INTRODUCTION

A basic level of food, clothing and shelter was all anyone even dreamed of achieving in a stone-age hunting and gathering society. The best hunter might have earned the right to the choicest cut of meat, but otherwise everyone was more or less equal. The switch to an agricultural economy changed that by creating the opportunity for surplus food that could be used to pay specialists to produce something beyond mere necessities. An agricultural society was a wealthier one, but a new set of problems emerged. Communities without wealth were tempted to declare war on those that were rich. People who had accumulated a little extra feared those with less would steal it. Food reserves were needed for the inevitable periods of famine. The trade that increased wealth for everyone was possible only in an orderly society. The state was the invention that was created to solve these problems. There can be no doubt that the state, with its system of government and law, did increase the total wealth of a community, but a new set of problems emerged that humanity is still struggling to resolve thousands of years later: uneven distribution of wealth, rigid class barriers, and unequal gender status. We tend to think of womens liberation and feminism as a late Twentieth Century phenomenon, but even in the ancient world there were a few women who carved out significant roles for themselves, and the status of women varied considerably from one civilization to another. This web site will look at the lives of these women and at the lives of their more ordinary sisters.

ANCIENT WORLD VIEW

Every society has its own way of looking at the world and any attempt to examine one age through the eyes of another is bound to result in misunderstanding. The ancient and modern worlds are different in many ways, but four have an impact on our study of the place and role of women in the past. 1. Jobs

Parents in a modern industrialized country expect their children to grow up, get a job, and move out to live on their own. Most people in the ancient world made their living through agriculture. Since farming requires ownership of, or at least, access to land, agriculture was of necessity a family business. There was a small middle class. Depending on the society, it consisted of priests, scribes, bureaucrats and craftsmen. These pursuits did provide jobs in our sense of the word, but more often than not the jobs went to the sons of previous workers. The family then was still necessary to find work. Rome and New Kingdom Egypt had standing armies, but most of the soldiers were single men and therefore outside the scope of this web site. Jobs for women were largely limited to work as household servants. Gender bias is a part, but only a part, of the reason unattached women had such a difficult time in the ancient world. Marriage was an important component of the economic as well as the social system of the ancient world, and men also had a difficult time outside of the army if they were beyond the support of a family. 2. Marriage Marriage was the normal state in the ancient world. Athenian men put it off until the age of 30 or so, but most everyone else, male or female, married soon after puberty. A single women might find employment in a temple or as a household servant, but otherwise she would have trouble supporting herself. A single man could provide food, but might not have the time to prepare it or make his clothes, etc. Life was harsh and death lurked around every corner. A high birth rate was essential if society was to survive, and a man or woman lucky enough to reach old age would need a son to provide support. 3. Family Access to land for farming (the dominant occupation) was only available through the family.

In the absence of government sponsored social services it was the family that cared for the sick and the old. 4. Individual and society The modern world tends to stress the individual. A particular cultural or ethnic group may want to enforce its traditions on all members of the group, but developed economies tend to emphasize individual freedoms in some sort of charter or bill of rights. The ancient world, however, stressed the needs of the group over the rights of the individual.

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DOWRY AND BRIDE PRICE

Love and affection sometimes played a role (Ancient Egypt is a good example), but marriage was always an economic union. Every business transaction has financial questions that have to be answered, and marriage is no exception. The following chart summarizes the financial considerations facing every marriage and suggests the range of answers possible in the Ancient World. More detailed information can be found under the specific civilizations.

QUESTIONS

POSSIBLE ANSWERS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD

Engagements were usually short unless the bride was under age. Where long engagements were common the law usually What guarantee is there that the groom will saw little difference between betrothal and not change his mind between the betrothal marriage. and the wedding? BRIDE PRICE was a sum of money (or property) paid as a gesture of sincerity. This is similar to the modern

engagement ring except that the bride price usually went to the bride's father and was usually just a token. Who will administer the assets of the new partnership? The husband was the usual head of the household in the Ancient World. While the bride usually moved to the groom's home (and not vice versa), it seemed not unreasonable to the ancients that the bride should contribute a reasonable part of the cost of setting up a new family. While the DOWRY provided the bride with economic protection against divorce or the death of the groom, it was also a means whereby the bride's family could share in the expenses of beginning a new and self-sufficient household. While there were local variations, the DOWRY generally reverted to the woman and enable her to remarry or at least to support herself. If she died the dowry usually passed to her children (and not the children of her husband by another wife). In some societies a woman could write a will and in others she could not.

How much of the required start-up capital should come from the groom's family and how much should come from the bride's family?

If the new economic unit fails (that is, the marriage ends through death or divorce) what should happen to the assets of the marriage.

This was the rationale for BRIDE PRICE in very primitive societies. It may have Since the bride (or groom in some societies) existed among the Hebrews in their earliest will be moving from one economic unit to days but did not otherwise apply to any of another, is the economic unit that is losing a the great civilizations of the Ancient World member entitled to compensation for lost where references to BRIDE PRICE are labor? more usually tokens to demonstrate sincerity.

