The world of Roman marriage.
After studying the powerpoint and reading the primary source information the students will be able to:
Differentiate various accepted forms of marriage.
Compare marriage customs of today (in their own respective cultures) with those
of the Romans.
Discuss a Roman marriage including unique traditions of the Romans.
Explain the Roman world as a whole and the Roman family by understanding how
marriage functions within the society.
Understand women by understanding societal expectations of marriage including
ages for marriage and rights and responsibilities of a married woman.
Roman Marriage
I. Betrothal (sponsalia)
a.Both bride and groom must be Roman citizens in order for
conubium to exit.
b. .Dowry had to be negotiated prior to the engagement
c. Both bride and groom had to con sent to the engagement, as well
as the paterfamilias of each
d. minimium legal age formarriage
– 14 for males; 12 for females
– Girls were often married in their teens
– Males married later and were often considerably older than the bride
e. Engagements could be made between families very early in a
child’s life, sometimes at birth, for political or financial reasons
f. In upper‐class families, at least, there was usually a party given by
the girl's ather to celebrate the engagement and inform friends
Cum Manu
Legal consequences of marriage for the Roman bride:
a. The wife ceased to be a member of her birth family and
became a legal member of her husband's family, under the
control and guardianship (manus) of her husband; modern
scholars call this "marriage cum manu."
There were three methods for accomplishing this transfer
Confarreatio
1. upper class
2. most lavish and expensive wedding
3. Special ritual involving an ancient type of grain
called far, which was made into a special cake (farreum)
4. This ritual immediately transferred the bride from
the control (potestas) of her paterfamilias to the
control (manus) of her maritus
2. Coemptio – “Bride purchase”
1. all classes
2. Legal procedure involving a fictional "sale,"
where the groom paid a cooper coin of low
value for bride (symbol of ancient weddings
3. This procedure immediately transferred the
bride from the control (potestas) of her
paterfamilias to the control (manus) of her
maritus
3. Usus
1. all classes
2. It involved an automatic, passive transfer of the wife
from the control (potestas) of her paterfamilias to the
control (manus) of maritus after the wife had remained
with her husband for a full year without interruption
3. This was based on an ancient law transferring ownership
of an object to the person who remained in uninterrupted
possession of that object for a full year
4. Wife could prevent the transfer of control by spending
three consecutive nights away from her husband's home
during the year (trinoctium)
Sine Manu
• Wife – member of birth family- not legal
member of husband’s family
• Under potestas of paterfamilias
• By the last century of the Republic, this was by
far the most common type of marriage; by the
Empire, confarreatio, coemptio, and usus had
become effectively obsolete.
A series of wall frescoes describing a ritual preparation for marriage (or, some scholars believe, for initiation into a
religious cult). A female attendant begins the special arrangement of the bride's hair, while beside the seated bride Eros
holds up a mirror in which her face is reflected. The bride wears a saffron-colored gown, bound with a cloth belt perhaps
tied in a Herakles knot; she wears yellow sandals, jewelry, and has a transparent veil wrapped around her and resting on
her lap (detail). The final frame of the mural shows the Domina, fully draped in her palla, seated on a throne, displaying
her wedding ring detail. Triclinium, Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii, mid-1st century CE. Photos by Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow,
Brandeis University, 2009.
Wedding Preparations
Materials Required:
• Annulus pronubus – wedding ring
• Tabulae nuptiales – marriage contract specifying dowry arrangements
Materials Discarded:
• Toga praetexta
• Childhood toys
Bridal Wear
• Flammeum – saffron veil
• Lutei socci – shoes
• Tunica recta – straight tunic
• Nodus Herculis – belt tied knot of Hercules
• Seni crines – hairstyle (usually divided into six braids)
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Ceremony
Most weddings in June (Juno- protected marriage bonds) – no weddings on feast days/holidays
Ceremonies took place at home of paterfamilias
Vows
– Ubi tu Gaius, ego Gaia (used for all couples, brought good luck)
– Clasping of Right Hand : dextrarum iunctio –
• Pronuba – married woman in stable marriage joined the hands
Friends & Family- witnesses – sealed tabulae nuptiales
– Confarreatio – 10 witnesses
– Coemptio – 5 witnesses
Sacrifice (pig)
Pompa – procession from bride’s house to groom’s house
– Stolen from mom – recall Sabine women
– Bride carried spindle & distaff to represent her repsonsibility to provide for family
Proceeded by boys with torches(spina alba) thrown away once at groom’s house
Yelling of insults by guests – supposedly for good luck
Entering new house –
– Rub doorway with lard, wreath the door with wool (domestic duties), carried over threshold by
attendants, receive fire & water from groom
Matrona (pronuba) – escorted bride to bridal chamber
– Prayers for blessings over the marriage, removes all jewelry, puts the bride in the bed(lectus
genialis), offers a sacrifice to hopefully have children, pronuba leaves, husband enters
Guests still party outside the bedroom
Bridal Procession
in mosaic showing Philonoe about to wed Bellerophon; though they are
characters from Greek mythology, the scene reflects a Roman wedding. The
shy bride, assisted by her mother or a pronuba, is dressed in a saffron tunic
with a wedding wreath hovering symbolically over her head. The groom
stands on the right holding Pegasus, the winged horse. Between them stands
painted on a terracotta urn. Four women are pictured: the mother at left Philonoe's father, Iobates, king of Lycia. Roman Tunisia. From the "House of
the Nymphs." 4th century CE. Nabeul Archaeological Museum.
