ress:
"Goddesses and gods;" "Women and men," are mentioned always in that
order; this is in itself a decisive indication of the high status of
women in this early period. And there are other traces all pointing to
the conclusion that in the civilisation of primitive Babylon
mother-right was still in active force. Later (as is shown by the Code
of Hammurabi) a woman's rights, though not her duties, were more
circumscribed; in the still later Neo-Babylonian periods, she again
acquired, through the favourable conditions with regard to property,
full liberty of action and equal rights with her husband.[184]

[184] H. Ellis, _Psychology of Sex_, Vol. VI, p. 393.

Let us now turn our attention to the Graeco-Roman civilisation. It is
convenient to take first a brief glance at Rome. I may note that the
family here would certainly appear to have developed from the
primitive clan, or _gens_. At the dawn of history the patriarchal
system was already firmly established, with individual property, and
an unusually strong subjection of woman to her father first and
afterwards to her husband. There are, however, numerous indications of
a prehistoric phase of communism. I can mention only the right of the
_gens_ to the heritage, and in certain cases the possession of an
_ager publicus_, which certainly bears witness in favour of an antique
community of property.[185] Can we, then, accept that there was once a
period of the maternal family, when descent and inheritance were
traced through the mother? Frazer[186] has brought forward facts which
point to the view that the Roman kingship was transmitted in the
female line; and, if this can be accepted, we may fairly conclude that
at one time the maternal customs were in force. The plebeian marriage
ceremonies of Rome should be noted. The funeral inscriptions in
Etruria in the Latin language make much greater insistence on the
maternal than the paternal descent; giving usually the name of the
mother alone, or indicating the father's name by a simple initial,
whilst that of the mother is written in full.[187] This is very
significant. Very little trustworthy evidence, however, is
forthcoming, and of the position of women in Rome in the earliest
periods we know little or nothing. And for this reason I shall refer
my readers to what I have written elsewhere[188] on this matter;
merely saying that there are indications and traditions pointing to
the view that here, as in so many great civi