Women in the home in Rome: the matrona and domestic slaves - OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (Women in the Ancient World) Exam Questions

Practise 30 exam-style questions on Women in the home in Rome: the matrona and domestic slaves for OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (Women in the Ancient World). Write your answer as you would in the exam and get it marked in seconds against the mark scheme, point by point, with an AI tutor on hand if you get stuck.

30 questions
1–8 marks each
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Sample questions with model answers

Here are 4 of the questions in this topic, each with a model answer, an explanation of why it earns the marks and the mark scheme an examiner would use.

Question 1

1 mark

Roman epitaphs sometimes praise a woman as univira. What did this word mean?

Model answer

It meant a woman who had been married to only one husband in her whole life.

Explanation

The univira was the ideal of wifely loyalty (fides); only univirae could act as pronuba at a wedding or take part in certain cults. In the late Republic, when divorce and remarriage were common among the elite, the title became a special mark of honour on tombstones.

Mark scheme

1 mark
A woman who had been married to only one man (in her whole life).
Accept 'a one-man woman' or 'married only once'. Do not accept 'a virgin' or 'a married woman' alone.

Question 2

2 marks

Give two features of how a divorce took place in Rome in the late Republic.

Model answer

No court or ceremony was needed: either the husband or the wife could simply send the other a notice ending the marriage. The dowry was then returned to the wife or her family, although the children stayed with their father.

Explanation

In the late Republic divorce was a private matter and very easy, in contrast to early Rome, where it was said to have been almost unknown for centuries. The return of the dowry protected the wife's family financially, but she usually lost her children, who belonged to their father's family.

Mark scheme

1 mark
First valid feature, e.g.: no court or legal ceremony was needed.
Two from: no court case, official or ceremony was needed; either the husband or the wife (or her father) could end the marriage; it was done by a simple notice, sometimes sent by a messenger, with a formula such as 'take your things for yourself' (tuas res tibi habeto); the dowry was returned to the wife or her family (the husband could keep part of it, e.g. for each child or for her misconduct); the children stayed with their father, in his potestas; both were free to remarry at once.
1 mark
Second, different valid feature.
As above; must be a different feature.

Question 3

3 marks

Source A: Valerius Maximus, Memorable Deeds and Sayings 6.3.10-12 (written about AD 30, describing Roman husbands of earlier centuries)

'Gaius Sulpicius Gallus divorced his wife because he had learned that she had gone out of doors with her head uncovered. ... Quintus Antistius Vetus divorced his wife because he had seen her in public talking privately with a certain common freedwoman. ... Publius Sempronius Sophus divorced his wife for no other reason than that she had dared to watch the games without his knowledge.'

What does Source A suggest about how Roman husbands expected their wives to behave in public? Make three points.

Model answer

It suggests that husbands expected their wives to dress modestly and keep their heads covered when they went out. Wives were also expected to avoid low-status or disreputable company, such as a common freedwoman, in public. And they were not supposed to go to public entertainments like the games without their husband's knowledge, because he controlled where they went.

Explanation

Valerius tells these stories as examples of old-fashioned severity, so by his time they seemed extreme. They show how a matrona's public behaviour was closely linked to her chastity and her husband's honour, and how easily a husband could divorce his wife.

Mark scheme

1 mark
First valid point, e.g.: wives were expected to keep their heads covered / dress modestly in public.
Three from: keep their heads covered / dress modestly outside the house; avoid low-status or disreputable company / not talk privately with such people in public; not go to public entertainments (the games) without their husband's knowledge or permission; ask their husband's permission before going out / he controlled her movements; avoid anything that might cause suspicion about their chastity; a wife's public behaviour reflected on her husband's honour; husbands could divorce wives for even small breaches of these rules.
1 mark
Second, different valid point.
As above.
1 mark
Third, different valid point.
As above; each point must be different.

Question 4

8 marks

Source A: an epitaph from a tomb at Rome

'Here lies Amymone, wife of Marcus, best and most beautiful, a worker of wool, dutiful, modest, careful with money, chaste, stay-at-home.'

To what extent did the Romans value a wife mainly for her work in the home? Use Source A as a starting point and your own knowledge.

