Women in Rome
n the first century BC married women kept part of their independence. With the most obliging form of marriage - sine manu - a woman remained a part of her family and officially she didn't stand under the authority of her husband. In case of a divorce the dowry could even be claimed back by her family.
In spite of these rules, which looked rather friendly for women, marriage wasn't that nice for a lot of women. They were often married off when they were only twelve to fourteen years old to men who were much older. A married woman with a high social status was very busy with keeping the house. She had to organize a big household with many slaves. That took much time and was very demanding, especially if her husband served in the army. In ancient Rome women spent most of their time at home. During the late republic women more and more appeared in public. In sexual matters the Romans had very illogical ideas. Women were punished a lot harder for things like adultery than men.
In many marriage agreements it was stated that getting children was an important intention. Growth of the population was very important for a state, which was involved in a lot of warfare. Still the families stayed small. Sometimes this was on purpose. All children had to follow the same laws of succession; so many children led to the breaking up of the family property. If a couple couldn't get any children the woman was automatically blamed for infertility. The man had the right to divorce his wife.
The late republic knew a lot of educated women. Most of the men, however, disapproved of too much intelligence on a woman's side. At first men were also negative about cosmetics, which arose in the second century BC. But after a while the protests died down. At the end of the republic the fashionable women made themselves up to a large extent. Cosmetics had become an important part of daily life.
As far as hairstyle goes, during the late republic it was normal to tie your hair in a knot. On the wedding day the hair was split into six locks, which were tied together in the form of a cone on top of a woman's head.