A Roman citizen was under a religious duty to marry and beget children in order that the religious rites of the family might be carried on.
The essence of the Roman marriage relationship (matrimonium) in its legal aspect lay in its social consequences. Custom, rather than law, dictated the nature of this relationship. At a later date, under the influence of Christian beliefs, the legal relationship between husband and wife assumed a greater importance.
The act of marriage was generally informal; it sufficed that the spouses created a union intended to last for life and that they had an intention to look upon the union as marriage (affectio maritalis).
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- Marriage and Roman Law
+ Marriage (II): Sponsalia
+ Marriage (III): Its requisites
+ Marriage (IV): Laws of Augustus
+ Marriage (V): Forms of marriage
+ Marriage (VI): Concubinage
+ Marriage (VII): Dissolution of marriage
+ Marriage (VIII): Matrimonial property
+ Marriage (IX): Children
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Source:
Roman Law, L. B. Curzon, page 39.
