Wilgefortis, Protected By The Beard of Christ [from Acta Sanctorum Mensis Julius]

Hail, Wilgefortis, holy servant of Christ!

You loved Christ with all of your heart

and, when you rejected a marriage to the king of Sicily,

you proved your faith on the Cross.

By your own earthly father’s decree

You endured the tortures of imprisonment,

You grew a beard on your face,

Which you obtained from Christ as a gift

Because you wanted to stop others from wanting to marry you.

Seeing this, your heathen father raised you up

High up on a cross, still wearing your beard

And ready [to die].

Since you had both grace as well as virtue,

As soon as you could,

Your soul fled to Christ’s protection.

O lady,

Because we cherish your memory with solemn praises,

O blessed Wilgefortis,

We beg you to pray on our behalf!

 

--Acta Sanctorum Mensis Julius,  Volume 7, Issue 5 (1748) p. 64 ; (Originally published in Enchiridion praeclarae ecclesiae Sarisburensis, 1533)

 

Ave sancta famula,Wilgefortis,Christi,

quae ex tota anima Christum dilexisti;

dum regis Siciliae nuptias sprevisti;

Crucifixo Domino fidem praebuisti.

Jussu patris carceris tormenta subisti,

crevit barba facie, quod obtinuisti

a Christo pro munere, quod sibi voluisti

te volente nubere sibi confudisti.

videns pater impius te sic deformatam

elevavit arius in cruce paratam.

Ubi cum virtutibus reddidisti gratam

animamque quantocius,Christo commendatam.

Quia devotis laudibus tuam memoriam, virgo, recolimus,

o beata Wilgefortis, ora pro nobis quaesumus.

A More Perfect Union? Using the Gender Roles of Other Nations to Critique Your Own, Tacitus, Germania 18

Gender Roles in Germanic Marriage Rites

Name:   Tacitus Date:    56 – 117 CE Region:   [modern Italy]  Citation:  Germania 18

Often, authors will use depictions of other nations as a mirror for their own society. Here Tacitus is glamorizing his depiction of Germanic marriages to criticize Roman women and marriages.

 

[Germanic tribes] treat marriage very seriously, and it’s the best part of their value system. Of all the other barbaric tribes out there, the Germans are the only ones who practice monogamy. Of course, there are a handful of exceptions, but the noblemen who have multiple wives do so out of political gain, and definitely not out of lust. The wife doesn’t provide a dowry to her husband; instead, the husband gives a dowry to his wife. Their parents and kin evaluate what he has to offer in the relationship—and these aren’t trifles that women nag for, or other things that new brides have. No, these are a yoke of bulls, a bridled horse, and a shield, spear, and sword. The wife accepts these gifts, and in turn, gives the same to her husband. This is seen as the highest bond, the holy rite of marriage that their religion dictates. To keep the woman from thinking that she is immune from hard work or military valor, she is warned at the start of the marriage that she is entering the relationship as a partner to her husband’s exploits and dangers, in both war and peace. This is what the team of bulls, the bridled horse, and the set of armor represents. They live together as one, and they die together as one. She is to accept this union, which she will in turn pass down untouched and pure to her children, her daughters-in-law, and her descendants.

Tacitus [Publius Cornelius Tacitus; 56 – 117 CE, modern Italy] is considered one of the best Roman historians of the 1st century CE. He wrote numerous works, including the Annals [Roman history beginning with the death of the Emperor Augustus and the rise of Tiberius], the Histories [about the Year of the Four Emperors], and a biography of his father-in,-law, the Agricola.

