Our ancestors refused to allow any woman to transact even private business without a guardian to represent her; women had to be under the control of fathers, brothers, or husbands. But we (heaven preserve us!) are now allowing them even to take part in politics, and actually to appear in the Forum and to be present at our meetings and assemblies!... Give a free rein to their unprincipled nature, to this untamed animal, and then expect them to set a limit on their own license!

maiores nostri nullam, ne privatam quidem rem agere feminas sine tutore auctore voluerunt, in manu esse parentium, fratrum, virorum; nos, si diis placet, iam etiam rem publicam capessere eas patimur et foro quoque et contionibus et comitiis immisceri … date frenos impotenti naturae et indomito animali et sperate ipsas modum licentiae facturas;

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Livy. Ab urbe condita [From the Founding of the City]. c. 9 BC, bk. 34, ch. 2, sect. 12.

Current Citation

Livy. Rome and the Mediterranean: History of Rome from Its Foundation, books 31-45, translated by Henry Bettenson. Penguin Classics, 1976, bk. 34, ch. 2.