Marriage Throughout the Ages

In ancient Egypt, a woman's rights and privileges were
equal to that of her husband. After marriage, women held
control of their independence, property and wealth, and
either person could easily get a divorce. For two people to
be considered married, all they had to do was move in with
each other.

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Marriages in ancient Greece were arranged by parents and
approved by the gods. Women in their early teens were
married to men in their mid-thirties, and a husband had to
buy his new wife from her father. Many couples did not see
each other until after the ceremony, when the bridal veil
was removed. On the night before the wedding, the girl's
hair was cut off and she was bathed in holy water from a
sacred fountain.

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The Spartans believed that a person's athletic ability
matched their fitness for marriage. Before marrying, a
couple was required to wrestle in public to show their
compatibility. The groom's father chose a bride for his
son. Twelve months after the selection, the couple was
married. During the marriage ceremony, the bride wore a
white robe, a veil, and jewelry given to her by her new
husband's family.

Roman brides wore white tunics with orange veils and orange
slippers. Following the ceremony, the groom carried his
bride over the threshold of their new home to symbolize his
ownership of her.

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Christian church marriages were thought to be made in heaven
and therefore could never be broken. The father of the bride
gave a dowry of land or money to the groom. If the marriage
was unsuccessful, the wife and the dowry were returned to
the father's home, but neither partner was allowed to remarry.

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Until the 1400s, married couples did not live together in
Japan. They stayed in separate homes, meeting only at night.
The old Japanese word for marriage meant, “slip into the
house by night.”