Masaryk University Brno Faculty of Education
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature The Concept of Marriage in a Cultural Discourse in Roman Britain Bachelor Thesis Brno 2014 Supervisor: Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk Author: Andrea Tomanová Bibliografický záznam Tomanová, Andrea. The Concept of Marriage in a Cultural Discourse in Roman Britain: bakalářská práce. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Fakulta pedagogická, Katedra anglického jazyka a literatury, 2014. 51 s. Vedoucí bakalářské práce Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk Bibliography Tomanová, Andrea. The Concept of Marriage in a Cultural Discourse in Roman Britain: bachelor thesis. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and Literature, 2014. 51 pages. The supervisor of the bachelor thesis Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk Anotace Bakalářská práce „Pojetí manželství v Římské Británii z kulturního hlediska” se zabývá rodinou a manželstvím v době, kdy byla Británie Římskou provincií. Práce se zejména zaměřuje na Římský zákon o rodině, který v Británii platil, dále se díva na manželství lidí z různých společenských vrstev. V práci je take srovnáván rodinný život v Římské Británii a rodinný život v Gálii. Hlavním cílem této práce je zjistit, zda lidé v této době uzavírali sňatky z důvodu majetnických a mocních, anebo čistě z lásky. Dalším cílem práce je zjistit, které ostatní skutečnosti ovlivňovaly manželství a rodinu v Římské Británii. Abstract The bachelor thesis “The Concept of Marriage in a Cultural Discourse in Roman Britain” deals with family and marriage in time when Britain was a regular Roman province. The thesis especially focuses on the Roman family law, which was valid in Britain, and further it examines the marriages of people from different social classes. There is also a comparison of family life in Roman Britain and Gaul. The main aim of this thesis is to find out if the people of Roman Britain got married to gain possession and power or just to love. Another aim of this thesis is to find out what else influenced the marriage and family in Roman Britain. Klíčová slova Římská Británie, manželství, rodina, společnost, společenská třída, majetek, láska, věk Key words Roman Britain, marriage, family, society, social class, wealth, love, age Prohlášení „Prohlašuji, že jsem závěrečnou bakalářskou práci vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných literárních pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů.“ ……………………………………... V Brně, 15. dubna 2014 Andrea Tomanová Acknowledgements I would like to express my thanks to Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk, for his support, patience, and valuable advice that he gave me as the supervisor of my bachelor thesis. Contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 8 2 The period of Roman Britain .................................................................................. 10 2.1 General overview ............................................................................................. 10 2.2 The Roman emperors of Britannia ................................................................... 12 3 Family ..................................................................................................................... 14 3.1 Definition of family .......................................................................................... 14 3.2 Role of man ...................................................................................................... 14 3.3 Role of woman ................................................................................................. 15 3.4 Gender .............................................................................................................. 15 4 Marriage .................................................................................................................. 16 4.1 Definition of marriage ...................................................................................... 16 5 Roman family law ................................................................................................... 17 5.1 Members of Roman family .............................................................................. 17 5.2 The power of Pater familias ............................................................................. 18 5.3 The marriage under Roman law ....................................................................... 19 5.3.1 Types of Roman marriage ......................................................................... 20 5.3.2 The engagement ........................................................................................ 21 5.3.3 The wedding ceremony ............................................................................. 21 5.3.4 The role of Roman wife ............................................................................ 23 5.3.5 Age ............................................................................................................ 24 5.3.6 Dowry ....................................................................................................... 24 5.3.7 The termination of marriage ..................................................................... 24 5.4 Other alternatives of cohabitation .................................................................... 25 6 The marriages according to the social class ............................................................ 27 6.1 Marriages of emperors ..................................................................................... 27 6 6.1.1 The marriages of Caesar ........................................................................... 28 6.1.2 The marriages of Claudius ........................................................................ 29 6.1.3 Hadrian’s marriage ................................................................................... 31 6.1.4 The marriage of Marcus Aurelius ............................................................. 31 6.2 Marriages of officers ........................................................................................ 32 6.3 Marriages of soldiers ........................................................................................ 32 6.4 Marriages of slaves .......................................................................................... 34 7 Family life in Roman Britain .................................................................................. 35 7.1 Why monogamy? ............................................................................................. 39 7.2 Sexuality ........................................................................................................... 40 7.2.1 Household sex ........................................................................................... 40 7.2.2 Same-sex relations .................................................................................... 41 7.3 Religion in Roman Britain ............................................................................... 42 8 Comparison of Roman concept of marriage to other .............................................. 43 8.1 Marriage in Gaul .............................................................................................. 44 8.2 Love? ................................................................................................................ 45 9 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 46 10 Sources .................................................................................................................... 48 7 1 Introduction In my bachelor thesis I focus on the concept of marriage in Roman Britain. I choose this topic because of my constant interest in culture and customs of ancient Romans. This interest is also given by my studies at grammar school where I studied Latin and Ancient Greek. In my opinion, antiquity has a real charm and still hides a lot of cultural secrets. And since I found a lot of researches concerning architecture, towns, roads etc., I realized to work on something which would have rather social orientation. Marriage. Is it a real union of two people who want to create their relationship, share their mutual love and raise their children in love and harmony? Or is it just a strategic joining of two people who want to continue their family line and mainly provide for themselves and their family an auspicious future no matter how they reach that? These are questions which I would like to analyse in my research and get the right answer in the conclusion of my thesis. If the role of marriage in Roman Britain was primarily a question of power, wealth and possession, or it was rather a question of love and family contentment. At the beginning of my thesis, I should mention that primary and secondary sources of social and family life in Roman Britain are slightly scant, but according to many authors and cultural evidences I can easily affirm that the family life in Roman Britain was exactly as same as the family life in the entire Roman Empire. That is why I will be much inspired by the sources related to the Roman Empire. However why not, as Roman Britain was a regular province of the Roman Empire, the rules and way of life were really coincident. The