Marriage in ancient Rome: Difference between revisions

'''Marriage in ancient Rome''' ({{lang|la|conubium}}) was a fundamental institution of society and was used by Romans primarily as a tool for [[marriage alliance|interfamilial alliances]].Contrary to popular belief in early Roman empire marriage was anot an exclusively [[monogamy|monogamous]] institution: Many roman emperors from [[Marcus Aurelius|marcus aurelius]] to [[Constantine the Great]] were involved in polygamous marriages however in centuries following the [[Edict of Milan|Edict of Milan,]] [[Roman citizen]]s could have only one spouse at a time but were allowed to divorce and remarry. This form of monogamy in Greco-Roman civilization may have arisen from the relative [[egalitarianism]] of [[Greek democracy|democratic]] and [[Roman Republic|republican]] city-states. [[Early Christianity]] embraced this ideal of monogamous marriage, and perpetuated it as an essential element in many later [[Western culture]]s.