The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-25


could put away his wife according 70 bis CO.
pricious humor. and take n fairsr. younger.
and richer woman. He could dissolve the
marriage bond without other formally
than an attestation in writing before
the archon; the wife had practically no power to
refuse. while. on tho other hand, she could not
dissolve tho marriage without her husbands
consent, The moral standard OF tho Spartan
wives was far lower than that Of the Athenian.
The former were taught, when maidons. to en-
gage In exercises that strengthened their
bodies. but at the sacrifice of female modesty.
The idea Of conjuRal fidelity was not seriously
entertained. Adultery was 30 common that It
was scarcely regarded as q crime. Aristotle says
that tho Spartan wives lived In unbridlcd licen-
tiousness. 1t Ia true, indeed, that tho domestic
life Of Greece was founded on monogamy. Yet,
while tho law restricted the husband to ono wife
for tho guardian OF his home. It tolerated
and even sanctioned the hetairai, who boro
TO him the relation OF inferior wives, and
who enjoyed his society moro frequently
and received moro homage from him than
his lawful spouse. While tho education. moro
over, of the wife was of q most elementary
character, the greatest care was lavished upon
the cultivation Of the minds Of tho hetdirai, that
they might entertain their paramour by their
wit while they fascinated him by their charms.
The wife. in q word. was n beast OF burden; the
mistress was q pctted and pampered animal.
The hetdirdi derived additional Importance
from being legally chosen to offer sacrifice on
certain public occasions. The names of many
OF them have come down to us. whereas 1t 10 a
significant fact that no virtuous woman has
left q durable record In tho history of Greece.
With such an experience before him., no wonder
that the daily prayer Of Socrates was a thanks.
giving to tho gods that no was born neither q
slave Tor a woman.
In Rome, especially during the earlior days Of
the republic, monogamy was upheld. at least
nominally, but. while the wife was punished
summarily for the violation Of the marriage
vows, the husband could break them with i'm
punity. Toward the end of the republic, and
under the empire. the disorders of nuptial life
increased to an alarming extent. There was q
tremendous rebound on tho part Of Roman
wives, particularly among tho upper classes,
from the restraints Of former days to the most
unlimited license. They rivalled the wanton-
ness Of the stcrner sex. So notorious was their
lack of morals in the time Of Augustus that mon
preferred a life Of celibacy to an alliance with
partners bereft of every trace of female virtue.
The strict form Of marriage became almost
obsolete, and a laxer one. unattended by any re-
liGious or civil m and resting solely on
mutual agreement. became general. Each party
could dissolve the marriage bond at will and
upon the most trining pretext, and both were
free to enter forthwith into n second union.
Marriage, consequently, came to be treated with
extreme levity. Cicero repudiated his wife
Terentia. simply that he might obtain q coveted
dowry with another; he discarded the latter be-
cause she did not lament the death OF his daugh-
ter by the former. Cato was divorced from his
wife Attilia after she had borne him two chill
dren. and he transferred his second wife to his
friend Hortensius, after whose death he married
her again. Augustus compelled the husband of
Livia to abandon her that she might become
his own wife. Sempronius Sophus divorced
his wife because she went once to the
public games without his knowledge. Paulus
E.milius dismissed his wife. the mother of
Scipio Africanus Minor without any reason
whatever. Sylla repudiated his wife during her
illness. ordering her to be conveyed to another
house. Pompeius Magnus was divorced and
was remarked a number of times. Wives emu
lated husbands in the number of their divorces.
Martial speaks of q woman who had married
her tenth husband. Juvenal refers to one who
had had eight husbands In five years. There
is not a woman left" says Seneca. who is
ashamed Of being divorced. now that tho most
distinguished of great ladies reckon years not
by the Consuls. but by their husbands" st.
Jerome declares that there dwelt in Rome q
woman who had married her twenty-third hus.
band. she being his twenty first wife.