Question

How might one of the roman women involved in the protest have made her own case

Answer 1

In Ancient Rome, in year 195 BC, the women took the streets of Rome in a demonstration which the aim of protesting against laws they considered unfair. It was a shocking event, due to the fact that it was taking place in the heart of a very rigid patriarchal society.

Austerity measures had been implemented after the Punic war, and in this specific case they were protecting against the lex Oppia which limited the amount oflex Oppia money that women could spent in adornment and finery. As women did not participe on Roman public political or economic life, these limitations on the physical appearance limited the few oportunities they had to proclaim their identity and social status.

An important consequence of the protest was that it created a precedent, and Roman women used this protest format as the way to keep their rights guaranteed and their voices heard.

A woman on her own could not have achieve such a thing, in the Roman society in which women had no voice, but the union of many women did.