Roman Women: Expanding out of the house

Roman women were deceitful to a greater degree than Greek women. Assessing Greek society, Schultz writes, "girls were deceiving their husbands about the skills they knew and were simply putting on an act of naivete so that their husbands believed they were in control." These actions allow the husband to feel immediate power over his newfound wife; although in truth, she is deceiving him with her falsely naïve appearance. In contrast, in the Roman story of Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra, who although she was not a Roman lived under Roman social expectations, stages greater acts of deceit, beginning with her first meeting with Antony. Cleopatra works to seduce Antony with many extravagant preparations and succeeded, for "he found the preparations to receive him magnificent beyond words" (Plutarch 293). Antony then falls under her spell and through deceit she is able to keep him from leaving her in Egypt by "adapt[ing] a rigorous diet, and succeed[ing] in making her body waste away" (Plutarch 293). Roman’s took deceit to a greater degree and consequently it gave them more power over their husbands and their actions.

Schultz also explains the Greek ideal that women and men belong in different spheres. For men and women were ðegregated into public and private spheres where each spouse had the responsibility to perform the duties in their separate sphere." In Roman culture, women were able assist and establish power in the public sphere along with the private sphere. "She (Cleopatra) was a headstrong woman who enjoyed meddling in politics" (Plutarch 297). However, there is no mention of men inheriting any of the female roles from the household, and therefore, it can be assumed that in Roman culture women gained power in the traditional male sphere, while still retaining the power they possessed in the private sphere.

In contrast to Greek culture, Roman culture also lacked the definite gender roles. In Greece, women belonged in the house and that was the sole place where they could make decisions. Schultz writes: "Women had authority over the decisions made in the house." In the Roman Empire this role was expanded, at least for women of political power. Cleopatra possessed a great deal of influence and was even able to change the tactics in a very important battle. "It was Cleopatra’s choice that the war should be decided at sea which finally prevailed" (329). Because she lived in Roman society, Cleopatra possessed power in a place were Greek men would not even consider a woman’s presence, furthermore, her opinion.