MARRIAGE 69 



of the woman and the children by the man. Once 

 he has taken her away from her own family, she is 

 no longer under its protection, but becomes com- 

 pletely his possession, to be treated as he likes. She 

 is at his mercy as to life and limb, and he can at times 

 even dispose of her, if he so wishes, by either selling 

 her or giving her away. This often also implied the 

 right of lending her to an honoured guest. The 

 custom of selling a wife prevailed in England, for 

 instance, up to late times; Thomas Hardy uses it as 

 a theme in one of his novels, " The Mayor of Caster- 

 bridge." In patriarchal society descent and inheri- 

 tance go through the male line, and not, as under 

 the matriarchate, through the female. The father 

 also has supreme power over his children, and can 

 give them away in marriage as he pleases. The 

 ancient Hebrews gave the father great rights over 

 the family : not only could he dispose of his daughters 

 according to his pleasure, but he could also choose 

 wives for his sons. Among the Romans in the 

 earliest times, the father (called pater familias, father 

 of the family) had the power of life and death over 

 his dependants. The patriarchal Roman family con- 

 sisted of the eldest male and all descendants in the 

 male line only. " None of the descendants of a 

 female were included in the primitive notion of 

 family relationship. The father could give a wife 

 to his son, or give his daughter in marriage," and he 

 could sell his children. A woman came legally under 

 the tutelage of her husband, as if she were his daughter. 

 The ancient Greek pater familias could not exert 

 quite so much power over his family, but a Greek 

 woman could be given in marriage by her father to 



