Introduction
The legacy of the Roman empire means the combination of cultural attributes, religion, and believes as well as the technological advancements that came as a result of the ancient mighty Roman empire that have been passed to the present civilizations in western Europe and across the world1. In my view, the most obvious influence of the Roman Empire that is visible today is the language Latin. Even though Latin is an extinct language, its influences in the contemporary are enormous. Latin language did not only influence culture but also science in the present world. Even as the Roman Empire collapsed, Latin continued to be studied as a language of science across Western Europe in the middle ages. Remarkably, Latin language became the official language of the Catholic Church. Through combining with the Catholic Church, Latin language thrived in the new world of Americas discovered in the middle ages in the 1500s. Latin language still has remnants in the languages of French, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and others. Similarly, Catholicism has been very influential in the world and the regions of the world that speaks these languages. However, the Roman Empire’s uniqueness is not only limited to the influence in science and technology.2
Contemporarily, many people see the vast body of the extant Roman law as a significant sub-discipline of ancient history. The Roman culture provides a background of study for the many aspects of life including marriage and family life.3 It would be interesting to examine how the Roman understanding of marriage spilled over to the medieval period and subsequently altered the practice. This paper aims to do just that: examine the contrast and similarities between the Roman idea of marriage and marriage as practiced in the medieval period across Europe and the rest of the old world. While writing this paper, I reckon that an examination of the laws and customs that deal with marriage and in family in the ancient world is necessarily incomplete. Scholarly work in this field is limited in conclusion by the fragmentary nature of the available evidence from the distance time.4 This research is based on the law codes, personal correspondence, and work of previous researchers in this field. The examination of marriage will take into consideration the male chauvinistic nature of the old European society, marriage alliances, importance of children, social problems such as divorce, adultery, and the rights of widows.
Roman Marriage
While scholarly work has already been done on Roman marriage law, most of it deals with the classical era, and little has been done to explore the remarkably radical changes to marriage law in Roman law in late antiquity and during the fourth and fifth centuries C.E. The Theodosian Code provides a unique and valuable source of information.5 Despite the limitations evident in any legal text, on a wide range of legal issues pertaining to marriage: the necessity of marriage, the choice of marriage partner and consent to marriage, marriage payments, adultery and divorce, remarriage and inheritance, and even the marriages of slaves, soldiers, and clerics, and same-sex marriage.6 The extent of the changes revealed even demands new questions about the influence of Christian ideology on later Roman law. Merriam Webster Dictionary defines marriage as “the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship that is recognized by law”7 it would be important to examine if the rules and definition of marriage was similar to the way it practiced in the Roman society.
Giess (1989) records that the modern family is a product of European Middle Ages. The roots of the modern family have its origins in the Roman Empire that had a fusion of Roman civilization, Germanic and barbarian society and the influence of Christian religion. The influence of other religions and cultures was channeled through Christianity and the already existing religion. Like all other segments of the medieval society, the marriage institution in medieval period sprang from attributes of customs and laws. Although the Roman started as agrarian Republic, it spread by conquering the near states in the Italian peninsular and throughout the Mediterranean Sea. By the time of Christ, the Roman Empire had spread into a big empire sponsored by slave labor and embracing a sophisticated urban culture. During the time of Augustus, far-reaching reforms were made that had lasting effects on the nature of European family.8 More than two hundred years after the reign of Augustus, the Roman Empire experienced Great migration that brought the Germanic people into western and Southern Europe. At the time of the Great Migration, there was the rise of Christian religion that had grown from a once powerless religion to a powerful state religion. The Germanic immigrants embraced Christianity and this entirely changed the family relations and the institution of marriage in the medieval period.9
The first characteristic of marriage in the Roman period was that it was an arrangement between two families. The marriage system was highly structured and sophisticated. The marriage was done between different classes and took into consideration the ability of two married couples to live in harmony without conflict or inability to take care of one another. In the Roman society, men would get married in their mid twenties while woman married in the early teens. When the youngsters reached maturity ages, their parents would organize so that a courtship process would start. The marriages were negotiated in a way that ensured that the parents had a marriage that increased the family’s wealth or access to power.10 Still, the government had laws that governed the practice of marriage. In the Roman legal terms, only marriages involving Roman citizens would take place after the granting of special marriage permit called “conubium.” For sometimes, the Roman law prohibited freed slaves from marrying Roman citizens, however during the times of Emperor Augustus; the law was relaxed making it possible for freed slaves to marry citizens except senators. While Augustus lifted the ban on marriage for freed slaves, he instituted laws that prohibited Roman citizens from marrying prostitutes and actresses. 11Similarly, provincial administrators could not marry local women from the province that were in charge. Roman soldiers were also not allowed to marry unless they were granted special permission. Women who had been divorced for unfaithfulness were also prohibited from remarrying under these stringent marital laws.12
The marriage ceremonies in the Roman period were simple and succinct. There was a formal ceremony a betrothal, which was a formal covenant between the two families of the couples. In the betrothal, gifts would be exchanged. Some marriages involved dowry payment while others did not involve dowry payment. After exchanging gifts, a written document was signed and the marriages are completed by a kiss. The weddings were held after careful consideration of dates because superstition made the Romans believes that some dates were better than the others were. Most weddings were held in the month of June. However, many people continued to get married throughout the year. The Roman marriage had no legal backing since the personal agreement between the bride and the groom was substantial enough to act as proof of marriage.13 This practice was described as “affection maritalis” In the wedding day; the groom would lead his entourage to the bride’s family house where the bridesmaid would be escorted to meet the husband. The brides usually wore a white wove tunic that is belted with an elaborate “knot of Hercules”. The hair of the bride was carefully arranged to fall back on the wedding veil, which was usually orange with a matching orange shoes. After the wedding, there were feasts that would be followed by a noisy procession to the couple’s home.14
