The Roman Breathalyzer

[merkavah12]

Rumor: "Roman Husbands would kiss their wives as they entered the home, not out of a sense of romance or greeting, but to check if they had been out drinking, a tradition that lasted until the fall of the empire"

Any truth to this statement friends?

[gregmita]

I'm not sure about the truth of the claim, but if this is a rumour, then it's a very ancient one indeed.

From Plutarch's Moralia, Roman Questions:

"Why do the women kiss their kinsmen on the lips?
Is it, as most authorities believe, that the drinking of wine was forbidden to women, and therefore, so that women who had drunk wine should not escape detection, but should be detected when they chanced to meet men of their household, the custom of kissing was established? "

(Frank Cole Babbitt translation)

[sandwiches]

It was grim if you failed the breathalyser:

www.moyak.com/papers/roman-women.html

Women did have some personal freedoms, but they had little chance for individuality or personal choice. They were under the constant supervision of their fathers, male relatives, and husbands, who regularly kissed them on the mouth to find out if they had drunk wine. Drinking wine was strictly forbidden for Roman women and they could be punished by death. In Memorable Deeds and Sayings from the first century AD, Maximus tells of how Egnatius Metellus beat his wife to death for drinking wine. It was believed that wine caused women to have adulterous relationships, which were very common because so many of the marriages were for political or economic reasons, and not for love or passion.

[noons]

Well this is all news to me. I would assume that women would have more restrictions in the Roman Empire, but certainly not concerning one of the Italian Peninsula's finest products. Were women allowed to drink wine with their husbands? Was this for the entire period of the empire, or just one era, such as Augustine's reign?

Finally, this sounds like an upper class restriction, where everything was far stricter than for the majority of the population.

[sandwiches]

The plot thickens:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome_and_wine#Use_by_women

Ancient Rome and wine

Use by women

Despite the more democratic view of wine, the use of wine by women was frowned upon and even prohibited. In Greek and Roman comedies, women were often portrayed as drunkards and more persuaded to commit various vices while under the influence. The poet Juvenal noted in his Satires that "When she is drunk, what matters to the Goddess of Love? She cannot tell her groin from her head."
Women were also the most noted participants in the cult of Bacchus, which the Roman Senate outlawed in 186 BC for impropriety.
Husbands were legally allowed to kill or divorce their wives if they caught them committing such an offense. One Roman myth involved a man named Egnatius Mecenius beating his wife to death with a stick for drinking wine and being praised for his virtue by Romulus himself. Another myth told the tale of a woman who was sentenced to starve to death by her family for opening the purse that contained the keys to the wine cellars.
The last recorded divorce for this offense was granted in 194 BC, and during the 1st century BC attitudes turned more tolerant as wine came to be seen more as a dietary staple.

Interesting that the story of Egnatius Mecenius is referred to here as a myth.

[merkavah12]

Wow, that was fast! Thanks everybody.