Marriage in ancient Rome: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Social institution in the classical Roman civilization}}
[[File:Roman marriage vows.jpg|300px|thumb|upright=1.5|Roman couple joining hands (''dextrarum iunctio''); the bride's belt may show the knot symbolizing that the husband was "belted and bound" to her, which he was to untie in their bed (4th century sarcophagus)<ref>''Cinctus vinctusque'', according to [[Sextus Pompeius Festus|Festus]] 55 (edition of Lindsay); Karen K. Hersch, ''The Roman Wedding: Ritual and Meaning in Antiquity'' (Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 101, 110, 211 .</ref>]]
'''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]]. Roman marriage was a [[monogamy|monogamous]] institution: [[Roman citizen]]s could have only one spouse at a time but allowed divorce and remarriage. 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.
 
Roman marriage had [[Roman mythology|precedents in myth]]. The [[The Rape of the Sabine Women|abduction of the Sabine Women]] may reflect the archaic custom of [[bride abduction]]. Rome's [[Sabine]] neighbours rejected overtures of intermarriage (''conubium'') by [[Romulus]] and his band of male immigrants. According to [[Livy]], Romulus and his men abducted the Sabine maidens but promised them honorable marriage, in which they would enjoy the benefits of property, citizenship, and [[Children of Ancient Rome|children]].