Gender Roles in Germanic Marriage Rites

Quamquam severa illic matrimonia, nec ullam morum partem magis laudaveris. Nam prope soi barbarorum singulis uxoribus contenti sunt, exceptis admodum paucis, qui non libidine, sed ob nobilitatem plurimis nuptiis ambiuntur. Dotem non uxor marito, sed uxori maritus offert. Intersunt parentes et propinqui ac munera probant, munera non ad delicias muliebres quaesita nec quibus nova nupta comatur, sed boves et frenatum equum et scutum cum framea gladioque. In haec munera uxor accipitur, atque in vicem ipsa armorum aliquid viro adfert: hoc maximum vinculum, haec arcana sacra, hos coniugales deos arbitrantur. Ne se mulier extra virtutem cogitations extraque bellorum casus putet, ipsis incipientis matrimonii auspiciis admonetur venire se laborum periculorumque sociam, idem in pace, idem in proelio passuram ausuramque. Hoc iuncti boves, hoc paratus equus, hoc data arma denuntiant. Sic vivendum, sic pereundum: accipere se, quae liberis inviolate ac Digna reddat, quae nurus accipiant, rursusque ad nepotes referantur.

Marco Antonio Tritonio: Love Comes in All Forms

Reciprocal Love:

Halcyon & Ceyx

Hermaphroditus & Smilax

Orpheus & Euridice

Philemon & Baucis

Progne & Philomela

Pyramus & Thisbe

Sirens & Proserpina

The Sisters of Phaeton

The ancients stated perfectly that friends are merely one soul in many bodies, and that friendship is nothing more than a mutual harmony of souls—so much so that we grieve when a friend grieves, and we rejoice when a friend is happy. Check out the following examples which highlight reciprocal love and kindness:

1. Isn’t the greatest example of matrimonial love Halcyone’s love for Ceyx, for she spotted him drowned in the ocean from far away and leapt into the waves, becoming a halcyon bird? Isn’t the greatest example of love Ceyx’s love for Halcyone, even in death he could feel his transformed wife’s kisses, and was himself transformed into the same type of bird? Don’t we see this mutual love shared among spouses in this couple?  [cf. Ovid’s Metamorphoses book 2, story 10]

2. Hermaphroditus [the son of Venus and Mercury] and Smilax [the nymph of the Salmacian spring] loved each other so much that they are said to have merged into one body. [Cf. book 4, story 2]  

3. Orpheus is known for his love of Eurydice. He descended into the Underworld when he was still alive to restore his dead wife back to life. [book 10, story 1]

4. There was so much spousal love between Philemon and Baucis that they lived a long life together in poverty and never argued. [book 8, story 7]

5. Procne could not live without her sister Philomela. When she found out that her husband had attacked her, she took revenge on her husband and forced him to devour [the body of] their son Itys. [book 6, story 29]

6. The Babylonian couple Pyramus and Thisbe loved each other so much, that Pyramus killed himself when he believed that his Thisbe had died, and Thisbe killed herself with the same sword that he used. [book 4. Story 4]

7. The Sirens held such love for Proserpina that they demanded wings from the gods in order to more easily find Proserpina on land & sea [after she had been abducted]. Because of this, they were transformed into birds, but retained their women’s faces and voices. [book 5, story 16]

8. Phaeton’s sisters wept so many tears when he fell from the sky* that they were transformed into trees. [book 2, story 2]

-- --M. Antonii Tritonii Utinenis, Mythologia, 1560 p. 8-9

Amor Aliquorum Mutuus.

Halcyon & Ceyx

Hermaphroditus & Smilax

Orpheus & Euridice

Philemon & Baucis

Progne & Philomela

Pyramus & Thisbe

Sirenes, et Proserpina

Sorores, et Phaeton

 Praeclare veteres dixerunt amicos esse tanquam unam animam in pluribus corporibus, nihil enim aliud est amicitia, quam mutuus quidam animorum consensus, adeo ut cum dolentibus amicis doleamus, cum gaudentibus laetemur, quare optime fabulosa haec exempla sunt perpendenda, quae nobis mutuum aliquorum amorem & benevolentiam demonstrant.

