"Am I to listen to you who can live on after Scribonianus died in your arms?"
shocked at how other wives are
outspoken
"So she hired a small fishing boat and she followed the enormous ship in a small one"
stubborn
perserverance
determination
"Who can feed him, dress him and put on his clothes, I alone will take care of these things."
willing to degrade herself for her husband
tricolon
"to draw a dagger, to stab it in her chest, to pull it out and offer it to her husband, adding the immortal and almost divine words, "It doesn't hurt Paetus.""
God-like
taking the lead
role reversal
Direct speech
vivid
gives importance to her words
"if my daughter were to have lived for so long and in such great harmony as I have with Paetus then I would want this."
outspoken
honest
strong-willed
Loved by her family a lot
"you can ensure that I don't die a painful death but you can't ensure that I don't die"
strong-willed
"Indeed when her son-in-law Thrasea begged her not to carry out her resolve to die,"
he is not blood related
shows deep bond in the family
"She had increased the level of concern felt by her household and she was guarded even more carefully."
Loyalty to her family
"Arria arranged the funeral for this boy and even led the funeral processions without her husband knowing;"
mature
wise
apathetic
"Arria's husband, Caecina Paetus, was ill; her son was ill too, both of them very seriously..."
men were ill but woman wasn't
Arria's husband
female is given more importance
role reversal
she is more dominant
Stoic
"Then, when the tears, which had been held back for so long started to get the better of her and to break out, she would leave the room; only then would she give herself to her grief; but having had her fill of tears, she dried her eyes, composed her face and went back into the bedroom, as if she had left her bereavement behind outside."
Brave
she died first
attempted suicide
spoke out in front of Cladius
spoke against Cladius' evidence
led the funeral procession all by herself
took a small fishing boat by herself
known for her courage, a trait associated with males in the Ancient Roman world