(no subject)

[timelets]

“Then the great moment came; the show began, and nobody had eyes or thoughts for anything else. This was the Romans’ opportunity: at a given signal all the able–bodied men burst through the crowd and seized the young women. Most of the girls were the prize of whoever got hold of them first, but a few conspicuously handsome ones had been previously marked down for leading senators, and these were brought to their houses by special gangs. ”

--- Titus Livy. “The Early History of Rome.”

Hard to imagine today, but women's voting rights is a 20th century development even in democratic countries.