MARRIAGE: AND THE ROMAN LADY In order to appreciate the position of women of various types in the society we are examining, it is necessary to make it clear what Roman marriage originally and ideally meant.

In any society, it will be found that the position and influence of woman can be fairly well discerned from the nature of the marriage ceremony and the conditions under which it is carried out.

At Rome, in all periods of her history, a _iustum matrimonium_, i.e.a marriage sanctioned by law and religion, and therefore entirely legal in all its results, was a matter of great moment, not to be achieved without many forms and ceremonies.

The reason for this elaboration is obvious, at any rate to any one who has some acquaintance with ancient life in Greece or Italy.

As we shall see later on, the house was a residence for the divine members of the family, as well as the human; the entrance, therefore, of a bride into the household,--of one, that is, who had no part nor lot in that family life--meant some straining of the relation between the divine and human members.