The Roman Wedding
Ritual and Meaning in Antiquity

This is the first book-length examination of Roman wedding ritual.

Karen K. Hersch (Author)

9780521196109, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 24 May 2010

256 pages, 9 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.9 x 2.1 cm, 0.6 kg

'Hersch's volume is a careful survey of Roman matrimonial ceremonies and their meaning to the ancients. Throughout the volume, one appreciates Hersch's focus on the opinions of the ancients themselves.' Religious Studies Reviews

The wedding ritual of the ancient Romans provides a crucial key to understanding their remarkable civilization. The intriguing ceremony represented the starting point of a Roman family as well as a Roman girl's transition to womanhood. This is the first book-length examination of Roman wedding ritual. Drawing on literary, legal, historical, antiquarian, and artistic evidence of Roman nuptials from the end of the Republic through the early Empire (from ca. 200 BC to AD 200), Karen Hersch shows how the Roman wedding expressed the ideals and norms of an ancient people. Her book is an invaluable tool for Roman social historians interested in how ideas of gender, law, religion, and tradition are interwoven into the wedding ceremony of every culture.

Introduction
1. The laws of humans and gods
2. At the house of the bride
3. To the groom's house
4. Gods of the Roman wedding
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Anthropology [JHM], Gender studies, gender groups [JFSJ], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]