Stage 38 Culture

Question 1

What was the average age for a Roman girl to marry? A Roman man?

Answer 1

• Girls were normally married by 20 (girls from elite families could be married by 12)
• Men were married by 25-30
• Could have a large age difference between husband and wife if the man had been married previously

Question 2

How was the husband selected? What had to happen by law before the marriage could take place?

Answer 2

• The girl’s father/guardian (paterfamilias) chose her husband
• Both the bride and groom had to give their consent before that got married

Question 3

What was the dōs?

Answer 3

Dowry - payment in money and/or property that the bride’s family gave to the husband

Question 4

Describe five aspects of a Roman spōnsālia (ceremony of betrothal or engagement).

Answer 4

• The father of the bride made a promise of marriage to the groom himself or to his father
• Gifts were exchanged
• A ring was put on the bride’s ring finger
• Friends and family were present as witnesses
• Ceremony was followed by a party

Question 5

Outline three aspects of marriage cum manū.

Answer 5

• The bride stopped being a member of her father’s family and went under the control (manus) or her husband
• All her property became her husbands
• He could divorce her (she could not divorce him)

Question 6

How did the ceremony of cōnfarreātiō get its name?

Answer 6

Confarreatio - ceremony to enter into a cum manu marriage where the couple ate a sacred cake made of far (grain)

Question 7

Outline four aspects of marriage sine manū.

Answer 7

• The bride was not in the control of her husband (she was still seen as a member of her father’s family)
• Bride could have property
• Bride could divorce her husband
• Couple just had to live together after saying they would be man and wife to have a sine manu marriage

Question 8

Lūnula

Answer 8

• Moon shaped locket or amulet which the bride would have worn since birth
• Removed the evening before her wedding day to symbolize that she was leaving her childhood behind

Question 9

Bulla

Answer 9

• Male equivalent of a lunula
• the groom would have already dedicated this to his family lares when he became a citizen (17 or 18 yrs. old)

Question 10

flammeum

Answer 10

a flame-colored bridal veil

Question 11

haruspex

Answer 11

would make a sacrifice and take the omens at a wedding

Question 12

iūnctiō dextrārum

Answer 12

symbolic joining of hands

Question 13

cēna nūptiālis

Answer 13

wedding feast

Question 14

ubi tū Gāius, ego Gāia

Answer 14

traditional words of the bride to her husband (“Where you are Gaius, I am Gaia)

Question 15

mātrōnae ūnivirae

Answer 15

women who only had one husband, would undress the bride

Question 16

List nine other customs of a Roman wedding.

Answer 16

• Signing of the marriage contract (witnessed by the wedding guests)
• Pretending to pull the bride away from her mother by force
• Torch-lit procession to the groom’s house
• The wedding song
• Calling out of noisy greeting and course jokes to the groom
• Anointing the doorposts with oil
• Carrying the bride across the threshold of her new home
• Arranging the bride’s hair (Parted with a spear, Divided into 6 braids)
• Presentation of fire and water by the groom to the bride

Question 17

What was the chief purpose of a Roman marriage? List two ways the Emperor Augustus encouraged marriage and large families. How successful was he?

Answer 17

• Main purpose was to have and raise children

How they encouraged marriages:
- Penalties against people who did not get married (ie: forbidding them to receive legacies)
- Privileges for married couple who had 3+ children
- Birthrate still continued to drop

Question 18

What were five things a Roman wife couldn’t do? What were four things that she could?

Answer 18

What she couldn’t do
- Vote in elections
- Take an active part in public or political life
- Sit on a jury
- Plead in court

What she could do
- Was not restricted to her home - could go visit friends
- Could go to the theater and baths
- Could accompany her husband to dinner parties

Question 19

What was a Roman wife’s traditional role? Why was that role considered demanding?

Answer 19

• Running the household
• She had to manage and supervise a large number of domestic slaves

Question 20

Why is our view of Roman married life very incomplete?

Answer 20

• We do not know as much about married life for the poor
• We do not have much information about married life form the women’s point of view (most writers were men)

Question 21

What are two types of sources for what we do know about married life?

Answer 21

• Writing of Roman authors (ie: letters)
• Epitaphs - things written in memory of husbands and wives