Manus and Sine Manus Marriage

By Crusader1307

Devised by Ancient Roman Law, Manus and Sine Manus Marriage was a form of two civil Marriage Contracts seen as legally binding in Late Kingdom and Early Republican Rome. Both ''favored'' The Man. In examples of a Roman Woman so married was under the complete control of Her Husband. Any fortunes owned by Her, ''became'' that of The Husband. And while Roman Society gave a Female Citizen great stature (far more than most comparative Societies of it's time), Men were valued much ''higher''. The premise of Manus Marriage was that any property or wealth owned or given to The Female, became the lawful property of Her Husband. Even with His death or divorce, He owned everything (until She was taken in marriage again or He allotted a percentage – which was common as well).

In terms of Females who were not married, the process of Sine Manus was devised. This Law gave full control to a Woman's Father. He maintained this until His death. In event of no Male Relatives so designated (Brother, Uncle, etc) – then The Woman could retain self-control (but this was rare). Manus Marriage was seen as a Ritual ''Blessing'' by The Gods and thus an elaborate Ceremony was performed. This in essence ''sold'' The Female to Her Husband. Sine Manus was more a Civilian Legal action. Commoner's (Pleban) did not subscribe to Manus or Sine.