§3.1τῆς δὲ περὶ τοὺς γάμους καὶ τὰς τεκνώσεις κοινωνίας τὸ ἀζηλότυπον ὀρθῶς καὶ πολιτικῶς ἐμποιοῦντες ἀμφότεροι τοῖς ἀνδράσιν οὐ κατὰ πᾶν εἰς τοῦτο συνηνέχθησαν, ἀλλʼ ὁ Ῥωμαῖος μὲν ἀνὴρ ἱκανῶς ἔχων παιδοτροφίας, ὑφʼ ἑτέρου δὲ πεισθεὶς δεομένου τέκνων, ἐξίστατο τῆς γυναικός, ἐκδόσθαι καὶ μετεκδόσθαι κύριος ὑπάρχων, ὁ δὲ Λάκων, οἴκοι τῆς γυναικὸς οὔσης παρʼ αὐτῷ καὶ τοῦ γάμου μένοντος ἐπὶ τῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς δικαίων, μετεδίδου τῷ πείσαντι τῆς κοινωνίας εἰς τέκνωσιν.
In instilling into husbands a lack of jealousy regarding the partnership of marriage and child-bearing, both acted rightly and statesmanship-like, yet they did not agree in this entirely. For the Roman husband, having sufficient child-rearing of his own, when persuaded by another who was in need of children, would surrender his wife, having the authority to give her in marriage and to give her again; whereas the Laconian, while his wife remained at home with him and the marriage continued on its original terms, would share her partnership for child-bearing with the one who persuaded him.
§3.2πολλοὶ δέ, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, καὶ παρακαλοῦντες εἰσῆγον ἐξ ὧν ἂν ἐδόκουν μάλιστα παῖδας εὐειδεῖς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς γενέσθαι, τίς οὖν ἡ διάκρισις τῶν ἐθισμῶν;
Indeed, many, as has been said, even invited and brought in men from whom they thought the most well-favored and noble children would be born. What, then, is the difference between these customs?
ἢ ταῦτα μὲν ἰσχυρὰ καὶ ἄκρατος ἀπάθεια πρὸς γαμετὴν καὶ τὰ ταράττοντα καὶ κατακαίοντα ζηλοτυπίαις τοὺς πολλούς, ἐκεῖνα δὲ ὥσπερ αἰσχυνομένη ἀτυφία τίς, παρακάλυμμα τὴν ἐγγύην ἐφελκομένη καὶ τὸ δυσκαρτέρητον ἐξομολογουμένη τῆς κοινωνίας;
Is it that the former is a strong and unmixed apathy toward a wife and those things that agitate and inflame most men with jealousy, while the latter is a kind of embarrassed modesty, drawing betrothal as a veil and confessing how hard it is to endure the sharing of a wife?
§3.3ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον ἡ περὶ τὰς παρθένους φυλακὴ κατέσταλται τῷ Νομᾷ πρὸς τὸ θῆλυ καὶ κόσμιον ἡ δὲ τοῦ Λυκούργου παντάπασιν ἀναπεπταμένη καὶ ἄθηλυς οὖσα τοῖς ποιηταῖς λόγον παρέσχηκε.
Furthermore, the supervision of maidens was regulated by Numa to promote femininity and order, whereas that of Lycurgus was entirely unrestricted and unfeminine, providing a pretext for the poets.
φαινομηρίδας τε γὰρ αὐτὰς ἀποκαλοῦσιν, ὡς Ἴβυκος, καὶ ἀνδρομανεῖς λοιδοροῦσιν, ὡς Εὐριπίδης, λέγων· "
αἳ σὺν νέοισιν ἐξερημοῦσιν δόμους
γυμνοῖσι μηροῖς καὶ πέπλοις ἀνειμένοις. "
For they call them "thigh-showers," as Ibycus does, and mock them as "mad for men," as Euripides does, saying: "Who leave their homes along with young men, with naked thighs and loosened robes.
§3.4τῷ γὰρ ὄντι τοῦ παρθενικοῦ χιτῶνος αἱ πτέρυγες οὐκ ἦσαν συνερραμμέναι κάτωθεν, ἀλλʼ ἀνεπτύσσοντο καὶ συνανεγύμνουν ὅλον ἐν τῷ βαδίζειν τὸν μηρόν.
"For in truth, the flaps of a maiden's tunic were not sewn together at the bottom, but would fly open and lay bare the whole thigh in walking.
