This law served well in a time of trial; but that
has passed, and we are enjoying the return of plenty. Shall our matrons
be the only ones who may not feel the improvement that has followed a
successful war? Shall our children, and we ourselves, wear purple, and
shall it be interdicted to our wives? Elegances of appearance and
ornaments and dress are the women's badges of distinction; in them they
delight and glory, and our ancestors called them the women's world.
Still, they desire to be under control of those who are bound to them
by the bonds of love, not by stern law, in these matters. The consul
just now used invidious terms, calling this a female 'secession' as
though our matrons were about to seize the Sacred Mount or the
Aventine, as the plebeians did of yore; but their feeble nature is
incapable of such a thing. They must necessarily submit to what you
think proper, and the greater your power the more moderation should you
use in exercising it. "Thus, day after day, the men spoke and the women
poured out to protest, until even stern and inflexible Cato gave way,
and women were declared free from the restrictions of the Oppian law.
[Figure: ROMAN HEAD-DRESSES.]
Cato and Scipio represented the two forces that were at this time
working in society, the one opposing the entrance of the Grecian
influence, and the other encouraging the refinement in manners and
modes of living that came with it, even encouraging ostentation and the
lavish use of money for pleasures.
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