1. Nonne maximus fuit Halcyonis in Ceycem maritum amor, si longius illum in aequore submersum prospiciens ac in medias undas prosiliens in Halcyonem avem conversa est? Nonne maxima ipsius Ceycis in coniugem benevolentia, si vel mortuus uxoris in avem commutatae sentiebat oscula, cuius etiam cadaver in eiusdem generis volucrem fuit transmutatum? in quibus adhuc servatam inter coniuges benevolentiam perspicimus [lib.ii.fab.x]

2. Hermaphroditus Veneris & Mercurii filius & Smilax Salmacis fontis nympha ita mutuo se dilexerunt amore, ut e duobus corporibus in unum commutati dicantur.[lib.iiii.fab.ii]

3. Amor etiam Euridices, et Orphei notus est, is enim vivus ad inferos descendit, ut mortuam coniugem ad pristinam vitam & incolumitatem reduceret. [lib.x.fab.i]

4. Inter Philomonem, & Baucidem coniuges tanta fuit benevolentia, ut pauperitatem suam patienter ferentes sine ulla rixa longam traduxerint aetatem. [lib.viii.fab.vii]

5. Progne, sine sorore Philomela vivere non poterat, cumque illam a marito Tereo stupratam cognovisset, ut pro sorore de marito vindictam sumeret, illi proprium filium Ityn devorandum apposuit. [lib.vi.fab.xxix.]

6. Pyramus & Thibse Babylones tanto se mutuo prosecuti sunt amore, ut cum Pyramus amicam credens mortuam seipsum interfecisset, Thisbe amantem mortuum nacta eodem se gladio traiecerit. [lib.iiii.fab.iiii]

7 Syrenes tanto amore Prosperinam sunt prosequutae, ut a Diis alas flagitarent, quo facilius Proserpinam terra, marique possent inquirere. Quare ita in aves fuere conversae, ut facies tamen virginea, voxque humana remanserit. [lib.v.fab.xvi.]

8 Sorores Phaetontis fratrem coelo delapsum tot lacimis deplorarunt, ut in arbores demum sint commutatae; tantus inter fratrem, et sorores amore extitit. [lib. ii. fab.ii]

  

 

Found Family: Noemi & Ruth, Ruth 1:1-17

Where You Go, I Go: The Story of Ruth and Naomi

Citation:  Ruth 1:1 – 17

When judges ruled over Israel, there was a famine in the land.

One man from Bethlehem in Juda left to travel with his wife and two sons to the land of the Moabites.

This man was named Elimelech, and his wife was named Naomi. Their two kids were named Mahalon and Chelion, Ephrathites from Bethlehem.

They traveled to the land of the Moabites and dwelled there.

When Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, it was just her and her two sons.

Her sons married Moabite women; one was named Orpha and the other was named Ruth.

They lived there for ten years, but then both of her sons Mahalon and Chelion died. Now the poor woman was bereft of both her husband and her two sons.

She took it upon herself to travel back to her homeland with both of her daughters-in-law, for she had heard that theLord had protected His people, and had provided them with food.

She got up and left, and when she was about to travel, she told her daughters-in-law, “Go back home to the home of your mothers. May the Lord take pity on you, just as you have taken pity on both the dead [i.e., your husbands] as well as me. May he give you peace in the home of your husbands when you remarry.” And she kissed them.

They began to cry, and wept, saying, “We will go with you to your people.”

She responded to them, “My daughters, go back home. Why would you want to go with me? I don’t have any more children in my womb, so you can’t hope for future husbands from me. Go back home, my daughters, and leave me. I am worn out with old age, and too old to get married again. Even if I could conceive a child tonight, and give birth to sons, if you wanted to wait for them to get old enough to marry them, you’d be too old to marry them.”

I beg you, daughters, please don’t stay, for your difficulties weigh upon my heart more than my own, and the Lord has set His hand against me.”

They both wailed and began to weep. Orpha kissed her mother-in-law and left her. Ruth, however, clung to her mother-in-law. Naomi told her, “Go now, she’s travelling back to your kin, and your own gods. Go with her.”

