It is a rare lecture that can transport you back in time. This Wednesday evening, we were all treated to such a talk at this week’s Rose Cafe. Professor Fontaine gave a detailed political history of the Rome that followed its transition from a republic to an empire. There were a number of fantastic pieces of information, but one of the sets of facts I found most interesting was the conditions that women lived under during the republic. Before Rome became the vast, sprawling Catholic empire most of us would characterize it as, women enjoyed a variety of rights not offered to them in other ancient western societies. The two rights that intrigued me most were their ability to divorce easily, and their ability to own property.

Of course, conditions were far from perfect. They did not have the right to vote in the republic, and enjoyed far fewer rights than their male counterparts. Rome may have been somewhat progressive by Greek standards, but it was in no means “progressive” or any beacon of hope for how equitable societies should be run. The reason these facts struck me the way that they did is because of how these rights changed with the spread of Catholicism. It goes with out saying that laws surrounding marriage were drastically changed, but other rights women had enjoyed changed as well, including things like property rights.

I think it would be interesting to consider the global historical rise of Catholicism from the perspective, as a study of rights and privileges that women lost as it spread.