Gli Spartaninonchiedonoquantinemici, bastachiederedoveilnemico (Spartans do not ask how many enemies there are, only where they are)

- Aggis II (King of Sparta)

Oscar smiled weirdly and said mysteriously: "Shi Xiu, do you think monogamy or polygamy is better?" Shi Xiu glanced at Oscar in surprise; You must know that in this era, although all countries and nations do not have a clear system, they are actually monogamous. Monogamy is a "custom since ancient times" and a common law of world civilization. Does Oscar want to break with such conventions and customs?

As if to see what Shi Xiu had in mind, Oscar continued: "Now, all civilization is ostensibly a monogamous institution of marriage; But in these civilizations, it was not forbidden for the male head of a family to have relations with his slave girls and maids. In Roman society, the restriction of such relationships was only that the integrity of the existing family was not jeopardized in terms of religious and emotional relations.

In Greece, Rome, and other countries, whether it was sleeping with a maid for a long time or keeping a mistress, there was no ritual recognized by folklore. Although Roman law provided that a man could have a concubine, the legal status of his heirs was illegitimate and his inheritance rights were extremely limited. The Romans organized their lives primarily in nuclear family units; The consequence of this model of marriage in the nuclear family is that the age of marriage is relatively late for the whole nation, the fertility rate is low, and the proportion of unmarried and childless women in the population is high.

And with the constant outbreak of war, the ratio of men and women is also out of balance; Men died one after another on the battlefield, and women were unable to find a partner because they had lost their husbands or fiancés. Coupled with the obstacle of monogamy, they are unable to start families with married men, and can only act as lovers or widows for the rest of their lives; This, in turn, slows down the rate of population growth.

So how different is monogamy from polygamy in these civilizations? In fact, there is only one difference: every woman of a man has to go through a formal marriage ceremony, although this ceremony is not as formal as the first wife, but there is a ceremony anyway. In this way, it is fair to the woman who acts as someone else's mistress; It's also fair for men who want to find a new wife, and they don't need to look for a lover anymore. Are you right? ”

Oscar's words made Shi Xiu, who was a woman, scoff, and Shi Xiu said coldly: "You mean that polygamy is better than monogamy, right?" But have you ever wondered if it's fair to women? She married a man, not only to accept this man to go out to look for flowers and willows, but also to accept this man to marry another woman and go home to share the family with her; What woman can accept such a system? ”

Oscar didn't feel relatively uncomfortable with Shi Xiu's cold face, after all, this topic is really difficult for women to accept; But for his own purposes, Oscar can only continue to argue: "Although the marriage system of society is based on emotion and **, its purpose is not to complete emotion and **, but to ensure a stable social mechanism for raising offspring." Therefore, the differences between different forms of marriage institutions are, in the final analysis, their different roles in society.

The essence of this kind of polygamy is that more wives will officially become members of the family who play the role of mothers and raise offspring, and the consequence is that the children of each wife are more emotionally connected, and the differences in social status are also minimized; Of course, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. The inheritance system that matches this is a system of inheritance based on polygamy.

That is to say, the moral norm advocated by the society is that the children of the descendants and concubines have the right to inherit, and at the same time, after the inheritance, they will be separated, forming their own new families, and eliminating the continued existence of the big family. If you want to ensure that the children of the concubine and the concubine have the right to inherit, and there will not be too many conflicts due to unfair inheritance, then the most direct solution is to let the children of the concubine and the concubine live together from an early age, so that the social status gap between them becomes smaller, so as to cultivate feelings.

At the same time, for the Roman aristocracy, monogamy allowed them to inherit their wealth among a few children, and their per capita wealth was not much lower than that of their parents. Once polygamy was implemented, both the children of the concubine and the concubine had the right to inherit, and it was very difficult to concentrate wealth. In this way, the survival basis of the big family has been fundamentally eliminated, and the powerful families have been turned into families with small wealth; The power of the state will completely override the power of the family! ”

Looking at Shi Xiu, who was looking at him even more indifferently, Oscar knew that he had said the wrong thing; I accidentally told the root cause of wanting to implement the polygamy system in my heart. Well, the helpless Oscar could only confess to Shi Xiu: "In fact, the fundamental reason why I want to implement the polygamy system is not for the so-called social needs, but for the development of the Augustan family."

On the one hand, I hope that polygamy can reduce the impact of war-dead soldiers on society and increase the fertility rate and population growth rate. On the other hand, the powerful big families are completely divided into small families. In this way, the rule of the House of Augustus could be much longer. “

Oscar's honesty was not forgiven by Shi Xiu, Shi Xiu just looked at Oscar with a blank face, and said coldly: "Do you think your behavior is worthy of the soldiers who died fighting for you?" They were born and died on the battlefield for you and the House of Augustus, but you pushed their widows behind their backs into the arms of other men. Your heart is full of your so-called family rise, have you considered human nature?

