Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

procession from the bride’s old home to her husband’s, but again, none was required. It was even possible to marry an absent man if he sent agreement by messenger.

Extramarital Affairs

A married Roman woman was forbidden to have sex with any one but her husband; to do so was called adultery. Originally this was grounds for divorce and loss of dowry (and a cause of grave social embarrassment). An adulterous wife caught in the act might often be killed, though the legal status of this revenge was not clear. Later, under the Empire, adultery became a pub lic, criminal offense. Vigilante justice was actually restrained, but a conviction of the wife in court resulted in a combination of punishments including formal disgrace and fines. Roman men were much freer. They were entitled to sexual relations with a variety of lower-status women (including, but not limited to, prostitutes and their own slaves) whether or not they were married. A man could be tried for adultery only for having sex with another man’s wife, not merely because he was cheating on his own. A man might also form a more perma nent union with a single women to whom he was not married, called a concubine. In many cases this was done because actual marriage was legally impossible, and sometimes, apparently, because the woman’s social status was simply too low. A con cubine had to be of marriageable age, and it was impossible to have both a wife and a concubine or multiple concubines at

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