In the Roman marriage, divorce was as simple as the marriage. While marriage was the declaration of intent to live together, divorce was the exact opposite: The declaration of intent to separate. The divorce process was finalized after the couples garner seven witnesses that confirm the validity of the request. Divorce was common among the upper classes because of the easiness of finding witnesses. The divorce settlement included the wife receiving dowry back in full and she returns to the protection of her father. If the woman was independent before the marriage, she would become independent again after the divorce. However, in the case of adultery, a wife found guilty would be denied the dowry back and consequently suffer embarrassment. The Roman law did not recognize adultery on the part of the man.15
For centuries, the family was scarcely affected by stature law. However, custom had the force of law and was far more sacred than any other Roman law. Still, Campbell, author of Marriage and Family in the Biblical World argues that the Roman world was a multicultural world. The city of Rome founded in 753 BC was a metropolitan amalgamation resulting from mixed marriages. Marriages in the early Rome were a mixture of male refugees from Troy and local Latin women. Greek and Roman theorists viewed marriage and the procreation of children as fundamental to human society.16 According to Cicero (106-43) BC, the family was the seed –bed of the city and the nation. It was the essential that family rules were of a central custom. In the words of Cicero: “For the sake of and the practice of living, a prescription has been made for recognized marriages, legitimate children, and the sacred homes of the household goods and family lares, so that everyone could enjoy common and individual blessing.”17
While some scholars have argued that social structures existed or dominated in the ancient world of Rome, a substantial amount of evidence suggest that male dominance was the rule and that patriarchal lineage were both the norms in the Roman society and the medieval European society. With a few exceptions, all Roman women were for their entire lives subjected to some degree of limitation on their capacity for an independent legal action. Authority vested in man- father, husband, or guardian. Until the time of Augustus, the only exceptions were the six vestal virgins. After Augustus freeborn, who had been born after the law had been established had some legal opinions. For the most part, the society was male dominated.18
Marriage in the Middle Ages
During the middle Ages in Europe, the old Germanic concept of marriage contended with the new teachings of the church. The debate of the place of the marriage was defined by the church. In this era, the previous activities in the Roman culture of exogamy were denounced. The church begun by a series of structures against marriages contrasted with the relatives that were described as in-laws. This was called incestuous marriages and usually involved marriages of cousins, father’s widows, half sisters, and other close relatives. However, the incest and exogamy laws remained cloudy. Kings and nobles of the sixth and seventh centuries kept concubines, maintained multiple wives, and repudiated one wife with no official formality. There was a common practice for a young man to take a concubine before he married. 19Another difference in the marriage in the Middle Ages as compared to the old Roman system was on the consent of marriage. Of the two types of consent that were regularly practiced, only one was controversial. While the consent of parents and relatives was a long held tradition, there was a controversy over the willingness of all parties. The church established a law that gave young people the consent of choosing their marital partners.20
In the book, Medieval Families: Perspectives on Marriage, Household and Children, Judith Bennet writes that medieval marriage was both a private matter and a public institution. Although the marriage technically required only the couple’s consent, it still had the involvement of parents, participation of neighbors, and the approval of administrators. While marriages distinguished old families by removing members to create a new family, it also forged human links that strengthened social ties with blood relations.21 As a result, marriage highlighted the social boundaries and context of kingship in medieval England and the rest of Europe.22
Duby writes that in the middle ages, the church offered a moral code for a good married life. The intention was to attempt to free marriage of its perceived corruption such as the obsession with carnal knowledge, the pursuit of sexual gratification by having multiple partners and the use of love portions to have men stick to their women. The church ensured that the couple’s sole responsibility in marriage was procreation. Transgressing the law of marriage was the act of having sex without the intent of making babies. For example, Gregory the great once said that Children conceived on Sunday night would be crippled by evil monsters.23 As regards to the social practice of marriage, the church corrected lay customs by visibly changing laws that were sometimes stringent while liberal in other ways. Marriage became a symbol of union between Christ and the Church as described by St. Paul, and thus sex became indecent and unholy. The church also heightened the grip on absolute monogamy, abhorred incestuous marriages between relatives, and disallowed repudiation. Similarly, the priest played an increasing role in marriages while arguing for the practice of chastity.24
Another characteristic of medieval marriage, especially in England, was that the word divorce, in its contemporary understanding did not exist. Marriages that were valid were theoretically considered indissoluble for any course that arose after they had been contracted. However, the word divorce was used in the medieval period to refer to a judicial separation. In this context, the wife and husband were allowed to live separately while the ties of marriage are still binding.25
Conclusion
The major difference between marriage as practiced in the Roman society versus the Middle Ages was the increasing role of the church in the regulation of marriage. While the Roman marriage was less limited in the ways of divorce, extra marital affairs, and exogamy, the middle ages was under a strict code that penalized divorce and extra marital affairs. The church was the pinnacle that defined the understanding of marriage and family in the west during the middle ages. Conversely, in the Roman society, the state played a central role in the understanding of marriage and family.26
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