καὶ σαφέστατα τὸ γινόμεοον εἴρηκε Σοφοκλῆς ἐν τούτοις· "
καὶ τὰν νέορτον, ἇς ἔτʼ ἄστολος χιτὼν
θυραῖον ἀμφὶ μηρὸν
πτύσσεται, Ἑρμιόναν. "
Sophocles has expressed this occurrence most clearly in these lines: "And the young Hermione, whose tunic, not yet arranged, folds back around her bare thigh.
§3.5διὸ καὶ θρασύτεραι λέγονται γενέσθαι καὶ πρὸς αὐτοὺς πρῶτον ἀνδρώδεις τοὺς ἄνδρας, ἅτε δὴ τῶν μὲν οἴκων ἄρχουσαι κατὰ κράτος, ἐν δὲ τοῖς δημοσίοις πράγμασι καὶ γνώμης μεταλαμβάνουσαι καὶ παρρησίας περὶ τῶν μεγίστων, ὁ δὲ Νομᾶς ταῖς γαμεταῖς τὸ μὲν ἀξίωμα καὶ τὴν τιμὴν ἐτήρησε πρὸς τοὺς ἄνδρας, ἣν εἶχον ἀπὸ Ῥωμύλου θεραπευόμεναι διὰ τὴν ἁρπαγήν, αἰδῶ δὲ πολλὴν ἐπέστησεν αὐταῖς καὶ πολυπραγμοσύνην ἀφεῖλε καὶ νήφειν ἐδίδαξε καὶ σιωπᾶν εἴθισεν, οἴνου μὲν ἀπεχομένας τὸ πάμπαν, λόγῳ δὲ μηδὲ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἀνδρὸς ἄνευ χρωμένας.
"On this account, they are said to have become quite bold, and in the first place, masculine toward their own husbands, since they ruled their households with absolute power, and even took part in public affairs, sharing in decision-making and speaking with freedom on the most important matters. Numa, on the other hand, preserved for wives their dignity and honor in relation to their husbands, which they had enjoyed since Romulus's time, being treated with care because of their abduction, but he imposed upon them great modesty, took away their meddlesomeness, taught them sobriety, and accustomed them to silence, making them abstain entirely from wine, and not even speak on necessary matters without their husbands.
§3.6λέγεται γοῦν ποτε γυναικὸς εἰπούσης δίκην ἰδίαν ἐν ἀγορᾷ πέμψαι τὴν σύγκλητον εἰς θεοῦ, πυνθανομένην τίνος ἄρα τῇ πόλει σημεῖον εἴη τὸ γεγενημένον.
At any rate, it is said that once, when a woman pleaded her own case in the forum, the senate sent to the oracle of the god, inquiring what this event portended for the city.
καὶ τῆς ἄλλης εὐπειθείας καὶ πρᾳότητος αὐτῶν μέγα τεκμήριον ἡ μνήμη τῶν χειρόνων.
And a great proof of their general obedience and gentleness is the remembrance of worse things.
ὡς γὰρ παρʼ ἡμῖν οἱ ἱστορικοὶ γράφουσι τοὺς πρώτους ἢ φόνον ἐμφύλιον ἐργασαμένους ἢ πολεμήσαντας ἀδελφοῖς ἢ πατρὸς αὐτόχειρας ἢ μητρὸς γενομένους, §3.7οὕτω Ῥωμαῖοι μνημονεύουσιν ὅτι πρῶτος μὲν ἀπεπέμψατο γυναῖκα Σπόριος Καρβίλιος, μετὰ τὴν Ῥώμης κτίσιν ἔτεσι τριάκοντα καὶ διακοσίοις οὐδενὸς τοιούτου γεγονότος, πρώτη δὲ γυνὴ Πιναρίου Θαλαία τοὔνομα διηνέχθη πρὸς ἑκυρὰν αὑτῆς Γεγανίαν Ταρκυνίου Σουπέρβου βασιλεύοντος, οὕτω καλῶς καὶ κοσμίως τεταγμένα τὰ τῶν γάμων ἦν ὑπὸ τοῦ νομοθέτου.
For just as among us, historians record those who first committed civil bloodshed, or fought against brothers, or became the murderers of father or mother, so the Romans record that Spurius Carvilius was the first to divorce his wife, two hundred and thirty years after the founding of Rome, no such thing having occurred before; and that the first woman to quarrel with her mother-in-law, Gegania, was Thalaia, wife of Pinarius, during the reign of Tarquinius Superbus; so beautifully and orderly had matters of marriage been regulated by the lawgiver.