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.

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

About the Author
Karen Hersch is Assistant Professor of Classics at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Reviews
'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



Book Information
ISBN 9780521124270
Author Karen K. Hersch
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 480g
Dimensions(mm) 228mm * 152mm * 20mm