You are a natural nobleman born into a wealthy Roman family, do you know the sorrow of Roman women? Women in the Roman kingdom, living in a patriarchal society, were a typically vulnerable group, and they were in a unique, dependent social position. A woman appears to her father, husband or guardian as a daughter and a person under guardianship. Her guardian is a male close relative of her father or husband, or a person made under her father's or husband's will.

After the Republic, the boundaries of tradition and morality in Rome were constantly attacked, and a series of changes took place in Roman society in terms of politics, economy, culture and family life. According to the laws of the Roman Republic, the wife's property was protected by law, and in addition to the fact that part of the wealth brought by Rome's foreign government was transferred to women, especially a century ago, women held more and more property, and the improvement of economic status and the relaxation of patriarchal authority gave women a certain say in the family and society.

In particular, the Law of Opian in 295 BC forbade women to wear brightly colored clothing; Horse-drawn carriages are not allowed to ride in or near the city; Women are not allowed to own more than half an ounce of gold. Despite the opposition of several prominent figures, including Cato the Elder, the women demanded that the law be revoked in 290 BCE. In public gatherings, where the crowd grew, they made speeches and made their demands.

During this campaign, women made their first political demands for their legal rights, and after years of struggle, the law was finally repealed. The movement challenged the confinement of the Roman men, and the women began to realize their own power, allowing them to gradually emerge from their cages and strive to break the rigidity.

Now, you tell me; You want to sweep the fruits of thousands of years of women's efforts into the garbage heap at once, and you want women to become the vassals of men once again, and become the tools of men's fertility. Oscar, you've disappointed me so much. Your previous performance made me always think that you would be a nobleman who does not discriminate against women and respects women; I didn't expect you to have such a sinister and despicable idea, I misjudged you. “

Shi Xiu's knowledge of Roman history was beyond Oscar's expectations; However, Shi Xiu's words do make sense. It's really wrong to ignore women's feelings for the sake of their own selfish desires; I'm just an ordinary person who has crossed over, I don't really know a lot of things in this era, I think I want to change the world, and I even feel that others will accept my approach, and I am really too conceited.

Oscar's face full of shame did not extinguish Shi Xiu's anger, she still glared at Oscar; Oscar smiled helplessly and apologized: "Okay, I admit that I was wrong this time; From now on, I will not mention polygamy again, and you will never talk about it. Alas, I also take it for granted; I'm really sorry I forgot to think about the actual situation. "You don't have to apologize to me, you should apologize to women all over the world in your heart; In the future, please accept the masculinism in your heart. Women do not exist to be vassals of your men, women also have the role of women; Moreover, the contribution to the country is no worse than that of you men. "Well, of course I know the great role of women; Women and men are the same, and there is no one who is a vassal of whom. It is impossible for any country and nation to survive without women, and every man is a woman's child; Don't worry about today's events anymore, it's all over, okay? "Passed? Let's hope it's gone! Shi Xiu sneered and said this, then got up and prepared to leave Oscar's cabin. Oscar grabbed Shi Xiu's right hand, ignored Shi Xiu's struggle, and said, "Do you think I really rack my brains to think about polygamy just for these things?" I am the head of the House of Augustus, and my future marriage must be a marriage to the top nobles of Rome; It's something I can't change myself.

However, there are still two girls around me that I don't want to give up and can't give up; I like them, I don't want to lose them, and I can't grieve them for not having a future and a name by my side. So, I want to change all that, all I want is to change my life and their lives; I want to give them a big wedding and a rightful place. Do you understand? “

Oscar's true feelings made Shi Xiu, who was still angry and struggling, quiet down all of a sudden; The two remained motionless in this position. After a long time, Shi Xiu gently broke free of Oscar's hand; Continue walking outside the cabin. Just when Oscar watched Shi Xiu leave with a little disheartened, Shi Xiu suddenly turned around and smiled at Oscar and said, "Actually, it's not so complicated for two people to be together; As long as you truly love each other, the rest is fine. If you think too much, you will be too tired, just cherish each other; The so-called fame is nothing more than the pursuit of the laity, and it is not worth mentioning. At least, for me; Finding someone who loves me is far more important than finding someone who gives me a name, you say? Oscar. “

After that, he left without waiting for Oscar's answer; Only Oscar, who had palpitations after the ups and downs, was left.