There were such women, as we shall see, probably many of them; ever since the incoming of wealth and of Greek education, of theatres and amusements and all the pleasant out-of-door life of the city, what was now coming to be called _cultus_ had occupied the minds and affected the habits of Roman ladies as well as men.

Unfortunately it was seldom that it was found compatible with the old Roman ideal of the materfamilias and her duties.

The invasion of new manners was too sudden, as was the corresponding invasion of wealth; such a lady as Cornelia, the famous mother of the Gracchi, "who knew what education really meant, who had learned men about her and could write well herself, and yet could combine with these qualities the careful discharge of the duties of wife and mother,"[231]--such ladies must have been rare, and in Cicero's time hardly to be found.

More and more the notion gained ground that a clever woman who wished to make a figure in society, to be the centre of her own _monde_, could not well realise her ambition simply as a married woman.

She would probably marry, play fast and loose with the married state, neglect her children if she had any, and after one or two divorces, die or disappear.