The ancient civilizations of Rome and China were quite different yet similar as far as the roles and treatment of women were concerned. In both civilizations women were unequal to men. Women were stay at home wives, when married or under their father’s protection until they were married. Women were not to disgrace their families, nor were men, women were not educated formally; instead they learned to manage the household.
Women in ancient Rome were not allowed to vote or hold office in a political position. But within the family circle were quite important because of the importance of the family in the Roman culture. Where as women in ancient China were to be house wives (for lack of a better term), they were expected to have complete obedience towards their husband, and were expected to complete work around the house; such as sew, cook and clean to name a few things. Roman wives lived a life of more luxury that the wives of Chinese men, Roman women took part in many of the Roman cultural aspects of their days, public/privet baths, sporting events, and such forth. Where the wives of ancient China stayed at home, they seldom left their house to go in town to buy food and commodities for the household.
Marriages in ancient Rome where an agreement between the fathers of the two houses, marriage was not a romantic thing, several marriages became romantic but that was not the reason that people were married. A women’s dowry was to be returned to her if they were ever to become divorced; unless the wife was found to be adulteress in her acts. An adulteress woman was not allowed to remarry. “Marriage of a citizen to a prostitute or actress, intermarriage between a provincial official and a local woman, the marriage of soldiers in certain circumstances, and marriages within certain degrees of blood relationships” (1) was also not allowed in ancient Rome. If a woman was divorced from her first husband she could be independent, she could not re-marry unless her father gave her permission.
Marriages in ancient China were similar to marriages in ancient Rome; but instead of a mutual agreement between families, the father of the house decided who his daughter was to marry. Women were to be completely devoted to their husbands. Roman women that were found adulteress were not allowed to have their dowry returned to them in full, but rather they received half of their dowry upon divorce. (2)
Women were held to the same standards as the men of their social class, in both ancient Rome and ancient China, with more responsibility on the women of higher classes. Women of the higher classes were to act very “lady like”. Women were to be clean in dress and appearance. Women of ancient China should not be engaged in “gossip and silly laughter”. (3) Slave women of ancient Rome were under the control of their master, many women slaves were required to assist the master of the house in many of the details of the house, such as making clothes for the other slaves, making sure the food had not gone bad, attending to the sick… (4) In ancient China girls of the poor classes could be sold as servants to the higher classes by their father. (5) “Women of very high social status were looked upon as valuable assets in creating marriage alliances between families for eventual political of economic advantages.” (6) The emperor’s wife was regarded as the perfect Roman woman. Yet even the high class women were given little to no power over much of anything.
Chinese women did not play as significant of a role in religion as did the Roman women did. Romans had goddesses, and even women priests, Vestal Virgins. The Vestal Virgins “tended the sacred fire, baked sacred salt cakes called mola salsa, and oversaw the care of sacred objects in the Temple, including the Palladium — an image of the goddess Pallas Athena which was thought to protect Rome" (7) The Vestal Virgins were usually of Patrician rank, but not necessarily. The position of Vestal Virgin is an honored position. One of the few positions of honor a Roman woman could hold. Ancient China had goddesses in some of their religions. Women were allowed to be monks in the religion of Buddhism. But their place was not equal to the male monks.
Ancient Rome was a conquering nation, and had many different civilizations under their control. Rome granted that the original customs, courtesies, beliefs, and social classes were kept. Women of Gaul kept their place in their society, as did everyone else in their respected culture that the Romans had conquered. In China, however, they did not conquer many different civilizations as the Romans did. So the place women had was quite uniform across the civilization.
Even though women were second class citizens within their own social rank they hold some important positions; religion did not dictate the role of women but man did. Women in ancient Rome and China were not allowed to hold political offices, they could not represent in matters of law, but they could perform religious duties. Women in ancient Rome were allowed greater freedoms that women in ancient China.