Status of Women in Ancient Rome

Women were not citizens of Rome. Only adult free men were citizens. The ancient Roman men believed that a women had to be under a guardianship. That guardianship could be a father or a husband. But they believed a women was unable to direct her own activities. As Cicero once said of early Roman men, 'Our ancestors, in their wisdom, considered that all women, because of their innate weakness, should be under the control of guardians.'