Weddings in ancient Rome

The precise customs and traditions of weddings in ancient Rome likely varied heavily across geography, social strata, and time period; Christian authors writing in late antiquity report different customs from earlier authors writing during the Classical period, with some authors condemning practices described by earlier writers. Furthermore, sources may be heavily biased towards depicting weddings of wealthier Roman or portraying a highly idealized image of the Roman wedding, one that may not accurately reflect how the ritual was performed in ordinary life by the majority of Romans. In some circumstances, Roman literary depictions of weddings appear to select the practices included within their portrayal based upon artistic conceit rather than the veracity of those accounts; writers may have intentionally imitated the works of earlier, more famous authors such as Statius or Catullus. For instance, the writer 4th-century poet Claudian frequently notes the presence of pagan deities at the wedding of Emperor Honorius (r. 393–423) and Maria, despite the fact that Rome had already been Christianized by his lifetime and thus most Romans likely had little concern for paganism.

Roman weddings were likely highly religious affairs: the date of the wedding itself was potentially influenced by religious superstition regarding auspicious and inauspicious dates. Prior to the wedding, the auspices may have been consulted to ensure the presence of propitious omens; Roman authors often note the presence of inauspicious signs at doomed or otherwise misfortunate weddings. Sacrifices may also have been performed at Roman weddings, with authors such as Varro noting the presence of pig sacrifices at weddings, although this practice may have been antiquated by the Empire as it is unsupported by artistic evidence. Other forms of sacrifice, such the sacrifice of bulls or sheep, are more commonly showcased in artistic portrayals of Roman weddings scenes.

The Roman wedding was centered around a ritual referred to as the domum deductio, a ritualistic kidnapping in which the bride was led from the home of her original family to abode of the groom. This ritual was often described with violent language, with Roman authors emphasizing the fear, suffering, and reluctance of the bride throughout the entire ceremony; they typically mention the bride's tears and blushing, associating her with a sense of shame and modesty referred to in the Latin language as pudor. This was done to convince the household guardians, or lares, that the bride did not go willingly. Afterwards, the bride and the groom had their first sexual experiences on a couch called a lectus. In a Roman wedding both sexes had to wear specific clothing. Boys had to wear the toga virilis while the bride to wear a wreath, a veil, a yellow hairnet, sex crines, and the hasta caelibaris.