ANCIENT EGYPT
There is no evidence of the dowry in Ancient Egypt under the Pharaohs. When first the Greeks and then the Romans took control of Egypt signs of the dowry begin to appear, but not until then. It is possible that they existed and all of the evidence has disappeared; it is more likely, however, that the practice never came to Egypt. Perhaps there was no need for it since women could own and manage their own property.

Daughters could inherit along with their brothers. There are surviving wills that specify the estate should go to some children and not others, the favored children being the ones who had helped look after the parent. Women could write wills and leave their property as they wished. In general, however, it seems that most people did not write a will and that their estates were divided equally among all of their children, both sons and daughters. There does appear to be one rule that was always enforced: you had to participate in the burial in order to inherit.

ATHENS
No woman in Athens could own anything more than her own clothing, jewelry and personal slave. She could not sign a contract or purchase anything more expensive than a bushel of barley. She required a male guardian to look after her and to manage her financial interests. The guardian (kyrios) was her father, husband or closest male relative. When she was ready to marry, her father or other guardian would choose a potential husband and negotiate with him on the size of the dowry. Invariably a woman with a large dowry would marry a rich man and a woman with a small dowry would marry a poor man. We noted in a previous web-page that part of the function of a dowry was to enlist the services of the bride's family in providing the startup capital needed to set up a new family. As might be expected, the dowry would be administered in whatever way was considered normal in that society for all financial transactions. In Athens it was the husband who handled all of the business affairs of the family. A second function of the dowry was to provide a financial base that would assure the essentials of life for the wife regardless of whatever disasters might befall. In Athens the dowry was administered by the husband who could spend the proceeds on his family in whatever way he felt appropriate. The dowry, however, remained the property of the wife. There was no legal requirement that a man provide dowries, but the social pressure to do so was enormous. It was inconceivable that a man would fail to do so. The absence of a dowry would call into question the legitimacy of the marriage. A father was expected to provide equal dowries for all of his daughters. Land was generally reserved for the sons, but fathers would save as much as possible of other forms of wealth to provide for their daughters. Such wealth was invested in mortgages or business and the income used by the new family. In the event of the death of her husband, or a divorce (regardless of blame) the capital value of the dowry still belonged to the wife. . Of course, no woman could own property, so even though the dowry was hers she would need a man to administer it on her behalf.

That man would be an adult son, father or other male relative. The guardian would then be required to use the proceeds from the dowry for the support of the widow or for arrangement of a new marriage. The dowry helped provide the capital to start a new family and provided a sort of insurance policy to look a woman who faced serious financial trouble. At her death the capital value of her dowry was divided equally amongst her sons. At death a man's estate was divided equally among his legitimate sons. In essence, a daughter received a smaller share of her father's estate but she got it when she married rather than at his death. When the father died the daughter received nothing more, unless there were no sons. A woman was in a somewhat precarious state if her father died without a son. If there were no sons (or sons of sons) then the estate would be divided among the daughters. So far so good, but the nearest male relative of the deceased was entitled to become the guardian of the estate if he were willing to marry the daughter. He could claim her as his wife even if she were already married to someone else unless she had already produced a child of her own. This apparently did not happen that often, but some Athenian women did find themselves divorced because their husbands found they could acquire a larger dowry if they married someone else.

ANCIENT ROME
Before the Second Century BCE dowries were seldom more than a small plot of land and a few household articles. As the empire expanded and more wealth flowed into Rome the dowry grew. In the upper classes it could represent a sizable transfer of wealth. Coming up with a dowry as daughters were ready to marry was never easy. It is one thing to pass on your wealth to your children at death, but it is another to do so before. Fortunately there were mortgages to assist and the dowry was often paid in three yearly installments. Although a dowry belonged to the wife, it was always administered by the husband along with all of the other family assets. Returning a dowry in case of divorce could create considerable hardship for husbands in times of economic downturn. The dowry was a means of sharing the cost of setting up a new family. It was also a way of ensuring that a woman always had some way of looking after herself in case of widowhood or divorce. If her husband died or if they divorced the dowry was returned to her. In the Empire the law permitted the husband to retain a sixth of the dowry if his wife had committed adultery. He could also retain an additional sixth for each of their children who continued to live in his household after the divorce.

In the upper classes where the dowries were quite substantial a divorced or widowed woman could often continue to maintain her lifestyle. Among the poor, however, the dowries were quite small and offered proportionately less protection. The dowry went where the woman went, but in theory at least the it was administered by the man who was her legal guardian.

