They were indeed
and were major property owners and hugely important behind the scenes politically too. A cursory glance at the roles of various Emperors' mothers tells you all you need to know....
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 26 Apr 2010, 16:46, 1 reply, 16 years ago)

afraid I have to disagree with you Monty
yes individual women could be powerful (and often were- Emperor's mothers are good examples Messalina, and Livia etc) but the average women wasn't (though better than at some times in history)
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 26 Apr 2010, 17:02, Reply)

Hang on, Hang on -
I'm pretty sure Augustin claimed a virgin birth.
( Larry Vest One day at a time, sweet Jesus, FFS., Mon 26 Apr 2010, 17:04, Reply)

nope
definitely not. Augustus wasn't even a big fan of the whole god cult business, and would never have claimed such a thing. You might be thinking of Jesus

Edit: Oops you were talking about Augustine. I read Augustus. Point still holds though. Virgin births before Christian doctrine became popular, were certainly part of mythology, but after not really
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 26 Apr 2010, 17:06, Reply)

I do that all the time!
You know, I have read afew of those old timers claimed virgin birth, which is probably why it was claimed for Jesus.
Vespasian, I'm sure. Alexander. Caligula - well obviously.
Your area; far from mine.
( Larry Vest One day at a time, sweet Jesus, FFS., Mon 26 Apr 2010, 17:11, Reply)

Ahh I see where we differ
the Christian virgin birth is different in doctrine because of the general belief that God simply made it be so, whereas other 'pagan' beliefs were pretty sure intercourse had taken place on the God's behalf. Alexander claimed Zeus as father, Caligula of course, Augustus had it bandied about (but doesn't seem to have believed it himself) while not sure on Vespasian who seems eminently too sensible to even try and disseminate that
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 26 Apr 2010, 17:21, Reply)

Wasn't Mary 'visited' by an angel?

( Larry Vest One day at a time, sweet Jesus, FFS., Tue 27 Apr 2010, 9:06, Reply)