Feminists In The Roman Empire
On top of all of that, did you know that at the time of the apostle Paul, in those days, in the Roman Empire, there was a feminist rebellion? Nothing new has ever happened, folks, I want you to know that. Nothing new. Solomon was right, “There’s nothing new under the sun.”
And this is a quote from Jérôme Carcopino, who’s written an interesting book called Daily Life in Rome. It said, “Alongside the heroines of the aristocracy, the irreproachable wives, and the excellent mothers who were still found within its ranks, it is easy to cite emancipated or rather unbridled wives who evaded the duties of maternity for fear of losing their good looks; some took pride in being behind their husbands in no sphere of activity, and vied with them in tests of strength, which their sex would have seemed to forbid; some were not content to live their lives by their husband’s side, but carried on another life without him.
“Whether because of voluntary birth control, or because of the impoverished stock, many Roman marriages at the end of the first and the beginning of the second centuries were childless.”
The movement even became more widespread. Juvenal, he says – this is a quote – “With spear in hand and breasts exposed, who took to pig sticking.” “Others attended chariot races in men’s clothing, and some became wrestlers.” You always wondered where women wrestlers got their start – in Ancient Rome.
Juvenal says this, again writing from the Roman viewpoint, “What modesty can you expect in a woman who wears a helmet, hates her own sex, and delights in feats of strength?” End quote. Not exactly my kind of woman, have to admit.
Before long, marriage began to suffer. Vows were violated. Women demanded to live their own lives, and as soon as the women wanted out, the husbands could take about so much of that, and then they were happy to let them out. And men began to discard their women as fast as women began to leave. And they would discard their women for going out without a veil, for speaking to the wrong person in public, for going somewhere or doing something without asking their permission. They would divorce a woman to get a richer one. Cicero did that. And women began to shed husbands.
Juvenal writes, “Thus does she lord it over her husband. But before long, she vacates her kingdom. She flits from one house to another, wearing out her bridal veil.” End quote.
So, you can see that the picture of marriage was a very confused thing. There was in and out of marriage, divorce was rife. There were problems with whose really married and whose not married. And what about the guy who used to live in tent companionship and somebody sold off his wife. Can he remarry again? And they had a lot of problems about resolving everything.
Well, let me add one other problem they had. In the midst of all of this, some would suggest that the best way out is never to get married. Just forget the whole thing. And they began to elevate that through the idea of celibacy becoming a spiritually elite people. If you weren’t married, and you were single, and you were celibate, you were sort of a spiritual super person. You had denied yourself the flesh. You had laid aside all of those things and totally devoted yourself to Jesus Christ. And there was a prevailing view, in the Corinthian church, that celibacy was the highest form of Christian life. To never get married, to have no sexual relationship at all. And it got so bad that people were not only not getting married, but condemning the people who were married, and the people who were married were leaving their partners in order to be celibate so they could be more spiritual. And people who were married to an unbeliever were getting out fast because there was supposedly a defilement in being married to an unbeliever and having a sexual relationship with an unbeliever.