MARRIAGE 79 



to paying the purchase price, the bridegroom was 

 expected to bestow expensive presents on the bride, 

 her mother and all her near relatives. This caused 

 the enactment of a law in 1849 restricting the price 

 of a bride to one ducat, which had to be paid before 

 the wedding. 



Custom varies as to the time of payment. Some- 

 times the full price must be given before the marriage, 

 but then, again, it may be paid in instalments. In 

 the latter case, the bride usually remains in her 

 father's home, the husband not gaining complete 

 ownership until the full price is paid. Among some 

 people where purchase prevails, it is considered a 

 disgrace to the family to give away a girl without a 

 price it is as if she were of no value. 



The custom of paying for a wife existed in ancient 

 Greece. In the Homeric age a maid is described as 

 " one who yields to her parents many oxen as presents 

 from her suitor." There are also indications that 

 there was wife-purchase in ancient Rome. In ancient 

 Babylon girls of marriageable age repaired to a 

 certain place where the young men assembled; here 

 the girls were sold by the public crier. The most 

 beautiful one was sold first; part of the money de- 

 rived frOm the sale was given as a dowry to the ugliest, 

 who was sold next. This money gave her a chance 

 of getting a husband, which she would not otherwise 

 have had. The girl next in beauty was then sold, 

 and after her an ugly one again received part of the 

 money from the sale; until in this manner all the 

 girls were disposed of. A maiden-market existed 

 until not long ago in Roumania. Very often capture 

 and purchase are found to apply together. Thus, for 



