Marriage in ancient Rome

Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome, attributed and the first laws of Roman law on marriage.

In accordance with these laws, a woman, connected with a man by sacred bonds of marriage, was to become a part of his property. Her rights were extended to her husband. The law obliged married women to fully adapt to the nature of their spouses, and husbands to manage wives as their necessary property.

For almost the whole of Roman history, husbands had absolute power over their wives, replacing in this the fathers who completely disposed of their daughters before they married. The laws of Rome said that marriage exists solely for the sake of procreation, and also in order that indivisible family property remain. Many centuries later, Roman law formed the basis of English law, and although the severity of the punishment for its violation was weakened, the husbands still enjoyed very great rights.

As in Athens, a husband in Ancient Rome had the right to kill a wife who did not fulfill her marital duties or violated strict rules of conduct. Roman law allowed a woman to be punished with death if she betrayed her husband, drank a special remedy to interrupt an unwanted pregnancy, or forged the keys to her husband's wine cellar. To drink wine to Roman women was strictly forbidden, as it was believed that every woman who unduly drink wine closes her heart for virtues and opens it to vices.

At the beginning of the century n.e.the views of Romans on marriage reflected the attitude towards the role that was assigned to a woman by society. At the heart of the marriage was an idea that prevailed for many centuries and partially retained its importance at the present time. Some views of the ancients look modern, as they are close to us in their essence, namely: "What can be better than a wife of a chaste, loving family life, a good housewife and a teacher of children, one that pleases you in health and cares for the illness, companions inluck and comfort in the mountain, one that bridled the passion of your youth and softens the excessive cruelty of old age. .. "