wife, if she were
a shrew, as a slave.

** This form of marriage, which was of frequent occurrence
in ancient times, fell into disuse among the upper classes,
at least of Babylonian society. A few examples, however, are
found in late times. It continued in use among the lower
classes, and Herodotus affirms that in his time marriage
markets were held regularly, as in our own time fairs are
held for hiring male and female servants.

In many cases the fiction of purchase was set aside, and mutual consent
took the place of all other formalities, marriage then becoming merely
cohabitation, terminating at will. The consent of the father was not
required for this irregular union, and many a son contracted a marriage
after this fashion, unknown to his relatives, with some young girl
either in his own or in an inferior station: but the law refused to
allow her any title except that of concubine, and forced her to wear a
distinctive mark, perhaps that of servitude, namely, the representation
of an olive in some valuable stone or in terra-cotta, bearing her own
and her husband's name, with the date of their union, which she kept
hung round her neck by a cord. Whether they were legitimate wives
or not, the women of the lower and middle classes enjoyed as much
independence as did the Egyptian women of a similar rank. As all the
household cares fell to their share, it was necessary that they should
be free to go about at all hours of the day: and they could be seen
in the streets and the markets, with bare feet, their head and face
uncovered, wearing their linen loin-cloth or their long draped garments
of hairy texture.* Their whole life was expended in a ceaseless toil for
their husbands and children: night and morning they went to fetch water
from the public well or the river, they bruised the corn, made the
bread, spun, wove, and clothed the entire household in spite of the
frequent demands of maternity.** The Chaldaean women of wealth or noble
birth, whose civil status gave them a higher position, did not enjoy so
much freedom. They were scarcely affected by the cares of daily life,
and if they did any work within their houses, it was more from a natural
instinct, a sense of duty, or to relieve the tedium of their existence,
than from constraint or necessity; but the exigencies of their rank
reduced them to the state of prisoners. All the luxuries and comforts
which money could procure w