Children were important to the Romans. Vital to the continuity of the Roman state (so much so that the Emperor Augustus passed laws to encourage large families) and upper-class families, they were a source of support in old age and much loved and longed-for additions to family life.

So the ability to conceive a child and carry it safely to term was critical for a Roman couple. And although they did not understand the exact mechanics of conception, the Romans had a variety of theories and practices — religious as well as medicinal — to help prospective parents.

The Gods of Conception

A host of minor Roman deities and specific major deities oversaw the various stages of conception. According to St Augustine, Liber and Libera supervised the release of the male and female “seed” at the time of conception (City of God, 6.9), while Tertullian described the god Consevius (an aspect of Janus as the god of beginnings) as organizing the whole process of “concubital generation” (Ad Nationes, Book II, Ch XI).

But for women hoping for a child, Juno was the principal goddess to petition. As well as one of the major deities of the Roman state, Juno was a renowned fertility goddess vital to conception.  

As Juno Mena and Juno Fluvonia, she prevented menstruation and redirected the menstrual flow to feed the embryo. Ovid, in his Fasti, insinuates that the festival of the Lupercalia, held in Rome every February, contained ritual aspects relevant to Juno and fertility. 

The central event of the festival was a race between two semi-naked youths who ran around the palatine, striking bystanders — especially women — with goatskin throngs. According to Ovid, this was a fertility rite dating from the time of Romulus. 

After the rape of the Sabine women, Romulus’s men were punished for their crime by the wholesale infertility of their captured brides. Desperate for answers, the men and women gathered in a grove sacred to Juno. There, the goddess somewhat obscurely advised, “The sacred goat must penetrate Italy’s mothers”.  

An augur interpreted the message and explained that a goat should be sacrificed and the infertile wives lashed with strips of its hide (Ovid, Fasti, 2, 435-458). This apparently solved the problem and became an annual event to ensure the continued fertility of Rome’s citizens.  

Soranus of Ephesus

Other archaic beliefs involved the best time to conceive. Soranus of Ephesus, an Alexandrian doctor practising in Rome during the early second century AD, describes how springtime was believed by many to be the best time to conceive, with the waxing moon the most favourable period to try for a baby as:    

 “Those things on earth are believed to be in sympathy with those things above and just as most animals living in the sea are said to thrive with the waxing moon….the generative facilities in ourselves as well as in other animals are said to increase.” (Gynecology, I. X.41).

However, Soranus felt these beliefs had no practical foundation. Instead, he favoured a more pragmatic approach to conception.  

Age and Timing 

Soranus believed that successful conception was determined not by the phase of the moon but by menstruation. Roman law stipulated that a girl (certainly if she was upper class) could be married as young as twelve. Soranus believed this was too young because menstruation, in most cases, had not started at this age. In his opinion, the earliest age to attempt conception was 15, with 40 being the maximum limit. (Gynecology I.IX. 34)

Soranus believed that conception was like germinating a seed in the earth, with the man’s seed growing into a child once it attached itself to the woman’s uterus. (Gynecology I.XII.43). But although he did not recognize ovulation, he did understand that the stage of a woman’s menstrual cycle was important to conception. 

“The best time for fruitful intercourse,” Soranus recommended, “is when menstruation is ending and abating.” Before menstruation was unsuitable because the uterus was “overburdened and in an unresponsive state because of the ingress of material.” However, just after menstruation, the uterus was lighter and “warmth and moisture are imparted in right measure.” (Gynecology I.X.36).

The Importance of Health

 Soranus believed that “No poor land brings seed and plants to perfection” (Gynecology, I.IX,35). The same applied to the womb. For a woman to ensure her body was ready for pregnancy, she had to be in the right shape — literally.

It was essential a woman was not “mannish, compact and over sturdy” or “too flabby or moist.” The seed would not attach itself to the womb of a woman who was too “hard”, and soft wombs would not be able to hold the newly fertilized egg. (Gynecology I.IX.34-35). 

What a woman ate was also significant. Food needed to be light and easily digested as “chronic indigestion is an obstacle to the fetus, and a flux of the bowels allows what has been grasped to depart undeveloped.” (Gynecology I.IX34). Alcohol also needed to be avoided around conception, not because of any danger to the developing fetus but because it could affect the woman’s state of mind. “Women must be sober during coitus,” said Soranus, “because in drunkenness, the soul becomes the victim of strange fantasies.” These “fantasies” could, in Soranus’s opinion, lead to a deformed child. (Gynecology I.X.39)

After sex, it was equally important to retain a cheerful but sedate state of mind for a “sorrowful state of the soul expels the fetus because of the disturbance of the breath.” (Gynecology, IX, 34)

Finally, exercise was recommended by Soranus for the potential mother-to-be — but only of the lightest kind. He believed violent exertion could disengage the seed from the uterus. So only passive exercise was recommended, such as being carried on a stool or in a sedan chair (Gynecology I. XIV.46). This seems to suggest that Soranus’s advice was aimed more at upper-class ladies than their working counterparts.

Signs of Pregnancy

But for women of every class, the ways of determining whether you had conceived were time honoured and universal. Here, even Soranus agreed with long-established tradition. Swollen breasts, missed periods, and sickness were the surest way of determining that a much longed-for new life had begun.

Resources

Dixon, S, (1988) The Roman Mother. Oklahoma University Press: Norman, Oklahoma.

Leftkowitz, M R and Fant, M B. (1995) Women’s Life in Greece and Rome. Duckworth: London

Ovid, Fasti. Translated by A J Boyle and R D Woodard. Penguin Books: London

Soranus, Gynecology. Translated by Owsei Temkin (1991) The John Hopkins University Press: Baltimore and London.

St Augustine, The City of God. Translated by Martin Dods. Edited by Philip Schaff.

Tertullian, Ad Nationes.