Explanation: The first Roman Emperor, Augustus, instituted a series of reforms in transforming the Roman Republic into what-we-know-recognize-as the Roman Empire. However, Augustus portrayed himself as restoring tradition, rather than overthrowing it, and so his reforms had a distinctly... socially conservative leaning. Most relevant to this meme, he put great effort into emphasizing the importance of chastity for Roman women outside of marriage, likely in response to the increased independence of Roman women, and punishing adultery by law - despite being a notorious adulterer himself.

While the Augustan-era laws on social 'reform' would remain on the books, they would be rarely enforced after his death.