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410

DERIVATION OF UXOR -THALASSIO.

with leaves and flowers, and the rooms with tapestry, Juvenal. vii. 51. 79.226.

When the bride came thither, being asked who she was, she answered, UBI TU CAIUS, IBI EGO CAIA, i. e. Ubi tu Dominus et pater familias, ibi ego Domina et mater familias. A new married woman was called CAIA, from Caia Cæcilia, or Tanaquil, the wife of Tarquinius Priscus, who is said to have been an excellent spinster (lanifica) and housewife, Cic. Mur. 12. Quinctil. i. 7. Festus. Her distaff and spindle were kept in the temple of Sangus [Sancus] or Hercules, Plin. viii. 48. s. 74.

The bride bound the door-posts of her husband with woollen fillets, Plin. xxix. 2. s. 9. Lucan. ii. 355. Serv. in Virg. Æn. iv. 458., and anointed (ungebat) them with the fat of swine or wolves, to avert fascination or enchantments; whence she was called UXOR, quasi UNXOR, Serv, ibid. Plin. xxviii. 9. s. 37.

She was lifted over the threshold, Lucan. ibid. Plutarch. in Romul. et Quæst. Rom. 29., or gently stepped over it, Plaut. Cas. iv. 4. l. It was thought ominous to touch it with her feet, because the threshold was sacred to Vesta, the goddess of virgins, Serv. in Virg. Ecl. viii. 29.

Upon her entry, the keys of the house were delivered to her, to denote her being intrusted with the management of the family, Festus. A sheep's skin was spread below her; intimating that she was to work at the spinning of wool, Plutarch. Quæst. Rom. 31. Both she and her husband touched fire and water, because all things were supposed to be produced from these two elements, Plutarch. Q. Rom. 1. Varro de L. Liv. 10. Ovid. Fast. iv. 792. Art. Am. ii. 598.; with the water they bathed their feet, Serv. in Virg. Æn. iv. 167.

The husband on this occasion gave a feast (CŒENA NUPTIALIS) to his relations and friends, to those of the bride and her attendants, Plaut. Curc. v. 2. 62. Suet. Cal. 25. Juvenal. vi. 201.*

Musicians attended, who sang the nuptial song (EPITHALAMIUM), HYMENÆUS vel -um, vel THALASSIO, Martial. iii. 93. 25. Catull. 61. Ter. Adelph. v. 7. 7. Stat. Sylv. ii. 7. 87. They often repeated Io HYMEN HYMENEE, Plaut. Cas. iv. 3., and THALASSIO, Martial. i. 36. 6., from Hymen the god of marriage among the Greeks, and Thalassus among the Romans, Ibid. Martial. xiii. 42. 5., or from one Talassius, who lived in great happiness with his wife [one of the Sabine women], Festus, Liv. i. 9., as if to wish the new-married couple the like felicity, Plutarch. in Pomp. (or from Taλacía, lanificium, Plutarch. in

A sort of bride cakes (mustacea) made of meal, anise-seed, cummin, and other ingredients, were distributed to the company :

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Nec est quare cœnam et mustacea perdas,
Labente officio, crudis donanda."—Juv. Sat. vi. 201.

Labente officio means the latter end of the feast, when the company was going to disperse; for those who were guests upon the occasion were said ad officium venire: crudis, qualmish, after the entertainment. It appears, also, that pieces of money were put into a broad plate or dish and presented by the-husband to the bride: — 66 Cum lance beatâ

Dacicus et scripto radiat Germanicus auro.”—Juv. Sat. vi. 208.

Both these were gold coins, in commemoration of the pretended victories of Domitian over the Dacians and Germans.

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Romulo.) These words used also to be resounded by the attendants of the bride on the way to her husband's house, Martial. Ibid. Ovid. Ep. xii. 143. xiv. 27. Hence Hymenæos canere, to sing the nuptial song, Virg. Æn. vii. 398., vel Hymenæa, sc. carmina, Ovid. Art. Am. i. 563. Hymenæi inconcessi, forbidden nuptials, Virg. Æn. i. 651., vetiti, vi. 623.

