Content deleted Content added
The previous lead section was of POV kind by citing a reference where the reference itself doesn't make the blanket statement. Improvements are made from the source material with additional material which should also be cited regarding the Marriage in Ancient Rome. Stop reverting and improve the page. Tags: Manual revert Reverted Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
YesI'mOnFire (talk | contribs) |
||
Line 1:
{{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 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]].
Line 13:
Marriage ({{lang|la|conubium}}) was one of the fundamental institutions of Roman society, as it joined not only two individuals but two families. The Romans considered marriage a partnership, whose primary purpose was to have legitimate descendants to whom property, status, and family qualities could be handed down through the generations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Evans Grubbs |first=Judith |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Women_and_the_Law_in_the_Roman_Empire/spCFAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gl=INonepage&q&f=false |title=Women and the Law in the Roman Empire: a sourcebook on marriage, divorce and widowhood |publisher=Taylor & Francis |date=June 2002 |isbn=9781134743926 |pages=81}}</ref>
Marriage in ancient Rome was a strictly [[monogamy|monogamous]] institution: under Roman law, a [[Roman citizen]], whether male or female, could have only one spouse at a time. The practice of monogamy distinguished the [[Marriage in Ancient Greece|Greeks]] and Romans from ancient civilizations in which elite males typically had [[polygyny|multiple wives]]. [[Walter Scheidel]] believes that Greco-Roman monogamy may have arisen from the relative [[egalitarianism]] of the [[Greek democracy|democratic]] and [[Roman Republic|republican]] political systems of the city-states. The aspect of a monogamous institution was later embraced by [[early Christianity]], which in turn perpetuated it as an ideal in later [[Western culture]]. In the early fifth century Augustine referred to it as a "Roman custom".<ref>Scheidel, Walter, "A peculiar institution? Greco–Roman monogamy in global context", 2006, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2145, USA (2006), In ''History of the Family'' 14 (2009), Elsevier, pp. 280–291 available online at sciencedirect.com [https://web.stanford.edu/~scheidel/Scheidel_HISFAM.pdf]</ref>
Marriage had [[Roman mythology|mythical precedents]], starting with the [[The Rape of the Sabine Women|abduction of the Sabine Women]], which may reflect the archaic custom of [[bride abduction]]. [[Romulus]] and his band of male immigrants approached the Sabines for ''conubium'', the legal right to intermarriage, from the [[Sabines]]. According to [[Livy]], [[Romulus]] and his men abducted the Sabine maidens, but promised them an honorable marriage, in which they would enjoy the benefits of property, citizenship, and [[children of Ancient Rome|children]].<ref>Treggiari, Susan (1991). ''Roman Marriage''. New York: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-814890-9}} esp. p. 8f</ref>
| |||