Dr. Michael Peppard

You don't have that many options, and it disrupts many, many things about one's extended family life, about their economic life, about their social status in their village or town. It's... Quite risky.

You don't have that many options, and it disrupts many, many things about one's extended family life, about their economic life, about their social status in their village or town. It's... Quite risky.

Right.

Right.

Um, later when you do get, um, in, in, in the Roman world, you get some consecrated virgins and then in early Christianity, you get consecrated kind of voluntary ascetic virgins. So you, the word does expand more in meaning people who are entering into that voluntarily. Um, which is also interesting because it's really a form of sexual revolution, but it's by not having sex. Oh, right.

Um, later when you do get, um, in, in, in the Roman world, you get some consecrated virgins and then in early Christianity, you get consecrated kind of voluntary ascetic virgins. So you, the word does expand more in meaning people who are entering into that voluntarily. Um, which is also interesting because it's really a form of sexual revolution, but it's by not having sex. Oh, right.

It's the primary way for women in the Roman Empire, in the Mediterranean world, to have agency over their own lives, is to say, I'm not going to be controlled by the cycle of birth, of sex and birth, which also carries the threat of mortality every single time. So the only way to gain an education is to opt out of that cycle because you have to be –

It's the primary way for women in the Roman Empire, in the Mediterranean world, to have agency over their own lives, is to say, I'm not going to be controlled by the cycle of birth, of sex and birth, which also carries the threat of mortality every single time. So the only way to gain an education is to opt out of that cycle because you have to be –

Well, for the Roman Empire to have replacement rate just to replace its people, every woman of childbearing age has to be pregnant like, I don't know, five times maybe? Wow. Just to get two births to adulthood. That's just a rough estimate. Right.

Well, for the Roman Empire to have replacement rate just to replace its people, every woman of childbearing age has to be pregnant like, I don't know, five times maybe? Wow. Just to get two births to adulthood. That's just a rough estimate. Right.

But if you think about every single person living life, and you figure some of them are not able to conceive, and that's just the average that you're trying to get to. Yeah. This is what leads to... you know, women opting out and trying to opt out and seeing a spiritual path to voluntary celibacy, where they can then have freedom over their own lives, a little bit of freedom over their own minds.

But if you think about every single person living life, and you figure some of them are not able to conceive, and that's just the average that you're trying to get to. Yeah. This is what leads to... you know, women opting out and trying to opt out and seeing a spiritual path to voluntary celibacy, where they can then have freedom over their own lives, a little bit of freedom over their own minds.

So for women, we haven't talked about women much besides Mary Magdalene, but one of the best things to be in this period, especially in the Roman empire, with its laws, inheritance laws, is to marry a wealthy man and then have him die pretty quickly.

So for women, we haven't talked about women much besides Mary Magdalene, but one of the best things to be in this period, especially in the Roman empire, with its laws, inheritance laws, is to marry a wealthy man and then have him die pretty quickly.

Because you don't have to get remarried.

Because you don't have to get remarried.

And so when we read about widows, like in the New Testament, a widow can be 18. Oh, right. A widow can be 20. We always have in our mind that a widow is 70 years old. But no, not at all. So you look at when you see like in the New Testament, when you see women who are named but unattached to a man, like in the book of Acts, there's a woman named Lydia, for example. Lydia's in Philippi.

And so when we read about widows, like in the New Testament, a widow can be 18. Oh, right. A widow can be 20. We always have in our mind that a widow is 70 years old. But no, not at all. So you look at when you see like in the New Testament, when you see women who are named but unattached to a man, like in the book of Acts, there's a woman named Lydia, for example. Lydia's in Philippi.

And it says that they are meeting at her house and that she's a dealer in purple cloth. And she seems to be running, basically running a successful business and has a big enough place to host people. an early church, right? Almost certainly, we can't prove it, but almost certainly she's a wealthy widow who inherited a business and is like, sweet. I'm going to study some languages.

And it says that they are meeting at her house and that she's a dealer in purple cloth. And she seems to be running, basically running a successful business and has a big enough place to host people. an early church, right? Almost certainly, we can't prove it, but almost certainly she's a wealthy widow who inherited a business and is like, sweet. I'm going to study some languages.