Roman Marriage

Under Roman Law, Marriage had various legal forms which defined the status of the Wife and her Property.
A legal contract was signed between the two families and confirmed whether the woman’s Property remained her own or was given to her husband.

Connubium was the Right of inter-marriage with a Roman Citizen.
The children from this marriage received Roman Citizenship if the Father was a Roman Citizen.

The Minimum age for marriage was based on reaching puberty, 12 for girls and 14 for boys.
Eunuchs were not permitted to marry.
Under Roman Law, the children belonged to the Father or Paterfamilias.
Marriage was a private contract between two families.

The Engagement was not an essential requirement, but if entered into, would form the contractual basis for the Dowry, with a financial penalty if the marriage did not take place.
Pactum Nuptiale was the name of the contract, and was signed by both families.
The Engagement Ring was the ‘Anulus Pronubis’: The Woman was given two rings at the Engagement Party, one made from Iron, and one made from Gold. The Iron ring was worn at home, and the Gold ring worn in Public. Later, just an Iron Ring was given. The ring was worn on the third finger of the left hand.
The Roman Wedding Ring often consisted of two hands clasped together.
No Ring was given during the Wedding Ceremony.

This had to be an auspicious date, preferably in June. February and May were banned as they were months of mourning.
The First of the month (Kalends), Fifth of the month (Nones) and Thirteenth of the month (Ides) were avoided as they were considered unlucky for Weddings.

Consortium: meaning community of goods. Originally, once a Roman woman was married, her property became her husband’s property. Later this was relaxed and she retained her property after marriage. The wife’s own property was called ‘Paraphema’, and remained her own.

Dowry: this was called the ‘Dos’, and was transferred from the bride’s family to the husband or father-in-law, after the marriage ceremony. The Dowry agreed to was based on the wealth of the bride’s family. After the marriage ceremony, it was usually paid in the form of regular payments over a three year period.

In Manum:
- The Woman AND her property, were transferred to her husband’s family. Under Roman Law she had the same status towards her husband as a daughter.
  1. Confarreatio:
    - The grandest wedding ceremony with 10 witnesses, attended by the Pontifex Maximus and conducted by the Flamen Dialis. To qualify for this type of marriage, the parents had to have also been married by Confarreatio. The ‘Farreum’ was the special wedding cake at this ceremony.
  2. Coemptio:
    - The wife was bought by the husband, in front of 5 witnesses. Her property or Dowry then belonged to her husband.
  3. Usus:
    - In this type of marriage the Roman woman had a certain amount of freedom. For the first year she was under the control of her own family, her Paterfamilias, but as she was no longer in the same house, she gained some independence. She then only came under the control (Manum) of her husband, after one year of living together. However, if she was absent for 3 nights (trinoctium abesse), she remained under her family’s Paterfamilias.
Sine Manu (not in Manum):
- During the first century BCE the ‘in Manum’ laws were suspended and marriages became Sine Manu.
- The woman remained under the Legal Authority of her Paterfamilias, not her husband. She KEPT most of her property.
- This type of marriage became more popular under the Roman Empire, and gave women more independence than if they were married ‘In Manum’.

Contubernium:
- This was co-habitation without marriage and it permitted ‘marriage’ between Roman Slaves.
Concubinatus:
- This legalised cohabitation with a woman as a Concubine, although any children would be illegitimate.
- It was defined as cohabitation between a Freedmen and a Slave, or between a Patrician and a Freedwoman.