Ruth responded, “Don’t keep me from you or make me leave. Wherever you will go, I will go. Wherever you will live, I will live there, too. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. The land that holds your tomb will also accept mine. May the Lord grant me these things, and add one more thing: that only death should ever separate you and me.”

  

Where You Go, I Go: The Story of Ruth and Naomi

In diebus unius iudicis, quando iudices praerant, facta est fames in terra. Abiitque homo de Bethlehem Iuda, ut peregrinaretur in regione Moabitide cum uxore sua ac duobus liberis. Ipse vocabatur Elimelech, et uxor eius Noemi: et duo filii, alter Mahalon, et alter Chelion, Ephrathei de Bethlehem Iuda. Ingressique regionem Moabitidem, morabantur ibi.

Et mortuus est Elimelech maritus Noemi: remansitque ipsa cum filiis qui acceperunt uxores Moabitidas, quarum una vocabatur Orpha, altera vero Ruth. Manseruntque ibi decem annis, et ambo mortui sunt, Mahalon videlicet et Chelion: remansitque mulier orbata duobus liberis ac marito.

Et surrexit ut in patriam pergeret cum utraque nuru sua de regione Moabitide: audierat enim quod respexisset Dominus populum suum, et dedisset eis escas.

Egressa est itaque de loco peregrinationis suae, cum utraque nuru: et iam in via revertendi posita in terram Iuda. Dixit ad eas: “Ite in domum matris vestrae faciat vobiscum Dominus misericordiam, sicut fecistis cum mortuis et mecum. Det vobis invenire requiem in domibus virorum, quos sortiturae estis.” Et osculata est eas.

Quae elevata voce flere coeperunt, et dicere: “Tecum pergemus ad populum tuum.”

Quibus illa respondit: “Revertimini, filiae mea, cur venitis mecum? Num ultra habeo filios in utero meo, ut viros ex me sperare possitis? Revertimini, filiae meae, et abite: iam enim senectute confecta sum, nec apta vinculo coniugali: etiamsi possem hac nocte concipere, et parere filios, si eos expectare velitis donec crescant, et annos pubertais impleant, ante eritis vetulae quam nubatis.

 Nolite, quaeso, filiae meae: quia vestra angustia magis me premit, et egressa est manus Domini contra me.”

Elevata igitur voce, rursum flere coeperunt: Orpha osculata est socrum, ac reversa est.

Ruth adhaesit socrui suae, cui dixit Noemi: “En reversa est cognata tua ad populum suum, et ad deos suos, vade cum ea.”

Quae respondit: “Ne adverseris mihi, ut relinquam te, et abeam. Quocumque enim perrexeris, pergam, et ubi morata fueris, et ego pariter morabor. Populus tuus populus meus, et Deus tuus Deus meus. Quae te terra morientem susceperit, in ea moriar: ibique locum accipiam sepulturae. Haec mihi faciat Dominus, et haec addat, si non sola mors me et te separaverit.

Paternity isn't Patriotism: I Do Not Owe the State Children, Nepos, Epaminondas 10.1-2

[Epaminondas] never got married. When Pelopidas criticized him for not having children, he reproached Pelopidas back for having a son with a bad reputation, saying it was worse to leave behind such a kid as an heir. “For,” he continued, “I leave behind a daughter: the Battle of Leuctra, which will not only outlive me, but will also live forever.”1

-Cornelius Nepos, EPAMINONDAS 10.1-2

 Hic uxorem numquam duxit. In quo cum reprehenderetur, quod liberos non relinqueret, a Pelopida, qui filium habebat infamem, maleque eum in eo patriae consulere diceret, 'Vide', inquit 'ne tu peius consulas, qui talem ex te natum relicturus sis. Neque vero stirps potest mihi deesse. 2 Namque ex me natam relinquo pugnam Leuctricam, quae non modo mihi superstes, sed etiam immortalis sit necesse est.' 

