but as polygamy
was unknown, he could never admit to his bed a fairer or more favored
partner.

After the Punic triumphs the matrons of Rome aspired to the common
benefits of a free and opulent republic; their wishes were gratified by
the indulgence of fathers and lovers, and their ambition was
unsuccessfully resisted by the gravity of Cato the Censor. They declined
the solemnities of the old nuptials; defeated the annual prescription by
an absence of three days; and, without losing their name or
independence, subscribed the liberal and definite terms of a marriage
contract. Of their private fortunes they communicated the use and
secured the property; the estates of a wife could neither be alienated
nor mortgaged by a prodigal husband; their mutual gifts were prohibited
by the jealousy of the laws; and the misconduct of either party might
afford under another name a future subject for an action of theft. To
this loose and voluntary compact religious and civil rights were no
longer essential; and between persons of similar rank, the apparent
community of life was allowed as sufficient evidence of their nuptials.

The dignity of marriage was restored by the Christians, who derived all
spiritual grace from the prayers of the faithful and the benediction of
the priest or bishop. The origin, validity, and duties of the holy
institution were regulated by the tradition of the synagogue, the
precepts of the gospel, and the canons of general or provincial synods;
and the conscience of the Christians was awed by the decrees and
censures of their ecclesiastical rulers. Yet the magistrates of
Justinian were not subject to the authority of the Church; the Emperor
consulted the unbelieving civilians of antiquity, and the choice of
matrimonial laws in the _Code_ and _Pandects_ is directed by the earthly
motives of justice, policy, and the natural freedom of both sexes.

Besides the agreement of the parties, the essence of every rational
contract, the Roman marriage required the previous approbation of the
parents. A father might be forced by some recent laws to supply the
wants of a mature daughter; but even his insanity was not generally
allowed to supersede the necessity of his consent. The causes of the
dissolution of matrimony have varied among the Romans; but the most
solemn sacrament, the confarreation itself, might always be done away by
rites of a contrary tendency. In the first ages the father of a family
might sell his ch