After supper the bride was conducted to her bed-chamber (in tha lamum) by matrons who had been married only to one husband, called Pronuba, Festus, and laid (collocabatur) in the nuptial couch (lectus genialis), which was magnificently adorned, Catull. lix. 188., and placed in the hall (in atrio vel aula, Horat. Ep. i. 1. 87.) opposite (adversus) to the door, and covered with flowers, Cic. Cluent. 5. Catull. lix. 192. Donat. in Ter. Eun. iii. 5. 45. Juvenal. x. 334. Tacit. Ann. xv. 37. Propert. iv. 11. 81. Gell. xvi. 9., sometimes in the garden, Juvenal. x. 334. If it had ever been used for that purpose before, the place of it was changed, Propert. iv. 12. 85. iv. 9. 59. There were images of certain divinities around, SUBigus, Pertunda, &c. Arnob. iv. Augustin. de Civ. Dei, vi. 9. Nuptial songs were sung by young women before the door till midnight, Ovid. Fast. iii. 675. 695., hence called EPITHALAMIA. The husband scattered nuts among the boys, Plin. xv. 22. Serv. in Virg. Ecl. viii. 30. Catull. lix. 131., intimating that he dropped boyish amusements and thenceforth was to act as a man. Hence nuces relinquere, to leave trifles and mind serious business, Pers. i. 10., or from boys playing with nuts in the time of the Saturnalia, Suet. Aug. 83. Martial. v. 85. xiv. 1. 12., which at other times was forbidden, Ib. 18. Young women, when they married, consecrated their playthings, and dolls or babies (PUPÆ), to Venus, Pers. ii. 70. The guests were dismissed with small presents (Apophorēta), Martial. xiv. 1. Juvenal. vi. 202.

Next day another entertainment was given by the husband, called REPOTIA, -orum, Festus+, Horat. Sat. ii. 2. 60., when presents were sent to the bride by her friends and relations; and she began to act as mistress of the family, by performing sacred rites, Macrob. Sat. i.

15.

A woman after marriage retained her former name; as Julia, Tullia, Octavia, Paulla, Valeria, &c. joined to that of her husband; as CATONIS MARCIA, Lucan. ii. 344., Julia Pompeii, Terentia Ciceronis, Livia Augusti, &c.

Divorce (DIVORTIUM), or a right to dissolve the marriage, was, by the law of Romulus, permitted to the husband, but not to the wife, Plutarch. in Romulo; as by the Jewish law, Deut. xxiv. 1., not however without a just cause, Festus in SONTICUM. A groundless or unjust divorce was punished with the loss of effects; of which one

**" Others say (Plut. p. 26.), that Thalassio was the word Romulus had agreed to pronounce, when the Romans were to begin the rape of the Sabine women. And, indeed, this cry suited very well with the god of the sea, whose festival they were then celebrating; and, therefore, the poets always give him the surname of Thalassios. Aristophanes, speaking of Neptune, calls him, aλáσotos Пoσeidŵr.". Rom. Hist. i. 44.

- Hooke's

+ Festus, in explaining the term, gives also its etymology ::-" Repotia: postridie nuptias apud novum maritum cœnatur, quia quasi reficitur potatio;" i. e. a repetition of festivity (re et pōto).

412

LIBERTY OF DIVORCE AT DIFFERENT PERIODS.

half fell to the wife, and the other was consecrated to Ceres, Plutarch. ibid.

A man might divorce his wife if she had violated the conjugal faith, used poison to destroy his offspring, or brought upon him supposititious children; if she had counterfeited his private keys, or even drunk wine without his knowledge, Plutarch. ibid. Gell. x. 23. Plin. xiv. 12.* In these cases, the husband judged together with his wife's relations, Dionys. ii. 25. This law is supposed to have been copied into the Twelve Tables, Cic. Phil. ii. 28.

Although the laws allowed husbands the liberty of divorce, there was no instance of its being exercised for about 520 years. Sp. Carvilius Ruga was the first who divorced his wife, although fond of her, because she had no children, on account of the oath he had been forced to take by the censors, in common with the other citizens, uxorem se liberum quærendorum gratiâ habiturum, that he would marry to have children, Gell. iv. 3. Val. Max. ii. 1. 4. Dionys. ii. 25.