 

Cornelius Nepos (110 - 25 BCE)was a Roman author who was born in Cisalpine Gaul (now Northern Italy). He is best known for a series of biographies of great men of Greece and Rome.

I Think I Love My Wife: Roman Masculinity and Conjugal Love. Ausonius 40

I Think I Love My Wife

Name:  Ausonius Date:  310 – 395 CE Region:  Aquitania, Gaul [modern France] Citation:  Epigram 40

Wife, let us live as we have lived

And let us keep the nicknames

That we made up for each other on our honeymoon. 

May no day pass that changes us ever

When I am not yours and you are not mine.

Although I am older than Nestor [1],

And you rival the Sibyl Deiphobe [2] in years

Let’s not dwell on our old age.

It’s proper to know the benefits of old age, but not the number.

---

[1]Nestor was an elderly hero of the Trojan War.

[2] Deiphobe, the Sibyl of Cumae, had eternal life but not eternal youth [similar to Eos/Aurora's lover Tithonus].

I Think I Love My Wife

Uxor, vivamusque ut viximus et teneamus

nomina, quae primo sumpsimus in thalamo

nec ferat ulla dies, ut commutemur in aevo

quin tibi sim iuvenis tuque puella mihi.

Nestore sim quamvis provectior aemulaque annis

vincas Cumanam tu quoque Deiphoben,

nos ignoremus quid sit matura senectus.

scire aevi meritum, non numerare decet.  

Ausonius [Decimus Magnus Ausonius; 310 – 395 CE, modern France] was a Roman poet from Aquitania, Gaul who lived during the 4th century CE. He is best known for his epic poem Mosella, which describes the Moselle River, and his Epistles, a series of literary poems between himself and the Christian poet Paulinus.

Challenging Misogyny: Aulus Gellius, Noct. Att. I.vi.1-3

Name: Aulus Gellius  Date: 125 – 180 CE Region:  Rome [modern Italy] Citation:  Athenian Nights 1.6.1-3

 

The following speech was delivered by the serious and articulate Metellus Numidicus to an audience of many learned men. He delivered this speech on marriage when he was a Censor, when he ought to have encouraged people to marry. In this speech, he said,

 

“Citizens, if we could live without wives, we would all live a trouble-free life. But since nature has arranged that ‘we can’t live with them, can’t live without them,’ we should probably get married so we can have future stability instead of brief pleasure.”

Many people think that as a Censor [who ought to have encouraged people to get married], Metellus shouldn’t have brought up the inconveniences and usual troubles of matrimony, and that this speech seemed to dissuade people from getting married instead of encouraging them. Instead, they say he ought to have said that there aren’t really any troubles in marriage, and if some happen occasionally, they are easy to manage, and that the good times outweigh the bad times. Moreover, these “bad times” do not occur naturally, but only happen because of the spouse’s misdeed.

 Multis et eruditis viris audientibus legebatur oratio Metelli Numidici, gravis ac diserti viri, quam in censura dixit ad populum de ducendis uxoribus, cum eum ad matrimonia capessenda hortaretur. In ea oratione ita scriptum fuit: "Si sine uxore possemus, Quirites, omnes ea molestia careremus; set quoniam ita natura tradidit, ut nec cum illis satis commode, nec sine illis uno modo vivi possit, saluti perpetuae potius quam brevi voluptati consulendum est." Videbatur quibusdam Q. Metellum censorem, cui consilium esset ad uxores ducendas populum hortari, non oportuisse de molestia incommodisque perpetuis rei uxoriae confiteri, neque id hortari magis esse quam dissuadere absterrereque; set contra in id potius orationem debuisse sumi dicebant, ut et nullas plerumque esse in matrimoniis molestias adseveraret et, si quae tamen accidere nonnumquam viderentur, parvas et leves facilesque esse toleratu diceret maioribusque eas emolumentis et voluptatibus oblitterari easdemque ipsas neque omnibus neque naturae vitio, set quorundam maritorum culpa et iniustitia evenire. 

