http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage#History_of_marriage
Ancient world See also: Marriage in ancient Rome and Ancient Greek wedding customs Many cultures have legends concerning the origins of marriage. The way in which a marriage is conducted and its rules and ramifications has changed over time, as has the institution itself, depending on the culture or demographic of the time.[256]
A wife was seen as being of high value, and was therefore, usually, carefully looked after.[239][241] Early nomadic communities in the middle east practised a form of marriage known as beena, in which a wife would own a tent of her own, within which she retains complete independence from her husband;[257] this principle appears to survive in parts of early Israelite society, as some early passages of the Bible appear to portray certain wives as each owning a tent as a personal possession[257] (specifically, Jael,[258] Sarah,[259] and Jacob's wives[260]).
The last chapter of Book of Proverbs show the characteristics of a virtuous woman.[261]
The husband too, is indirectly implied to have some responsibilities to his wife. The Covenant Code orders "If he take him another; her food, her clothing, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish(or lessen)".[262] If the husband does not provide the first wife with these things, she is to be divorced, without cost to her.[263] The Talmud interprets this as a requirement for a man to provide food and clothing to, and have sex with, each of his wives.[264][clarification needed] However, "duty of marriage" is also interpreted as whatever one does as a married couple, which is more than just sexual activity. And the term diminish, which means to lessen, shows the man must treat her as if he was not married to another.
As a polygynous society, the Israelites did not have any laws which imposed marital fidelity on men.[265][266] However, the prophet Malachi states that none should be faithless to the wife of his youth and that God hates divorce.[267] Adulterous married women,adulterous betrothed women, and the men who slept with them however, were subject to the death penalty by the biblical laws against adultery [268][269][270] According to the Priestly Code of the Book of Numbers, if a pregnant[271] woman was suspected of adultery, she was to be subjected to the Ordeal of Bitter Water,[272] a form of trial by ordeal, but one that took a miracle to convict. The literary prophets indicate that adultery was a frequent occurrence, despite their strong protests against it,[273][274][275][276] and these legal strictnesses.[265]
In Ancient Greece, no specific civil ceremony was required for the creation of a marriage – only mutual agreement and the fact that the couple must regard each other as husband and wife accordingly.[citation needed] Men usually married when they were in their 20s[citation needed] and women in their teens. It has been suggested that these ages made sense for the Greeks because men were generally done with military service or financially established by their late 20s, and marrying a young girl ensured ample time for her to bear children, as life expectancies were significantly lower during this period.[citation needed] Married Greek women had few rights in ancient Greek society and were expected to take care of the house and children.[citation needed] Time was an important factor in Greek marriage. For example, there were superstitions that being married during a full moon was good luck and, according to Robert Flacelière, Greeks married in the winter.[citation needed] Inheritance was more important than feelings: a woman whose father dies without male heirs could be forced to marry her nearest male relative – even if she had to divorce her husband first.[277]
There were several types of marriages in ancient Roman society. The traditional ("conventional") form called conventio in manum required a ceremony with witnesses and was also dissolved with a ceremony.[278] In this type of marriage, a woman lost her family rights of inheritance of her old family and gained them with her new one. She now was subject to the authority of her husband.[citation needed] There was the free marriage known as sine manu. In this arrangement, the wife remained a member of her original family; she stayed under the authority of her father, kept her family rights of inheritance with her old family and did not gain any with the new family.[279] The minimum age of marriage for girls was 12.[280]
Among ancient Germanic tribes, the bride and groom were roughly the same age and generally older than their Roman counterparts, according to Tacitus:
The youths partake late of the pleasures of love, and hence pass the age of puberty unexhausted: nor are the virgins hurried into marriage; the same maturity, the same full growth is required: the sexes unite equally matched and robust; and the children inherit the vigor of their parents.[281]
Where Aristotle had set the prime of life at 37 years for men and 18 for women, the Visigothic Code of law in the 7th century placed the prime of life at twenty years for both men and women, after which both presumably married. Tacitus states that ancient Germanic brides were on average about 20 and were roughly the same age as their husbands.[282]