legal marriage; if children born out of conubium, took status of the mother.

-       in manu:  in the eyes of the law, a woman passes from the control of her father to the control of her husband (early Roman tradition)

-       sine manu: a woman, though married, remains under the control of her father (imperial period)

-       under Augustus, a woman gained her independence if she bore three children (four, if the woman was a freed slave)

virtus, clementia, iustis, pietas (virtue, clemency, justice, piety)

humble, modest, virtuous, strong, faithful to her husband, self-sacrificing, seen but not heard, deferred to the husband in public but supported him completely, spun wool and engaged in weaving, abstained from political involvement, ran the household and cared for children but had no legal rights to them, devoted to education and political advancement of her family, praised for being invisible.

-       like marriage (except to clarify things like dowries), did not involve a contract

-       very common in antiquity (1 in 6 among upper class)

-       early in Rome, for political reasons, infertility, and adultery (of the wife)

-       In the second century AD, either party could instigate a divorce without a reason

-       Couples often remarried and crated ‘blended’ families

  manage the family’s finances

-       expose a newborn child

-       arrange marriages and divorces

-       disown a child

-       sell a child into slavery

-       kill a disobedient child

-       offer limited medical advice

females took the feminine form of their father's names (i.e., Claudius' daughter would be Claudia, etc.)