Ancient Greece characterizes by the over importance that males had upon females.

And since the Roman culture arises from the Greeks, the gender structure in bot
h civilizations is alike. Yet, the roles of women in Classic Greece differed in
many aspects from the roles of women in classic Rome. In both places women were
subordinates of men, however, women in Rome had some legal rights where women in
Greece were considered merely objects to reproduce, and seen with a much lesser
importance.
The believed superiority of men in the Greek gender structure allowed Athenians
(mostly) to idealize homosexual love to prevail over the heterosexual. Such exte
nsive difference among male and female include the prohibition of women to parti
cipate in any social activity. Their inferiority wouldn t even allow them to walk
in the street without companionship from a male. Their role in the house was usu
ally limited to household chores and having children. On the other hand, men s rol
e in society was emphasized in all aspects of Greek culture, its superiority was
even taught by ancient philosophers; Aristotle stated that men had a greater ca
pacity for happiness. When Socrates died, he made a decision to only be surround
ed by men and asked his wife to leave. Since in Sparta the major purpose for liv
ing was war, the gender division inclined more towards the benefit of the city-s
tate in such aspect. Boys for example were sent off at the early age of seven to
military training, while girls received physical education in order to give bir
th to strong children. Men visited their wives mostly at night in which they att
empt to reproduce future male warriors. For obvious reasons, the much more requ
ired ratio of males allowed them to be viewed with more importance in Sparta. Th
e cultures from mostly these city-states in Greece would be later adopted by one
of history s greatest empires, the Romans.
The Romans were as the Greeks, a patriarchal society; however, unlike them, Roma
ns allowed females to participate in society. Their women's legal rights extende
d to the inheriting of property (although limits were strict), their option to m
arry whom they pleased, and the alternative for them to file for divorce. Men in
Rome focused more on the politics but allowed women to have an opinion regardin
g the political affairs, such as, the wealth of the state. Specifically in their
Republic, Roman females (mainly the wealthy) enjoyed their leisure time in wher
e they participated in arts and education. Men s supremacy was not idealized as mu
ch as in Greece; such would give women more rights and opportunities.
Both, Classical Greece and Rome were built and dominated by men. Even when Rome
gave relatively more gender equality than Greece, both civilizations emphasized
in the role of man for the society. Biologically, men grow stronger than women a
nd because war was very important for the Romans and Greeks, males were consider
ed much more useful to the state. Although Rome did grant rights to some women,
the percentage of women who were educated and treated with privileges was slim c
ompared to the males . In neither civilizations women were allowed to have politic
al roles.
Throughout history, civilizations and societies have mostly been constructed by
patriarchal families, and either Rome or Greece is an exception. The Spartans se
parated both genders at their youth because of the need of boys to train since t
hey were the ones used on the battlefield. The female importance was limited for
the reproduction of even more males. But although the separation wouldn t be as d
rastic in Athens or Rome, they all preferred males for the same reasons. Biologi
cally, men are stronger, and for great civilizations to triumph during those age
s, the physical strength would be fundamental.