Afterwards divorces became very frequent; not only for important reasons, Suet. Aug. 62. Claud. 26. Ner. 35., but often on the most frivolous pretexts, Val. Max. vi. 3. 11, 12. Dio. xlvi. 18. Plutarch. in L. Paullo et Ciceron. Juvenal. vi. 147. Cæsar, when he divorced Pompeia, the niece of Sylla, because Clodius had got admission to his house in the garb of a music-girl, at the celebration of the sacred rites of the Bona Dea, Cic. Sext. 34., declared, that he did not believe any thing that was said against her, but that he could not live with a wife who had once been suspected, Dio. xxxvii. 45. Suet. Cæs. 6. Cic. Att. i. 12.†

If a wife was guilty of infidelity, she forfeited her dowry, Val. Max. viii. 2, 3.; but if the divorce was made without any fault of hers, the dowry was restored to her, sometimes all at once, but usually by three different payments, Cic. Att. xi. 4. 23. 25. When the separation was voluntary on both sides (cùm BONA GRATIA a se invicem discedebant), she sometimes also retained the nuptial presents of her husband, Ovid. de Rem. Am. 669.

In the later ages of the Republic, the same liberty of divorce was exercised by the women as by the men. Some think that right was granted to them by the law of the Twelve Tables, in imitation of the Athenians, Plutarch. in Alcibiade. This, however, seems not to have been the case; for it appears they did not enjoy it even in the time of Plautus, Mercat. iv. 6.; only if a man was absent for a certain time, his wife seems to have been at liberty to marry another, Plaut. Stich. i. 1. 29. Afterwards, some women deserted their husbands so frequently, and with so little shame, that Seneca says, they reckoned

*If he put her away without any of these grounds, one half of his property was forfeited to her whom he had injured, the other to the temple of Ceres."- Nieb. i. p. 194.

"In cases of divorce when there were children, it was the custom for each party to make a settlement, by will, on their common offspring, proportionable to their several estates; which is the meaning of Cicero's pressing Atticus so often, in his letters, to put Terentia in mind of making her will, and depositing it in safe hands. Ad Att. xi. 21, 22. 24. xii. 18."- Middleton's Cic. ii. 117.

Domitian passed a law, rendering adulteresses incapable of receiving any legacy. Sueton. Domit. c. 8. Juvenal. i. 55. He also prohibited them from the use of the lectica. j

CEREMONIES USED IN DIVORCES.

413

their years not from the number of consuls but of husbands, De Benef. iii. 16. So Juvenal, Fiunt octo mariti quinque per autumnos, vi. 228. Martial. vi. 7., often without any just cause, Cic. Fam. viii. 7. But a freed-woman, if married to her patron, was not permitted to divorce him (ei repudium mittere).

Augustus is said to have restricted this license of BONA GRATIA divorces, as they were called, Suet. Aug. 34., and likewise Domitian. They still, however, prevailed; although the women who made them were by no means respectable, Quæ nubit toties, non nubit; adultera lege est, Martial. vi. 7.

The man was said TonμTE, dimittere uxorem; and the woman drokelme, relinquere vel deserere virum; both, Facere divortium cum uxore vel viro, a viro, vel ab uxore, Cic. Fam. viii. 7. D. 24. 3. 34. A divorce, anciently, was made with different ceremonies, according to the manner in which the marriage had been celebrated.

A marriage contracted by confarreatio was dissolved by a sacrifice called DIFFARREATIO, Festus; which was still in use in the time of Plutarch, when a separation (discidium) took place betwixt the Flamen of Jupiter and his wife (Flaminica), Quæst. Rom. 50.

A marriage contracted by coëmptio was dissolved by a kind of release called REMANCIPATIO, Id. In this manner Cato is supposed to have voluntarily given away his wife Marcia to Hortensius, Plutarch. in Cat., and Tiberius Nero his wife Livia to Augustus, even when pregnant, Tacit. Ann. v. 1. Dio. xlviii. 44. Vel. ii. 94. In later times, a divorce was made with fewer ceremonies. In presence of seven witnesses, the marriage-contract was torn (Tabula nuptiales vel dotales frangebantur), Tacit. Ann. xi. 30. Juvenal. ix. 75., the keys were taken from the wife (claves adimebantur), Cic. Phil. ii. 28., then certain words were pronounced by a freed-man, or by the husband himself, RES TUAS TIBI HABE vel -ETO; TUAS RES TIBI AGITO; EXI, EXI OCYUS; VADE FORAS, I FORAS, MULier; cede DOMO, Plaut. Casin. ii. 2. 36. Cic. de Orat. i. 40. Plaut. Amph. iii. 2. 47. Ovid. Ep. xii. 134. Juv. vi. 145. [Collige sarcinulas, dicet libertus, et exi.] Mart. x. 42. xi. 105. 1. 2. 9. D. de Divort. Hence Exigere foras vel ejicere, to divorce, Cic. Phil. ii. 28.