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WOMEN IN ANCIENT GREECE

Most of our written evidence from the ancient world was produced by educated, wellto-do men. They have undoubtedly left us a reasonably accurate picture of their own life, but how much trust can we put in the comments they made on the lives of everyone else. Nowhere is this situation more troubling than in Ancient Greece where women were largely regarded as inferior creatures scarcely more intelligent than children. Most of the written record comes from Athens; the little bit we know about the other Greek states was more often than not written by an Athenian The picture that emerges is that seen by the men of the age. There is no reason to doubt its accuracy as far as the law and public appearance is concerned and we certainly know what men thought of women. What women's life was like out of public sight or in the company of other women must remain largely a mystery to us. Keep that caveat in mind as you proceed to the pages on specific aspects of Ancient Greece.

What Did Ancient Greek Men Wear?

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Men Formal Suits Fashion Wear

Ancient Greek men's clothes were simple and functional, often made from homespun fabrics or linen. Garments usually consisted of a single cloth that was draped and pinned, but seldom sewn. While these garments were simple in design, the fabrics were often colored and patterned.

1. Basic Apparel
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The basic garment for men was a tunic known as the chiton, a linen cloth draped over both shoulders and drawn in at the waist. For physically strenuous tasks, men wore the exomis, a shorter lighter-weight version of the chiton draped over one shoulder.

Accessories
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Greek men often wore a himation, a rectangular cloak usually worn over the chiton and made from a heavy fabric that was draped diagonally over the shoulder like a stole for warmth. Youths would at times wear a chlamys, a short cape-like cloak, over an exomis. For the summer heat, men sometimes wore a petasos, a wide brimmed hat.

Footwear

Ancient Greek men sometimes wore sandals made from leather, cloth or wood. But more often, men, like ancient Greek women and children, simply went barefoot.

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References

Ancient Greek Costume University Press Inc.: Ancient Greece: Clothing Woodlands Junior School: Ancie

Read more: What Did Ancient Greek Men Wear? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_6921082_did-ancient-greek-men-wear_.html#ixzz1ctjgh1oU

Clothing
Ancient Greek clothing was typically homemade and the same piece of homespun fabric that was used as a type of garment, or blanket. From Greek vase paintings and sculptures, we can tell that the fabrics were intensely colored and usually decorated with intricate designs. Clothing for women and men consisted of two main garments-a tunic (either a peplos or chiton) and a cloak (himation). The peplos was a large rectangle of heavy fabric, usually wool, folded over along the upper edge so that the over fold (apoptygma) would reach to the waist. It was placed around the body and fastened at the shoulders with a pin or brooch. There were armholes were on each side, and the open side of the garment was either left that way, or pinned or sewn to form a seam.

The chiton was made of a much lighter material, normally linen. It was a very long and very wide rectangle of fabric sewn up at the sides, pinned or sewn at the shoulders, and usually girded around the waist. Often the chiton was wide enough to allow for sleeves that were fastened along the upper arms with pins or buttons. Both the peplos and chiton were floor-length garments that were usually long enough to be pulled over the belt, creating a pouch known as a kolpos. Under either garment, a woman might have worn a soft band, known as a strophion, around the mid-section of the body. Men in ancient Greece customarily wore a chiton similar to the one worn by women, but knee-length or shorter. An exomis (a short chiton fastened on the left shoulder) was worn for exercise, horse riding, or hard labor. The himation (cloak) worn by both women and men was essentially a rectangular piece of heavy fabric, either woolen or linen. It was draped diagonally over one shoulder or symmetrically over both shoulders, like a stole. Women sometimes wore an epiblema (shawl) over the peplos or chiton. Young men often wore a chlamys (short cloak) for riding. Greek men occasionally wore a broad-brimmed hat (petasos), and on rare occasions, Greek women donned a flat-brimmed one with a high peaked crown.

Footwear
Women and men wore sandals, slippers, soft shoes, or boots, although at home they usually went barefoot.

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Fashion in Ancient Greece

Clothing in ancient Greece was loose fitting, unlike the tight-fitting outfits

worn by those people the Greeks considered barbarians. Both men and women typically wore sleeveless tunics. The womens tunics were usually ankle length, while the mens were shorter. For the common person, the color of cloth was plain. Those with the financial resources had their clothing dyed in various colors. During the winter, a heavy wool cloak was worn for warmth. Greeks went barefoot or wore sandals outside the home. Inside the home, they went barefoot. Archeological excavations in various Greek sites have given evidence that jewelry was popular in ancient Greece. Women wore earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. Evidence suggests that men in early Greece wore jewelry also, but by the fourth century, it appears that the trend had ended. Hairstyles in ancient Greece also changed over time. In the early days of Greece, men normally wore their hair short and grew beards. During the Hellenistic era, beards went out of style. Long hair was typical for Greek women; only slave women would wear their hair short. Women curled and braided their hair in early Greece. Later the style was to tie their hair back or put it up into a bun.

Makeup was used in ancient Greece. Rich women stayed indoors most of the day. Pale skin was fashionable and a sign of prestige. Women applied white lead (which was toxic) to their faces to lighten their complexion. Chalk was also used to lighten their complexion, but it wore off quickly. Connected eyebrows were also fashionable, so women decorated their eyes with dark powder. Red powder was also applied to their cheeks.

Daily Life in Ancient Greece

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