriors who had arrived in the local area intent on plunder. The key point that Livy stresses is the