A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

3. C.Oppius, tribune of the plebs, B. C. 213, in the middle of the second Punic war, carried a law to curtail the expenses and luxuries of Roman women. It enacted that no woman should have more than half an ounce of gold, nor wear a dress of different colours, nor ride in a carriage in the city, or in any town, or within a mile of it, unless on

account of public sacrifices. This law was repealed in B. C. 195, notwithstanding the vehement opposition of the elder Cato (Liv. 34.1_8; V. Max. 9.1.3; Tac. Ann. 3.33, 34).