In the society of ancient Rome, the concept of marriage consisted of many aspects, the foremost of which was legal. As well known as Rome is for its legislative structure, it should be no surprise that the Romans ingrained marriage into their legal system. While it was sometimes love at first sight, marriage was most often arranged for the benefit of both families. .
A meeting took place at the house of the father of the bride, where certain issues of the marriage contract were discussed; the dowry in particular was finalized and agreed upon by both parties. This dowry, it should be mentioned, was a sum of money given to the bridegroom by the bride's family, but it could also be an object of value, like gold jewelry or something of the sort. Romans married at what we today would consider a very young age. In fact, they married at so early an age that the law mandated that Roman boys could not marry prior to having reached their fourteenth year, and girls could not marry before the age of twelve. Most girls married at fourteen, and most boys whenever they could. Also, the Emperor Tiberius decreed that no woman could marry past fifty, and no man past sixty. The law, however, was widely unpopular, so the emperor repealed it. Relevant to these facts is another law, which states that if the man did not marry the girl to whom he was betrothed within two years of signing the nuptial, the girl was then released from the contract and could marry anyone she pleased. .
In the early days of Rome, there was only one kind of marriage, cum manu, but later on, another kind of connubiality, sine manu, was overwhelmingly more common. In marriage "cum manu", a wife passed into the control of her husband from that of her father. Any property that she owned became her husband's, and she could not divorce her husband, even though he could divorce her. In the marriage "sine manu", the wife remained under the control of her father, but she still lived with her husband.