Model answer

Source A suggests that a wife was valued mainly for domestic qualities. Amymone is praised as a 'worker of wool', 'careful with money' and 'stay-at-home', as well as dutiful, modest and chaste. Many other epitaphs say the same: Claudia's tombstone ends 'She kept the house. She worked wool', and the husband in the Laudatio Turiae lists his wife's devotion to wool-working and modest dress among her virtues. Wool-working (lanificium) was the symbol of the good matrona, like Lucretia spinning among her maids late at night in Livy's story, and Augustus made a point of wearing clothes made by the women of his family. Running the household, managing the slaves and the stores, was the matrona's main responsibility.

However, Romans valued other qualities too, many of them moral rather than domestic. Amymone is also 'best and most beautiful', and chastity and modesty were about the family's honour and the legitimacy of its children, not about housework; even 'stay-at-home' is really a sign of respectability. Claudia is praised for loving her husband, bearing two sons and being charming in conversation and graceful in movement. Motherhood was highly valued: Cornelia called her sons her 'jewels', and Augustus rewarded mothers of three children. Loyalty mattered most of all in the Laudatio Turiae, where the wife is praised for saving her husband's life with great courage. Pliny valued Calpurnia's intelligence and love of literature.

We should also remember that epitaphs are short and formulaic, written by husbands in conventional language, and that wealthy women had slaves to do most of the work, so 'working wool' was partly a symbol.

So the home was central to how a good wife was described, but Romans valued her chastity, loyalty, motherhood and companionship at least as much as her work in the home.

Explanation

A strong answer sees that domestic words in epitaphs often stand for moral qualities: wool-working meant industry and thrift, staying at home meant chastity. It balances these against evidence that husbands valued love, motherhood, loyalty and intelligence, and it evaluates epitaphs as formulaic, idealised evidence.

Mark scheme

8 marks
Levels of response (8 marks). AO1 (4) and AO2 (4) are equally weighted.
Level 4 (7-8 marks): consistently accurate and detailed knowledge of Roman ideas of wifely virtue and of the roles of the matrona, using both Source A and own wider knowledge; very good understanding of the cultural context and of the nature of epitaphs as evidence; a well-argued response with a clear, substantiated judgement on whether wives were valued mainly for their work in the home, supported by a range of well-selected evidence, including critical analysis.
Level 3 (5-6 marks): accurate knowledge, using both the source and own knowledge; a focused response with relevant analysis and a judgement.
Level 2 (3-4 marks): sound, mostly accurate knowledge; engages with the general topic of the Roman wife; limited range of evidence; some analysis.
Level 1 (1-2 marks): limited knowledge, may only use the source given; isolated analysis.
0 marks: no response or no response worthy of credit.
A mainly descriptive answer with little analysis or judgement cannot go above Level 2.
Indicative content (not a checklist; credit other valid points): AO1: Amymone praised as wool-worker, careful with money, stay-at-home, but also best, most beautiful, dutiful, modest, chaste (Source A); Claudia's epitaph ('She kept the house. She worked wool' - but also loved her husband, bore two sons, charming in conversation, graceful); the Laudatio Turiae's domestic virtues, but also her courage, loyalty and actions in the civil wars; Murdia praised for modesty, chastity, obedience, wool-working, diligence and loyalty; lanificium as the symbol of virtue - Lucretia spinning among her maids; Augustus wearing clothes made by his wife, sister and daughter; the matrona managed the household and slaves; motherhood valued - Cornelia's 'jewels', the ius trium liberorum; Pliny values Calpurnia's intelligence and literary devotion; the ideal of the univira and fides. AO2: domestic work was central to the ideal and symbolised other virtues (industry, thrift, chastity); 'stay-at-home' signals sexual respectability, not just housework; many valued qualities were moral (chastity, loyalty, piety) or personal (beauty, charm, love), and motherhood was the purpose of marriage; epitaphs are short, formulaic and written by husbands, so they show ideals not reality; elite women had slaves to do most domestic work, so 'working wool' was partly symbolic; possible judgement: home was central to the image, but chastity, loyalty and motherhood mattered at least as much.

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