Manus Marriage

Manus Marriage

Manus (pronounced /ˈmeɪnəs/, ) is Ancient Roman marriage, of which there were two forms: cum manu and sine manu. In a cum manu marriage the wife was placed under the legal control of the husband. In a sine manu marriage the wife was still under the legal control of her father. In both cases, the marriage could only take place with the approval of the patres familias if both the husband and wife were alieni iuris. However, the creation and termination of the marriage somewhat depended on the type of marriage. Initially cum manu was the only form of marriage but in time the cum manu union faded and only sine manu marriage was widely practiced.