Under Roman law, enslaved people had no personal rights and were regarded as the property of their masters. They could be bought, sold, and mistreated at will and were unable to own property, enter into a contract, or legally marry.
Even though formal marriage, conubium, was forbidden, illegal unions like marriages were common. Slave children primarily belonged to the master and were every so often his own biological children. These Roman slave children grew up and played with masters legal, free, and favored children.
Women slaves would be used as hairdressers, dressmakers, cooks and servants for rich women. Other slaves worked in small workshops making leather or silver goods or pots and pans. The ancient Roman slaves who had the hardest lives were those who were put to work in the mines.
Mating in Rome was polygynous; marriage was monogamous. In the years 18BC and AD 9 the first Roman emperor, Augustus, backed the lex Julia and the lex Papia Poppaea, his “moral” legislation.
Marriage laws
Among elite families of the early Republic, manus marriage was the norm; the bride passed from the manus ("hand") of her father to the manus of her husband, remaining under one or another form of male potestas (power). Manus marriage was an institutionally unequal relationship.
Rather, it was an agreement between families. Men would usually marry in their mid-twenties, while women married while they were still in their early teens.
Children 7 and under were considered infants, and were under the care of women. Children were expected to help with housework from age 8 until they reached adulthood at age 12 for girls, or 14 for boys. Children would often have a variety of toys to play with. If a child died they could be buried or cremated.
Although romantic love between husbands and wives is attested to in letters, inscriptions, and epitaphs, a great deal of what is known of love in ancient Rome comes from the poets in praise of women or boys they were involved with sexually, usually an extramarital affair on the part of one or both.
During the first two centuries A.D., in Roman Egypt, full sibling marriage occurred with some frequency among commoners as both Egyptians and Romans announced weddings that have been between full-siblings. This is the only evidence for brother-sister marriage among commoners in any society.
The unfaithful wife faced prosecution with severe punishment, such as death and exile. She also faced financial penalties related to the dowry. If death or exile was too grave she was divorced, faced infamia or lost certain of her limited rights. In early law she was privately judged by a family council.
Defined by the men in their lives, women in ancient Rome were valued mainly as wives and mothers. Although some were allowed more freedom than others, there was always a limit, even for the daughter of an emperor. Not much information exists about Roman women in the first century.
The majority of Roman slaves were from Greece because of the numerous wars between the two countries and Roman victories.
Q: Where would the Roman slaves sleep? At night, slaves usually slept on a heap of straw with a blanket on top, either in the kitchen, the hallway, or in the attic. Attractive female slaves also had to submit to the sexual desires of their masters. Comfort did not have a high place in the life of a Roman slave.
The core staples for slaves were low-quality bread and cheap wine, but was also supplemented by average fruits and vegetables, as well as soups, stews, and other hot meals.
How many kids did Romans have? Most Roman families had a lot of children, because so many of the kids died young. The average Roman family had five or six kids, but only two or three of them lived to grow up.
Typically, the Romans ate three meals a day. Originally, the Romans had a small breakfast called the ientaculum in the morning and then a huge meal called the cena around two in the afternoon, then another small meal called the vesperna later on in the night.
Homosexuality within the Roman world is a much debated topic. Over the years scholars have come to varying conclusions; some suggest same-sex relations were freely practiced in the Roman world, others argue they were both legally and socially condemned.
Most Roman women appear to have married later, from about 15 to 20. But the possibility of earlier marriage we know to have been actively pursued especially in upper-class families, where marriage often assisted dynastic alliances.
According to Rome's legal and social code—written and unwritten—the ideal Roman woman was a matron who spun her own cloth, oversaw her family's affairs, provided her husband with children, food and a well-run household, and displayed suitable modesty.
Although it was an important ritual for many Roman women, marriage was not possible for everyone, as it was restricted to citizens who were old enough (12 for girls, 14 for boys) but not closely related, along with other stipulations.
In reality, marriage was not so simple. The wife was very often beaten, treated well only if she had a rich and influential father or large dowry. For a Roman, she was just an additional slave, whose job was to provide offspring and add the fortune (with her dowry).
Early in Rome's history, a man could only divorce his wife on the basis of major faults (adultery, for instance, or wine-drinking) - but by the first century BC this had evolved so that both men and women could divorce their spouses without justification.
As such, parents had to grapple with death regularly. Even amid high infant mortality, Rome remained a society that bustled with children and teens. The average woman had between four and six children. Thus siblings were common, especially since remarriage was a regular occurrence.
Female - Ancient Rome (753BC – 476AD)
“Wealthy ancient Roman women, had a long list of beauty ideals to check off: being slim but robust; high, round, youthful breasts; narrow shoulders; small waist; wide hips and thighs; long, hairless legs; rosy lips and cheeks.
Procreation began after marriage, at, on average, 15 years of age, could continue until the end of fertility with an average of 6–8 children, who nursed for 2–3 years each. Report of childbearing at age 35 years or older was rare for Greco-Romans but very common for Jews.