_Marriages and Funerals._
A marriage ceremony was never solemnized without consulting the
auspices, and offering sacrifices to the gods, particularly to Juno; and
the animals offered up on the occasion were deprived of their gall, in
allusion to the absence of every thing bitter and malignant in the
proposed union.
A legal marriage was made in three different ways, called
_confarreatio_, _usus_ and _coemptio_.
The first of these was the most ancient. A priest, in the presence of
ten witnesses, made an offering to the gods, of a cake composed of salt
water, and that kind of flour called "_far_," from which the name of the
ceremony was derived. The bride and bridegroom mutually partook of this,
to denote the union that was to subsist between them, and the sacrifice
of a sheep ratified the interchange of their vows.
When a woman, with the consent of her parents or guardian, lived an
entire year with a man, with the intention of becoming his wife, it was
called _usus_.
_Coemptio_ was an imaginary purchase which the husband and wife made of
each other, by the exchange of some pieces of money.
A plurality of wives was forbidden among the Romans. The marriageable
age was from fourteen for men, and twelve for girls.
On the wedding day the bride was dressed in a simple robe of pure white,
bound with a zone of wool, which her husband alone was to unloose: her
hair was divided into six locks, with the point of a spear, and crowned
with flowers; she wore a saffron colored veil, which enveloped the
entire person: her shoes were yellow, and had unusually high heels to
give her an appearance of greater dignity.
Thus attired she waited the arrival of the bridegroom, who went with a
party of friends and carried her off with an appearance of violence,
from the arms of her parents, to denote the reluctance she was supposed
to feel at leaving her paternal roof.
The nuptial ceremony was then performed; in the evening she was
conducted to her future home, preceded by the priests, and followed by
her relations, friends, and servants, carrying presents of various
domestic utensils.
The door of the bridegroom's house was hung with garlands of flowers.
When the bride came hither, she was asked who she was; she answered,
addressing the bridegroom, "Where thou art Caius, there shall I be
Caia," intimating that she would imitate the exemplary life of Caia, the
wife of Tarquinius Priscus. She was then lifted over the threshold, or
gently stepped over, it being considered ominous to touch it with her
feet, because it was sacred to Vesta the goddess of Virgins.
Upon her entrance, the keys of the house were delivered to her, to
denote her being intrusted with the management of the family, and both
she and her husband touched fire and water to intimate that their union
was to last through every extremity. The bridegroom then gave a great
supper to all the company. This feast was accompanied with music and
dancing, and the guests sang a nuptial song in praise of the new married
couple.
The Romans paid great 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.
When any one was at the point of death, his nearest relation present
endeavored to catch his last breath with his mouth, for they believed
that the soul or living principle thus went out at the mouth. The corpse
was then bathed and perfumed; dressed in the richest robes of the
deceased, and laid upon a couch strewn with flowers, with the feet
towards the outer door.
The funeral took place by torch light. The corpse was carried with the
feet foremost on an open bier covered with the richest cloth, and borne
by the nearest relatives and friends. It was preceded by the image of
the deceased, together with those of his ancestors.
The procession was attended by musicians, with wind instruments of a
larger size and a deeper tone than those used on less solemn occasions;
mourning women were likewise hired to sing the praises of the deceased.
On the conclusion of the ceremony the sepulchre was strewed with
flowers, and the mourners took a last farewell of the remains of the
deceased. Water was then thrown upon the attendants, by a priest, to
purify them from the pollution which the ancients supposed to be
communicated by any contact with a corpse.
The manes of the dead were supposed to be propitiated by blood:--on this
account a custom prevailed of slaughtering, on the tomb of the deceased,
those animals of which he was most fond when living.
When the custom of burning the dead was introduced, a funeral pile was
constructed in the shape of an altar, upon which the corpse was laid;
the nearest relative then set fire to it:--perfumes and spices were
afterwards thrown into the blaze, and when it was extinguished, the
embers were quenched with wine. The ashes were then collected and
deposited in an urn, to be kept in the mausoleum of the family.