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Three common activities for poor women in ancient Rome:
shop keepers weavers homemakers
Aristocratic Women in ancient Rome:
Roman aristocratic women influenced politics, but they could not serve as magistrates, senators, or military commanders. During the empire, the wives of emperors began to wield more power than women had ever held before. Women did not have a choice between having children or not, and they could not overrule the husband if he chose to expose a newborn. Many female infants were exposed by their families because they could not carry on the family name and they also required a dowry at the time of their marriage.
Roman women were citizens from the earlier ages of the Republic. They did not have the right to vote or stand for political office. However, some women became very powerful in politics because of their association with powerful men:
Livia
Livia was originally married to Tiberius Claudius Nero. She had two sons Drusus and Tiberius (later emperor Tiberius). Unfortunately Livia was forced to divorce and marry Augustus and was the wife of Augustus for over fifty years, from 38 BC until his death in AD 14 , an astonishingly long time in view of life expectancy in ancient Rome. They remained married despite the fact that she bore him no child. Roman women were expected to bear sons. Livia was an intelligent and an efficient administrative helper to her husband.
Agrippina the Elder
Emperor Augustus had a daughter Julia. Julia married Augusts' good, loyal friend Agrippa. They had a daughter Agrippina the Elder. Agrippina the Elder was herself a highly respected member of Roman high society and her opinions, if voiced publicly, could be dangerous. Agrippina wasn't a very influential person in political terms, but she was very central in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She married Germanicus, a popular military commander.
Agrippina the Younger
Agrippina the younger was one of three daughters of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder. She was thirty - four years old when the Roman emperor Claudius married her in A. D. 49. When Claudius was nearing the end of his life, Agrippina became ambitious and took power into her own hands. During the last five years of Claudius's rein she got more and more power. As a teenager she had a son Nero (Later to become emperor Nero). She made Claudius adopt him to secure he would one day be emperor. After Claudius died, Nero was 17 and wasn't allowed to legally rule in his own name. So Agrippina took over. For the first time someone got the name AVGVSTA, meaning "empress", and her portrait appeared on coins with that of her son. Up until that time, women of the imperial household had only been portrayed on coins after they had died.
For additional information visit:
http://www.dominae.fws1.com/imperial_women/
