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Mary Davis  Gender Roles in Ancient Rome Gender roles were a very large part of ancient Rome. Gender was something that would describe your social status and standing in life, in ancient Rome. The specifications of what a person’s daily life would be like were determined by their gender. There was also a very large distinguishing factor of the gender roles as to whether you were a wealthy person or a poor person, and the jobs that were allowed to be had, which in return would affect the women and children of Ancient Rome. Having these roles being so specified allowed people to know where they more or less belonged in life, they knew what was going to be expected of them and what they were going to be.  Men could be distinguished simply by the cloth that their togas were made of; the more expensive the material meant the higher up the social ladder one was. Men, such as, senators would wear their togas and there would be a stripe of the color gold or even purple, because these were colors of royalty. Ancient Roman men kept their hair cut short. They would also keep the hair on their arms shaved because this was said to make them look as clean as possible. When it came to the homestead of the men of Rome, they were considered the “master and ruler” of the homes. A poor Roman man would have very different jobs than those who were rich. A poor man would have a job that consisted of being a farmer, shopkeeper, or maybe even a craftsman. The poor man’s day would start at first light and since they were poor and had little food to eat they might have a piece of bread for breakfast. They would then work till the end of the day and they would have their dinner and then go to bed, to prepare for a day that would be just the same as the one they were sleeping away. The rich man’s day was very different in Rome. They would start their day whenever they felt like waking up and they would have a lavish breakfast that consisted of honey, cheese, bread, and water. They would eat till full and then they would go and say their daily prayer at their household shrine. Next they would start their work day. A rich man would spend a good deal of their day writing letters to other men of stature in Rome, or they would go to a forum and do business with other rich men of Rome. After these chores were done they would then go home for a simple light lunch. After lunch they might take a nap or just finish their tasks for the day. In the late afternoon these Roman men would all go to a public bath and then go home for dinner with their family. Usually these men would have friends over for a lavish dinner with drinks. Another position of workers in ancient Rome was the Roman army. The enlistment age was usually between17-20. The young men were asked to leave their farms and homesteads to join the army for a short period of time, but the longer the men were in the Roman army the more likely they were to make the army part of their everyday lives. Just like most armies they had a rank and file system that they used. The beginner’s were called Tirones and they were the new recruits who hoped to work their way up to be in the Legion. The middle ranks were called Primus Pilus; this is a man that is considered a career soldier. The higher ranks were the men who were in charge of the lower ranks. The top rank officer is called a Legionary commander and this man was typically appointed by the emperor himself. The gender roles for men were very important and it was something that would last with them for their life. Women in Ancient Rome had little to no authority of their own lives. They were controlled by their fathers until the point of marriage, when they were passed to their husbands who would then take all authority over them. Women were not allowed at any point in Rome to hold any position in the political offices; they were not even allowed to have an opinion on political issues. Women were also expected to stay home every day and tend to the house and the daily chores that needed to be completed. Very few women were allowed to have a job outside of the home. Women that were married to men of a higher status usually spent their days making plans for a dinner party that would occur when their husbands came home. A wealthy woman would start their day much like their husbands. The women would start by praying and then while the men went to work the women would order their slaves to complete tasks around the house. Women who were married to men of lower status did not have the luxury of having a slave and were not able to relax at home all day. Instead they had to make food preparations, clean the house, and other duties. Being married to a rich man or poor man did not change the way women were thought of. Women were not respected near as much as any Roman man. Women in Ancient Rome were expected to take care of issues at home while the men worked. Roman men thought that the women should be in the house because they were weak and they wouldn’t be able to do physical labor like men. Women were said to be submissive and were recognized for their feminism. The women of Rome were not allowed to be in the military and were told what they could do. They were not allowed to participate in the political aspect of Roman society either. Children of Ancient Rome were also defined by the status of their fathers. Children who came from wealthy families went to school and were allotted an education. Children who had poor families were not allowed to get an education because their parents needed them to stay home and help with the house work, or they would work in the fields. These children were usually taught by their parents at home. School lasted to the age of 11, though some boys would remain a little longer to have a furthered education, while the girls were sent home to learn how to run a house for when they were to be married and have their own homes. The age for children to become married was different for the males, they were allowed to become married at the age of 14 and the females were allowed to become married at the age of 12. Children were often disregarded most of their lives unless it came to the issue of inheritance. Children that were born and considered to be legitimate to a father would be given the fathers family name and would be accepted by the father’s family. If a child was not considered to be legitimate they would not be accepted by the father or the family of the father and would be given the mothers family name. Gender roles in Ancient Rome had a huge impact on the type of life a person would live. It’s clear to see that males of Ancient Rome had many more rights than the woman of Ancient Rome. Having gender roles helped to establish a social hierarchy and social identity. Through gender a person’s life would be defined. A man’s supremacy ranked over woman and children in Ancient Rome. Men held the most important positions and made all the decisions. Women were sometimes considered something that just got in the way and were to stay at home and make sure things were running correctly. Children also were not regarded very high priority and would be sent off to school and then at the proper age taught the things they would need to become adults. Children were affected by the wealth of their parents just as much as the mother or father would have been, because coming from a rich and wealthy family would ensure that the child would live a enlightened and privileged life, but coming from a poor family would definitely ensure that the child would have a much rougher life than that of the rich children, they would most likely be working in the fields or in the homes of the more wealthy people. It’s very easy to see how important gender was in Ancient Rome and how the roles were defined in specific ways.