La struttura del matrimonio romano

The iustae nuptiae were the archetypal Roman marriage, but not the only with juridical relevance: the Romans considered to some extents 'marriage' also those unions which respected neither ius civile nor the leges, and even concubinate had a juridical structure. The difference between these two institutions was that only the first implied a condivision of dignitas by the couple, while both were opposed to other relationships for being stable unions. The commonly held distinction between legal and social/ethical rules and its application to ancient cultures shows in this matter all its limits.