Editing Cato the Elder (section)

====Repeal of the Oppian Law====
{{main|Oppian Law}}
In 215, at the height of the Second Punic War and at the request of the [[tribune of the plebs]] Gaius Oppius, the [[Oppian Law]] (''Lex Oppia''), intended to restrict the luxury and extravagance of women in order to save money for the public treasury, was passed. The law specified that no woman could own more than half an ounce of gold, nor wear a garment of several colours, nor drive a carriage with horses closer than a mile to the city, except to attend public celebrations of religious rites.

After [[Hannibal]] was defeated and [[Rome]] was resplendent with [[Ancient Carthage|Carthaginian]] wealth, tribunes Marcus Fundanius and Lucius Valerius proposed to abolish the Oppian law, but tribunes Marcus Junius Brutus and Titus Junius Brutus opposed doing so. This conflict spawned far more interest than the most important state affairs. Middle-aged married Roman women crowded the streets, blocked access to the forum, and intercepted their approaching husbands, demanding to restore the traditional ornaments of Roman matrons.<ref>Livy, History of Rome, xxxiv. 1, 8.</ref>

They even begged the praetors, consuls and other magistrates. Even Flaccus hesitated, but his colleague Cato was inflexible, and made a characteristically impolite speech, which was later retold by Livy.<ref>Livy, History of Rome, xxxiv. 1, 8.</ref> The dissenting tribunes withdrew their opposition and the Oppian law was repealed by vote of all tribes. Women went in procession through the streets and the forum, dressed up with their now legitimate finery.<ref>[[Valerius Maximus]], ix. 1. §3.</ref>

During the controversy Cato maintained a firm opposition to the repeal, so he suffered politically and personally when it was finally repealed. Not only had the former consul been rejected by the senate by unanimous decision, but Flaccus failed to stand with him.<ref name="Bauman 1983 159">{{Cite book |last=Bauman |first=Richard A. |title=Lawyers in Roman republican politics: a study of the Roman jurists in their political setting, 316 - 82 BC |date=1983 |publisher=Beck |isbn=978-3-406-09114-8 |series=Münchener Beiträge zur Papyrusforschung und antiken Rechtsgeschichte |location=München |pages=159}}</ref> However, perhaps because of Flaccus' connection to Lucius Valerius he was deliberately staying out of the controversy.<ref name="Bauman 1983 159"/> He soon set sail for his appointed province, [[Hispania Citerior]].