# Confarreatio > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Confarreatio > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Confarreatio.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confarreatio > Source revision: 1339065725 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Patrician marriage in ancient Rome Ancient Roman marriage (Baths of Diocletian Museum, Rome) In [ancient Rome](/source/Ancient_Rome), ***confarreatio*** was a traditional [patrician](/source/Patrician_(ancient_Rome)) form of [marriage](/source/Roman_marriage).[1] The ceremony involved the bride and bridegroom sharing a cake of [emmer](/source/Emmer), in [Latin](/source/Latin) *far* or *panis farreus*,[2][3] hence the rite's name. *Far* is often translated as "[spelt](/source/Spelt)", which is inaccurate as the grain used was *Triticum dicoccum* (emmer), not *Triticum spelta*.[4] The *[Flamen Dialis](/source/Flamen_Dialis)* and [pontifex maximus](/source/Pontifex_maximus) presided over the [wedding](/source/Weddings_in_ancient_Rome), and ten witnesses had to be present.[3] The woman passed directly from the hand *(manus)* of her father or head of household (the *[pater familias](/source/Pater_familias)*) to that of her new husband.[5] Having parents who were married by *confarreatio* was a prerequisite for becoming a [Vestal](/source/Vestal_Virgin) or the *[Flamen Dialis](/source/Flamen_Dialis)*.[3] *Confarreatio* seems to have been limited to those whose parents were also married by *confarreatio*, but later, perhaps with the rise of [plebeian *nobiles*](/source/Nobiles), this requirement must have been relaxed.[6] [Scipio Africanus](/source/Scipio_Africanus) presumably married his wife [Aemilia Tertia](/source/Aemilia_Tertia) by *confarreatio*, because their elder son was *Flamen Dialis*; yet Scipio's mother [Pomponia](/source/Pomponia) was a plebeian. Divorce for *confarreatio* marriages, *[diffarreatio](/source/Diffarreatio)*,[3] was a difficult process and therefore rare. Not much is known about how *diffarreatio* was carried out except that there was a special type of sacrifice that caused the dissolution of the relationship between the man and woman. She would then pass back into the *manus* of her *paterfamilias*. Originally, the *confarreatio* was indissoluble, and this remained true of the marriage of the *Flamen Dialis*. The other two [major *flamines*](/source/Flamen#Flamines_maiores), the *[Flamen Martialis](/source/Flamen_Martialis)* and the *[Flamen Quirinalis](/source/Flamen_Quirinalis)*, were also required to marry by *confarreatio*.[7] The three major flamines were also required to marry virgins; further, if the wife of the *Flamen Dialis* died, he was immediately required to resign. It is not clear if this was true of the other priests. ## See also - [Manus marriage](/source/Manus_marriage) - [Marriage in ancient Rome](/source/Marriage_in_ancient_Rome) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Hersch2010_1-0)** Karen K. Hersch (24 May 2010). [*The Roman Wedding: Ritual and Meaning in Antiquity*](https://books.google.com/books?id=TZEJQPjc4sIC&pg=PA26). Cambridge University Press. pp. 26–. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-521-12427-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-12427-0). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Grubbs2002_2-0)** Judith Evans Grubbs (2002). [*Women and the Law in the Roman Empire: A Sourcebook on Marriage, Divorce and Widowhood*](https://books.google.com/books?id=4X8HXDwMHawC&pg=PA22). Routledge. p. 22. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-415-15240-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-415-15240-2). 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-EB1911_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-EB1911_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-EB1911_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-EB1911_3-3) [Chisholm, Hugh](/source/Hugh_Chisholm), ed. (1911). ["Confarreatio"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Confarreatio). *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)*. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 898. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** David Thurmond (2006). [*A Handbook of Food Processing in Classical Rome: For Her Bounty No Winter*](https://books.google.com/books?id=k_1TEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA18). Koninklijke Brill NV. p. 18. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-90-04-15236-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-90-04-15236-6). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Lind2008_5-0)** Goran Lind (23 July 2008). [*Common Law Marriage : A Legal Institution for Cohabitation: A Legal Institution for Cohabitation*](https://books.google.com/books?id=e-kJxOISFSMC&pg=PA38). Oxford University Press, USA. pp. 38–. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-971053-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-971053-9). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Raaflaub2008_6-0)** Kurt A. Raaflaub (15 April 2008). [*Social Struggles in Archaic Rome: New Perspectives on the Conflict of the Orders*](https://books.google.com/books?id=x0W5jLevmUoC&pg=PA224). John Wiley & Sons. pp. 224–. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4051-4889-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4051-4889-4). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Watson1992_7-0)** Alan Watson (1992). [*The State, Law, and Religion: Pagan Rome*](https://books.google.com/books?id=hiBWExO2QXsC&pg=PA52). University of Georgia Press. pp. 52–. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8203-1387-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8203-1387-0). --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Confarreatio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confarreatio) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confarreatio?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.