 Aulus Gellius lived during the 2^nd century CE. His work, the Attic Nights, are a collection of anecdotes about literature, history, and grammar.  From internal evidence, we can deduce that he was in the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius’ social circle, having close friendships with Herodes Atticus and Fronto.

 

Matrona vs. Mater Familias? Aulus Gellius DiscussesTerminology of Women, Noct. Att. 18.6.4-9

Mater Familias and Matrona: Defining Terms

Name: Aulus Gellius  Date: 125 – 180 CE Region:  Rome [modern Italy] Citation:  Athenian Nights 18.6.4-9

In his book, Aulus Melissus states, “A matrona is a woman who gave birth once, but a mater familias [matriarch] is a woman who gave birth to many children, just like a pig who has given birth once is called a porcetra, and a pig that has given birth multiple times is called a scrofa. But heaven knows whether it is the author’s opinion on this terminology, or if he made it up himself. Pomponius has attested the specific usage of porcetra in his Atellania, but I can’t confirm in ancient testimonia what he says about matrons and matriarchs. It’s more likely to be true what better scholars state on this topic, that a woman is called a matrona who enters a marriage with a man, and continues to be a matron as long as she remains married to him, even before the arrival of children. She obtains the name of a mother before she becomes one, in the hope that soon she will be one. This is where we get the term matrimonium [matrimony]; but a woman is only called a mater familias when she is under the authority of her husband [maritus] or in the power of his family, because then she is not only married to him, but also now a member of his family and one of the beneficiaries of his will.”

 

Mater Familias and Matona: Defining Terms

Ex eo libro verba haec sunt: “‘Matrona’ est quae semel peperit, quae saepius, ‘mater familias’; sicuti sus quae semel peperit, ‘porcetra,’ quae saepius, ‘scrofa.’”

Utrum autem hoc de matrona ac de matrefamilias Melissus excogitaverit ipse et coniectaverit, an scriptum ab alio quo legerit, hariolis profecto est opus.  Nam de “porcetra” habet sane auctorem Pomponium in Atellania, quae hoc eodem vocabulo inscripta est; sed “matronam” non esse appellatam nisi quae semel peperit, neque “matrem familias” nisi quae saepius, nullis veterum scriptorum auctoritatibus confirmari potest. Enimvero illud impendio probabilius est, quod idonei vocum antiquarum enarratores tradiderunt, “matronam” dictam esse proprie quae in matrimonium cum viro convenisset, quoad in eo matrimonio maneret, etiamsi liberi nondum nati forent, dictamque ita esse a matris nomine, non adepto iam, sed cum spe et omine mox adipiscendi, unde ipsum quoque “matrimonium” dicitur, “matrem” autem “familias” appellatam esse eam solam quae in mariti manu mancipioque aut in eius in cuius maritus manu mancipioque esset, quoniam non in matrimonium tantum, sed in familiam quoque mariti et in sui heredis locum venisset.

Aulus Gellius [125 – 180 CE] lived during the 2nd century CE. His work, the Attic Nights, are a collection of anecdotes about literature, history, and grammar.  From internal evidence, we can deduce that he was in the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius’ social circle, having close friendships with Herodes Atticus and Fronto.

Love in Action Mode: Pliny, Hist. Nat. 7.36.121

Name: Pliny the Elder Date: 23 – 79 CE Region:  Como [modern Italy]; Rome [modern Italy] Citation:  Natural History, 7.121-122

Love comes in many forms, and this description of pietas [duty towards those you love, including the gods] shows examples of love and duty towards one's parent, spouse, sibling, as well as people not defined as family members by society.

There are countless examples of love throughout the globe, but the rest cannot compare to what happened in Rome.

