“Now, in the Roman empire, most married women were not subject to their husbands, legally. Most were still legally under the authority of their fathers. On the other hand, some of these ladies had probably won the legal emancipation that Augustus offered to women who had at least three children. Either way, they would have to turn from the cultural norm and choose God’s design.
And if your husband wasn’t a Christian, that was a hard ask. Roman husbands were not the kind of husbands you want. Adultery was normalized. Men weren’t expected to care about their wives. In fact, wives were supposed to manage things to such a degree that the men could just be out doing what they wanted, enhancing their own social prestige. Among Jewish couples things weren’t much better. Some rabbis advised, ‘Do not talk much with a woman…not even with one’s wife.'”