(?), pronuba at right (?), musician with drum and the anxious-looking
veiled bride in the center. The bride wears a special garment for the
ceremony called the tunica recta or regilla, traditionally woven in one
piece on an upright loom. The urn was made for a tomb. Centuripe, 3-2
century BCE. NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Cinerary urn in marble for Helius Afinianus, dedicated by his wife. He is
dressed in a toga, holding a scroll; she wears a stola and palla. They stand in
front of open doors, holding hands before an altar in the marriage pose
dextrarum iunctio. Inscription: D[is] M[anibus] HELIO AFIN[iano] PUB[lico]
AUG[urum] SEXTIA PSYCHE CONIUGI B[ene] M[erenti] [fecit]. Rome, 2nd
century CE. Berlin, Pergamon Museum.
Sarcophagus in marble of a freed couple, a young woman with a much older
man, both in civic dress, depicted in the marriage pose dextrarum iunctio.
Inscription: P[UBLIUS] AIEDIVS P[UBLI] L[IBERTUS] AMPHIO; AEIDIA P[UBLI]
L[IBERTA] FAVSTA MELIOR. found on Via Appia, Rome, c. 30 BCE. Berlin,
Pergamon Museum.
Sestertius of Antoninus Pius, portraying two couples of the imperial family
(Antoninus & Faustine Maior; Marcus Aurelius & Faustina Minor) in the
marriage gesture before an altar. Antoninus holds a statuette of Condordia
while his wife holds a scepter. Inscribed: CONCORDIAE S(enatus) C(onsulto).
Rome, 140-4 CE. Berlin: Bode Museum.
marble relief showing a veiled bride, followed by the
pronuba, clasping hands (dextrarum iunctio) with the
groom before an altar; on the left a huge male carries
the sacrificial bull on his shoulder, on the right a
maenad dances. Rome: Vatican, Bracchio Nuovo.
Funerary tondo in marble of relief busts of a couple: she gazes at
him with one hand on his chest and her arm around his
shoulders, her gown having slipped off one shoulder (a pose
reminiscent of Venus); her husband is in a citizen toga, holding a
scroll (marriage document?). 250-270 CE. Boston, Museum of
Fine Arts.
Funerary Relief in marble of Aurelius Hermia and his wife Aurelia Philematio,
one of earliest to commemorate legitimate marriage between freedpeople;
they are portrayed as Roman citizens (see text in WRW, pp. 46-47). From
tomb on Via Nomentana, c. 80 BCE. London, British Museum.
Funerary Inscriptions
1. Read the following instructions on reading funerary inscriptions
http://pompeii.virginia.edu/tti/eb-insc/eb-insc-list.html
• http://www2.cnr.edu/home/araia/dasumia_s
oteris.html
• http://www2.cnr.edu/home/araia/julia_caprio
la.html
• http://www2.cnr.edu/home/araia/nothi_coni
unx.html
Please complete the following
questions.
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A Roman woman was someone’s wife, and someone else’s mother. Do you think an
ancient Roman woman saw herself this way? Give reasons why or why not.
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Consider the role of a dowry in an upper-class Roman marriage. If a couple divorced,
the husband was legally required to return his wife’s dowry in full. In what ways would
this work to a woman’s advantage both during her marriage and if she were divorced?
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Roman marriages were arranged for the sake of political alliances, as a means of sharing
property and wealth in the upper-classes, and to produce legitimate heirs. Do you think
any of these considerations are still taken into account in marriages today? Consider
not just marriage within your own community, but in other countries, cultures, and
classes.
Interpret the 3 funerary inscriptions that have been provided to the best of your ability.
Explain how they support the information we have studied about the status of women
in Roman society? Were you surprised by any of the inscriptions? How do they reflect
the values of Roman society ?
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