Introduction
Because there are so many different stories that can be chosen to talk about the ancient world, and in particular the Greco-Roman civilization, it is important to choose a topic that typifies the entire civilization. An individual’s story can vary, depending on what the storyteller thinks is important. The first topic that I think should be kept in mind is female infanticide. Infants are the most vulnerable of humans. If couples decide that boys are more important than girls, that is an indicator of how women were treated as they went through life.
Female Infanticide in the Ancient World
Neither infanticide nor abortion were illegal in the Roman Empire. Their attitude was like that of the Greeks. Consider this letter from a husband to a wife:
Know the I am still in Alexandria. And do not worry if they all come back, and I remain in Alexandria. I ask and beg you to take good care of our baby son, and as soon as I receive payment I will send it up to you. If you are delivered of a child, if it is a boy keep it, if a girl discard it. You have sent me word, “Don’t forget me.” How can I forget you? I beg you not to worry.[1]
This letter was written in 1 BC, which is around the time of Jesus’ birth. Note the tender concern of a husband for his wife and son, and the utter disregard for a daughter: If a girl, discard it. That about sums up the view of women in the ancient world. A study of 600 families, known from inscriptions at Delphi, showed that only 6 of them raised more than one daughter.
It might be argued that this did not reflect the status of women after they were born, but in fact it did. Studies done in the Roman Empire show that the sex ratio, which should be approximately 100:100 (men to women) was 131:100 in Rome and 140:100 in Italy and the colonies[2]. In the Roman Empire, men far outnumbered women. This is due not only to female infanticide but also the horrific mortality rate due to childbearing and abortion.
Sociologists who have studied sex ratios say that women have more freedom and respect in a society when the sex ratio is nearly equal. Where men outnumber women, women are ‘scarce goods’, and tight control is placed upon them. It is not clear which is the cause and which the effect. It could be said that men outnumber women because women are held in low esteem, or women are held in low esteem because men outnumber women.
There was no knowledge of sterilization in ancient Rome. Abortion was widely practiced. It often resulted in either death or loss of fertility. Women, at least at the top of society in Rome, enjoyed a wide range of action to party, drink and compete with men. They had abortions because a baby would interfere with their lifestyle and some poor women did so out of economic reasons. However. It was usually men who made the decision, and there was precedent both in Greek philosophy and in Roman law for this requirement. For example, in Plato’s Republic, abortion was mandatory for women over 40. Thus, even though it was dangerous for a woman, abortion was commonplace in the Roman Empire[3].
This lifestyle was open to the rich woman. For other women, life was difficult. Women slaves, of course, were sex slaves and slept with whomever they were told to sleep with. They were either concubines to a rich man or prostitutes. Business was closed to women; men made most of the money. Female occupations were generally restricted to ill-paid occupations such as hairdresser.
While a man might marry a woman, divorces were common. Rich Roman men typically had (in addition to a wife) a slave-wife, a concubine, with whom he enjoyed marital relations. These couples had something more closely approximating a family life. He could keep tight control over her, and if he wished to make his sons by her his heirs he could always adopt them. Some men, of course, resented even this level of commitment; they had multiple women or even harems[4]. Often, they preferred other men. It goes without saying that there was no stigma attached to adultery on the part of a man. They often frequented prostitutes, and VD was rampant. According to Roman law, he could beat his wife with impunity. While that provision weakened for rich wives, he could always beat a concubine.
The Christian Response
There was a high level of misogyny in Greco-Roman culture. In plays and poetry, women were portrayed in unflattering terms, as adulterers, poisoners, sluts, liars and whores. Juvenal’s 6th satire is on women; he advises men never to marry[5]. A wife was considered a curse by many ancient writers. Women might be ‘liberated’, in the sense that they could have the same loose morals as a man, but they were not held in high esteem. From the start, Christians opposed both abortion and infanticide. They were often ridiculed by pagans because of it. Typically, the child was exposed, i.e. left at a dump or along the side of the road. The mother could console herself that some kind stranger would take the baby girl home. Of course, it was much more likely that dogs would eat her.
Women flocked to the new religion[6]. Jesus was followed by women wherever He went. Pagan women were taught that the gods favored men; Jesus taught the God loved men and women equally. In Heaven, there was no difference between men and women[7]. Christian women did not have to kill their babies on orders from their husbands. Both men and women were taught to refrain from promiscuity, and the marriage bond was indissoluble. There was finally a religion open to women where women were treated with respect and dignity.
From the Bible, it is easy to understand that much of the early support for Christianity came from wealthy women who were disgusted with Greco-Roman society. Early Christianity made most of its converts in the Greek-speaking section of the Roman Empire, and here women’s freedom of action was even more restricted than in the Latin-speaking section. A substantial majority (around 60%) of the early congregations were women[8]. Christianity reversed the sex ratios; there were many more women than men in the early Church. Christians had a shortage of husbands, and pagans had a shortage of wives.
The Apostle Paul talks about marriages between a Christian and a pagan[9]. It is obvious that most such marriages were a Christian woman marrying a pagan man. Typically, the children of such a union were raised Christian, and often the man converted to Christianity. There was no infanticide and no abortion, so many more girls were raised in these households, and they were more valued. Christians tended to increase, since more women were born to them, they did not practice infanticide, and their practices reduced disease incidence. On the other hand, pagans tended to a natural decrease because of their unhealthy lifestyle and female infanticide. Pagans railed against Christianity because of its attractiveness to women. It was to no avail; eventually the pagans died out.
Female infanticide is, to my mind, the hallmark of toxic masculinity. To undervalue girls so much that they are killed before they have a chance at life is appalling discrimination. Christianity put a stop to this inhumane practice so that everyone could have a chance at life.
References
1) Stark, Rodney, The Rise of Christianity, 1996, Harper One, New York, NY, pp 97-98.
2) Ibid.
3) Ibid, pp 119-121.
4) Carcopino, Jerome, Daily Life in Ancient Rome, translated by I. O. Lorimer, 1940, Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, pp 90-100
5) Highet, Gilbert, Juvenal the Satirist, 1954, Oxford University Press, London, UK, pp 91-103.
6) Stark, Rodney, The Rise of Christianity, 1996, Harper One, New York, NY, pp 97-98.
7) Matthew 22:23-30
8) Stark, Rodney, The Rise of Christianity, 1996, Harper One, New York, NY, pp 97-98.
9) 1 Corinthians 7:12-16.