·                     There once was a poor plebeian woman who had recently given birth. She obtained a visit with her incarcerated mother. Even though she was always searched so that she wouldn’t give her mother any food, she was caught feeding her mother with her breastmilk. Because of this act of love, her mother was freed and both women were given state benefits for life. In 150 BCE [the year that Caius Quinctius and Marcus Acilius were consuls], this location was then consecrated to the Goddess; the prison was torn down and a Temple of Piety was erected. [This is now where the Theater of Marcellus is located].

·                     The father of the Gracchi brothers once caught two snakes inside his house. When he was told that he would live if he killed the female snake, he replied, “No way! Kill mine, then. Cornelia is young and is still fertile.” What he meant was to spare his wife and respect the republic’s wishes; he soon perished.

·                     Marcus Lepidus pined to death after divorcing his wife Apuleia.

·                     When Publius Rutilius was a bit sick and he found out that his brother lost the candidacy for consulship, he died of shock.

·                     Publius Catiennus Philotimus loved his patron so much that, even though he was the sole beneficiary of the man’s will, he tossed himself onto the man’s pyre.

Love In Action Mode

Pietatis exempla infinita quidem toto orbe extitere, sed Romae unum cui comparari cuncta non possint.

·                     Humilis in plebe et ideo ignobilis puerpera, supplicii causa carcere inclusa matre cum impetrasset aditum, a ianitore semper excussa ante ne quid inferret cibi, deprehensa est uberibus suis alens eam. Quo miraculo matris salus donata filiae pietati est ambaeque perpetuis alimentis, et locus ille eidem consecratus deae, C. Quinctio M. Acilio coss. Templo Pietatis extructo in illius carceris sede, ubi nunc Marcelli theatrum est.

·                     Gracchorum pater anguibus prehensis in domo, cum responderetur ipsum victurum alterius sexus interempto: “Immo vero,” inquit, “meum necate, Cornelia enim iuvenis est et parere adhuc potest.” Hoc erat uxori parcere et rei publicae consulere; idque mox consecutum est.

·                     M. Lepidus Apuleiae uxoris caritate post repudium obiit.

·                     P. Rutilius morbo levi impeditus nuntiata fratris repulsa in consulatus petitione ilico expiravit.

·                     P. Catienus Philotimus patronum adeo dilexit ut heres omnibus bonis institutus in rogum eius se iaceret.

 

Pliny the Elder [Gaius Plinius Secundus; 23 – 79 CE, modern Italy] was an Italian-born Roman statesman and author who lived during the reigns of the early Roman emperors. He spent most of his life in service of his country; he ultimately gave his life in arranging the evacuation of the regions devastated by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. His work, the Natural History, is a 37-volume collection of art, history, and science of the ancient world.

From Bride to Groom: Tales from Pliny the Elder, Hist. Nat. VII.iv.36

 It’s not impossible for women to turn into men. For I’ve found in historical records that in 171 BCE [the year that P. Licinius Crassus and C. Cassius Longinus were consuls], a girl turned into a boy while still living at home,* and was abandoned on a deserted island due to religious observances. Licinius Mucianus reports that he saw in Argos a man named Arescon, who used to be Arescusa: she was already living as someone’s wife, but when he grew a beard and underwent manly puberty, he married a wife of his own. He also saw the same thing happen to a boy in Smyrna. When I was in Africa, I saw with my own eyes someone who transformed on their wedding day, when they should have married L. Constitius (a citizen of Thysdrus).

* before eligible for marriage, an indication of the child's age

Ex feminis mutari in mares non est fabulosum. Inveniemus in annalibus P. Licinio Crasso C. Cassio Longino coss. Casini puerum factum ex virgine sub parentibus, iussuque harispicium deportatum in insulam desertam. Licinius Mucianus prodidit visum a se Argis Arescontem, cui nomen Arescusae fuisset, nupsisse etiam, mox barbaram et virilitatem provenisse uxoremque duxisse; eiusdem sortis et Zmyrnae puerum a se visum. Ipse in Africa vidi mutatum in marem nuptiarum die L. Constitium civem Thysdriatanum...

