If a woman was born into a family of a low status, it was almost impossible for them to move up the ranks. Prostitutes, …show more content…
1990:35.) As with most aspects of their lives, they were very dependent on men in issues of law, in which a woman needed a male to “act in their interests” (Cartwright, M. 2014), as they could not defend themselves. In 56 BC, when Cicero was testifying against Clodia, a woman of the elite class whom was accused of attempted murder, he stated, “Did I built the road so that you could parade with other women’s husbands?” This encompasses not only the attitudes that men had towards women in general in this society, but also just how little power or say these women had in their own lives. Also, children in Ancient Rome were legally required to be under guardianship. Roman males stopped being under guardianship when they hit puberty, but females were required to have a guardian for much longer. Women usually had a guardian until they had children, sometimes even longer than that, as they were believed to be “scatterbrained” (Lefkawitz, M.K. & Fant, M.M. 1982:101.) No matter what class or family a woman belonged to in Ancient Rome, one thing that they all shared were their lack of legal