Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

Family Law

marriages at even earlier ages are attested as well.) The elderly and the apparently infertile were generally allowed to marry, though castrated men were excluded. Finally, legislation of the emperor Augustus forbade marriage between those of very dif ferent social statuses, and these rules were somewhat extended by later emperors. Divorced people and widow(er)s were legally free to remarry, though a widow too quick to remarry would be viewed with suspicion socially. Serial marriage must have been quite common given ancient life expectancies, the com mon age gaps between husbands and wives, and the ease of Roman divorce. The central and distinctive requirement for marriage, how ever, was simply agreement by both parties to be married. It is particularly noteworthy that consent was sought even from people (women, children in power) whose decision-making authority was restricted in other respects. If one or the other party was still in power, the consent of the father(s) was neces sary in addition , but it could not substitute for the consent of the actual bride and groom. In modern societies, marriage has a large number of auto matic legal consequences, such as in taxation, private insurance, inheritance, citizenship, billing, and travel documentation. One group has counted over 1,400 of these in the United States. In Roman law, most of these did not exist. Still, there were several legal reasons it was important to know whether or not two people were married. Official terminology described mar riage as “for the sake of producing children,” and one of its principal legal effects was making children born (or at least

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