Marriage, Family and Wealth: The Dowry as a Mechanism for Social Consolidation of the Bond

Abstract

This article analyses the legal status of women in Roman times based on an analysis of the institutions of marriage and dowry. First, it offers an overview of marriage as a historical and legal reality, emphasizing its institutional nature and its capacity to generate a set of reciprocal rights and duties between spouses. From this perspective, marriage is presented not only as a social fact, but also as a relationship with normative relevance, which can be analyzed—in functional terms—in light of categories similar to legal transactions, insofar as it produces effects and establishes legal positions within the family sphere.

Secondly, the article focuses on the dowry as a patrimonial mechanism associated with the marital bond. The analysis argues that the dowry did not operate, strictly speaking, as a constituent element or requirement for the validity of the marriage, but rather that the dowry negotiation was a key part of the family agreement between the future spouses, so that the dowry came to function as a social and economic prerequisite for the effectiveness of the marital project. Consequently, the dowry played a practical role in “consummating” the legal transaction represented by the marriage union, as it materialized its economic dimension, ensured its sustainability, and formalized family expectations, to the point of becoming a central part of the pre-marital negotiations. At the same time, we can see how the mechanisms for the restitution and protection of dowry assets evolved, protecting women and promoting female financial autonomy, especially among women of high social class.