HUM/REL 493 - Continuation of Intermediate Latin
Course Notes - Week 4
The photos on pages 59 and 62 are of a relief showing a wedding, with the bride, groom, and the prōnuba.
The photo on page 65 is of a fresco, now in the Vatican Museum, from a mansion in Rome. The bride, seated at the right, wears a white veil and dress. The figure beside her represents the goddess Venus. The woman in the center may represent one of the Graces; she is pouring out a libation of oil. The older lady at the left may represent the bride's mother.
The gold betrothal ring illustrated on page 80 is from the 4th century AD - a time later than our stories. After a couple were betrothed they would exchange gifts signifying their devotion to each other. Such rings or pendants were common betrothal gifts.
Titus Flavius Clemens was a distant cousin of the Emperor Domitian, and he was married to a niece of Domitian. His brother, Titus Flavius Sabinus, had been executed by Domitian in AD 83 (the reason is not known).
Domitian had no surviving sons of his own, so he adopted Clemen's sons as his heirs in AD 90, and appointed Quintillian as their tutor. Clemens became consul in AD 95, but after a few mionths he and his wife were charged with "atheism" (not paying due honor to the Roman gods or to the Emperor). Domitian used such accusations to get rid of potential opponents or rivals. Clemens was executed, and his wife was sent into exile.
The boys were adopted in AD 90. We do not know what happened to them after the assassination of Domitian in AD 96.
Their sister Polla is an imaginary character, and her story is fictitious, but not untypical of how a Roman girl might be treated.
The wedding song in "cōnfarreātiō II" is from Catullus.
Marriage cum manū could be solemnized in several ways. The textbook describes cōnferreātiō.
There was also coemptiō, probably dating from times when wives were purchased, in which the groom put copper coins on a pair of scales, and claimed the bride.
There was also ūsus, in which a couple lived together for a year. If the wife left the home for three consecutive nights, this type of marriage "cum manū" reverted to marriage "sine manū"
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Source : mainly from the Cambridge Latin Course Teacher's Manual