--Pliny the Elder, Hist. Nat. VII.iv.36

PLINY THE ELDER

MAP:

Name:  Gaius Plinius Secundus

Date:  23 – 79 CE

Works:  Naturalis Historia*

 

 

 Pliny was an Italian-born Roman statesman and author who lived during the reigns of the early Roman emperors. He spent most of his life in service of his country; he ultimately gave his life in arranging the evacuation of the regions devastated by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. His work, the Natural History, is a 37-volume collection of art, history, and science of the ancient world.

The Double Standard: Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights x.xxiii.1-5

  An excerpt of Marcus Cato’s speech about traditional gender norms of women, which mentions the right for a husband to kill his wife caught in adultery.

1. Those who write about customs and norms of the Romans say that women both in Rome and Latium lived their lives in sobriety, always abstaining from wine (which in the olden days was called “moonshine*”).  Furthermore, women were conditioned to kiss their relatives, so that the menfolk could catch them if they were drinking, by smelling the alcohol on their breath.

2. They say that women were accustomed to drink sweet drinks—ice wine, grape juice, second-pressed [diluted] wine. And you can read more about this in the books I’ve already mentioned.

3. But Marcus Cato declared that women were not only convicted but also punished by a magistrate if they were drunk—and punished at the same level as adultery (even more so!)

4. I’m quoting a passage of Marcus Cato from his speech “About Dowries,” where he wrote that husbands had the right to kill their wives caught in adultery:

“When a husband divorces his wife, he acts as the woman’s judge and magistrate, and has the authority as he sees fit, to condemn his wife if she has done a shameful or offensive act. She is punished severely if she drinks wine; if she does something shameful with another man, she is condemned to death.

5. And Cato writes this about the husband’s right to put his wife to death:

“If you have caught your wife in adultery, you may kill her with impunity, without a trial; but whether you commit adultery with a woman (adulterares) or a man (adulterarere), your wife cannot lay a finger on you, nor does she have the right.”

*using an archaism here to reflect the archaism in the text

XXIII. Verba ex oratione M. Catonis de mulierum veterum victu et moribus; atque inibi, quod fuerit ius marito in adulterio uxorem deprehensam necare. I. Qui de victu atque cultu populi Romani scripserunt, mulieres Romae atque in Latio aetatem abstemias egisse, hoc est vino semper, quod "temetum" prisca lingua appellabatur, abstinuisse dicunt, institutumque ut cognatis osculum ferrent deprehendendi causa, ut odor indicium faceret, si bibissent. II. Bibere autem solitas ferunt loream, passum, murrinam et quae id genus sapiant potu dulcia. Atque haec quidem in his, quibus dixi, libris pervulgata sunt; III. sed Marcus Cato non solum existimatas, set et multatas quoque a iudice mulieres refert non minus, si vinum in se, quam si probrum et adulterium admisissent. IV. Verba Marci Catonis adscripsi ex oratione, quae inscribitur de dote, in qua id quoque scriptum est in adulterio uxores deprehensas ius fuisse maritis necare: "Vir" inquit "cum divortium fecit, mulieri iudex pro censore est, imperium, quod videtur, habet, si quid perverse taetreque factum est a muliere; multatur, si vinum bibit; si cum alieno viro probri quid fecit, condemnatur." V. De iure autem occidendi ita scriptum: "In adulterio uxorem tuam si prehendisses, sine iudicio inpune necares; illa te, si adulterares sive tu adulterarere, digito non auderet contingere, neque ius est."

 --Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae, x.xxiii.1-5

 

 Famous for his line “Delenda est Karthago,” Cato the Elder is an Italian-born Roman statesman who vociferously touted conservative and xenophobic values throughout his political and literary career.