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Interesting Sources on Marriage in Ancient Rome:
The following is an inscription from an epitaph in Rome, dating from the first century BC.
"I was called while alive, Aurelia Philematium, a woman chaste and modest, unsoiled by the common crowd, faithful to her husband.
My husband, whom, alas, I have now left, was a fellow freedman. He was truly like a father to me. When I was seven years old
he embraced me. Now I am forty and in the power of death.
Through my constant care, my husband flourished."
This epitaph from Rome dates back to the second century BC. It informs us of the type of behaviour that was expected of a
wife and matron.
"Stranger, I have only a few words to say. Stop and read them. This is the unlovely tomb of a lovely woman. Her parents named
her Claudia. She loved her husband with all her heart. She bore two sons; one of these she leaves here on earth, the other
she has already placed under the earth. She was charming in speech, yet pleasant and proper in manner. She managed the household
well. She spun wool. I have spoken. Go on your way."
The behaviour that Lucius Aurelius Hermia praises his wife for is similar to that which is promised in some modern marriage
vows.
"Lucius Aurelius Hermia, freedman of Lucius, a butcher on the Viminal.
She who preceded me in death was my one and only wife, chaste in body, with a loving spirit, she lived faithful to her faithful
husband, always optimistic, even in bitter times, she never shirked her duties."
Site #1 - Women and Marriage in Ancient Rome
Site #2 - Marriage in Ancient Rome
Site #3 - Daily Life - Birth, Marriage and Death
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