If the husband was absent, he sent his wife a bill of divorce (nuncium remittebat), Cic. Att. i. 10., on which similar words were inscribed. This was called matrimonii RENUNCIATIO.

There was sometimes an action (ACTIO MALE TRACTATIONIS), to determine by whose fault the divorce was made, Cic. Top. 4. Quinctil. vii. 3. Declam. viii. 18. 383. When the divorce was made by the wife, she said VALEAS, TIBI HABEAS TUAS RES, REDDAS MEAS, Plaut. Amph. iii. 2. 47.

Divorces were recorded in the public registers (ucta), Cic. Fam. viii. 7. Senec. De Benef., as marriages, Juvenal. ii. 136., births, Id. ix. 84., and funerals, Suet. Ner. 39.

Widows were obliged to wear mourning for their husbands at least ten months, Senec. Epist. 65., and if they married within that time they were held infamous, L. 2. C. de secund. Nupt.; but men were under no such restriction.

M. Antoninus, the philosopher, after the death of his wife Faustina, lived with a concubine (ne tot liberis superduceret novercam), that he

414 SECOND MARRIAGES NOT HONOURABLE

FUNERALS.

might not bring in a step-mother on his children, Capitolin. in Vita ejus, fin.

Second marriages in women were not esteemed honourable, and those who had been married but to one husband, or who remained in widowhood, were held in particular respect. Hence UNIVIRA is often found in ancient inscriptions, as an epithet of honour. So, UNI NUPTA [the boast of Cornelia], Propert. iv. ult. Such as married a second time were not allowed to officiate at the annual sacred rites of Female Fortune (Fortuna muliebris), Dionys. viii. 56. Val. Max. 1. 8. 4. Serv. in Virg. Æn. iv. 19. Festus in Pudicitiæ signum. Among the Germans second marriages were prohibited by law, Tacit. de Mor. Germ. 19.

IV. ROMAN FUNERALS.

THE Romans paid the greatest attention to funeral rites, because they believed that the souls of the unburied were not admitted into the abodes of the dead, or, at least, wandered a hundred years along the river Styx, before they were allowed to cross it; for which reason, if the bodies of their friends could not be found, they erected to them an empty tomb, (TUMULUS INANIS, xevoτápor, Cenota phium,) at which they performed the usual solemnities, Virg. Æn. iii. 304. vi. 326. 505. Stat. Theb. xii. 162., and if they happened to see a dead body, they always threw some earth upon it, Ib. 365. Horat. Od. i. 28. 23. 36., and whoever neglected to do so was obliged to expiate his crime by sacrificing a hog to Ceres, Festus in PRÆCIDANEA AGNA; [Cic. de L. L. ii. 22.] hence no kind of death was so much dreaded as shipwreck, Ov. Trist. i. 2. 51.; hence, also, Rite condere manes, to bury in due form, Plin. Ep. vii. 27. Condere animam sepulchro, Virg. Æn. iii. 68. See Plaut. Most. ii. 2. 66. Suet. Cal. 59, and to want the due rites was esteemed the greatest misfortune, Ovid. Ep. x. 119. [Hom. Il. 4. 71.]

When persons were at the point of death, their nearest relation present endeavoured to catch their last breath with their mouth (extremum spiritum ore excipere), Cic. Verr. v. 45. Virg. Æn. vi. 684., for they believed that the soul or living principle (ANIMA), then went out at the mouth. Hence the soul of an old person (anima senilis) was said in primis labris esse, Senec. Ep. 30, or in ore primo teneri, Id. Herc. Fur. 1310.; SO ANIMAM agere, to be in the agony of death, Liv. xxvi. 14. Cic. Fam. viii. 13. Tusc. i. 9. Senec. Ep. 101. Animam dare, efflare, exhalare, exspirare, effundere, &c. to die. †

* These empty tombs were supposed to be retreats for the wandering souls of those who had had no burial. So Virg. Æn. iii. 67.,

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Condimus, et magnâ supremum voce ciemus."

"According to the Roman poets every man possessed a threefold soul, which, after the dissolution of the body, resolved itself into the manes, the anima or spiritus, and the umbra; to each of which a different place was assigned. The manes descended into the infernal regions, to inhabit either Tartarus or Elysium. The anima ascended to the skies to mingle with the gods; while the umbra hovered around the tomb, as if unwilling to quit its connection with the body, of which it was the wraith or shadow. This notion is expressed in the following lines attributed to Ovid:

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