She is the mistress in the house, as he is the
master. She gives orders to the slaves whom she charges with all the
heavy tasks--the grinding of the grain, the making of bread, and the
cooking. She sits in the seat of honor (the atrium), spins and weaves,
apportions work to the slaves, watches the children, and directs the
house. She is not excluded from association with the men, like the
Greek woman; she eats at the table with her husband, receives
visitors, goes into town to dinner, appears at the public ceremonies,
at the theatre, and even at the courts. And still she is ordinarily
uncultured; the Romans do not care to instruct their daughters; the
quality which they most admire in woman is gravity, and on her tomb
they write by way of eulogy, "She kept the house and spun linen."
=The Children.=--The Roman child belongs to the father like a piece of
property. The father has the right of exposing him in the street. If
he accepts the child, the latter is brought up at first in the house.
Girls remain here until marriage; they spin and weave under the
supervision of their mother. The boys walk to the fields with their
father and exercise themselves in arms.
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