New Britain herald., 1923-02-09
By JULIUS MoRIfzEN.


 open. and with that penetrailys
 analytical skill which to-day marks
 Brandes as almos, alone in his parr
 tieulsr field he searches out the
 hooks and corners and brings into
 the light new knowledge af the men
 and women of Rome and the lands
 that Julius Cesar laid captive. The
 panorama that he unf0lds furnishes
 an aggregation Of lovely femlninils,
 side hy side of which we find eFusls
 ". treaeherousness, inhdelity. such
 as this age cannot conceive,
 It is perhaps true that other
 writers have concerned themselves
 with Roman society under Julius
 cssar Rut il is not given 10 every
 out and nut historian to invest his
 work with such pietuFesdueness as
 BFandes has succeeded in throwing
 around the characters after the lapse
 of more than nineteen centuries,
 Herein lies his fascination as a
 writer of historical events. e@sar's
 relations with Cleopatra alone make
 a chapter of unsurpassed yiriliiy.
 During the later years Of his life"
 says Rrandes. Cleopatra meant 10
 him what Asnasia was 10 Psrieies;
 an object for his love and a scandal
 in the eyes of the envions,"
 n..- Eli .f sl. n..
 Of the many women whose names are associated with cesar's only very few present n clear cut nic- ture, declares Brandes In compari- son with the men of the time little Is known about the women. The historians Of antiquity were not in- terested in the sentimental side Of existence. And yet the Danish critic found plenty of material for his molding Take the following. for in- stance: While it was said that during full 500 years no divorce had taken place in Rome. in the period that now occupies us a whirn. a quarrel. love affair. in particular political interests. sufflced to dis solve the marriage pact. The incli- nation to look on marriage as merely formal grew constantly. They tell of a lady who in the early years Of the empire had eight husbands in the course of five years. The dis position to make changes quickly Is evidenced by the actions of another lady who brought it up to twenty three marriages. and her twenty third husband had in her his twenty first wife.
 "In former years the head Of the family possessed unlimited power over every member, not only over the slaves but what we may term as all belonging to the household. Life and death were in his hand. The husband ruled absolutely over his wife's person and property.
 But that time was now long past. Woman had obtained rights and had freed first her person and then her property from the domination of her husband. Right of inheritance was now hers, so that she could dispose at will over property left her. She had even succeeded in having set aside those laws that in former times were decreed against luxury in dress and expensive jewels.
 "Jestingly, the Roman women of Casar's time were referred to as the rulers of the masters of the world Where they possessed fortunes they kept their money affairs in good or der, had as managers lawyers, who. if necessary, instituted lawsuits on their account. Should the husband happen to get in money difficulties it was no rare thing for him to bor- row of his better half, who made him pay high interest. Furthermore. it was not an exceptional thing for the handsome lawyer to become the lady's best friend.
 "In the circus the women sat among the men. The same was the case in the theaters, but here they liked to occupy the upper rows where they could be best observed. They went there perhaps more for the purpose to be seen than themselves see There they were sitting in their handsomest costumes with their most attractive coiffure. They arrived either on foot or were carried there In their sedan chairs. We find from , somewhat later period Ovid's de- scription of the kind of filtration .',,- could take place on such an oc- casion.
 The Play and Poetry. "The Roman women, in contrast Q those of Greece, at the perform lnce of some play could compla- ,ently witness some rather bold comedies. The clever, intellectual among these ladies sometimes gath ,red around them an entire court of admirers who followed them about. Sow and then they would compose rerses, but these were dilettantish. Neither a Sapho nor Corrina sprang rom Roman soil as in the case of Iellas." The relations of Cesar to his wives, Cornelia, Pompeia and Call ,urnia, and also Cleopatra. as well { $ those other women who entered nto his iife, naturally leads us to ex- ,ect that here would be a field where i ;randes would give special evidence i f his skill as a writer of great his- orical happenings. Nor does the ! eader suffer any disappointment on [ hat score. Roman society, luxuri-