The Families of Roman Soldiers (First and Second Centuries A.D.): Culture, Law, and Practice

Abstract

During the first two centuries A.D., Roman soldiers were prohibited from contracting legal marriage; the masculine nature of Roman military discipline was the likely motivation for the ban. Nevertheless, many Roman soldiers formed de facto unions with women and fathered children. This marriage ban is directly attested to in papyri from Roman Egypt that show that soldiers' marriages were illegal and that their children born during service were illegitimate. Military diplomas granted to discharged soldiers show that veterans were given the right to marry. This article explores the nature of the soldiers'de facto unions in Roman law and the impact of the ban on the soldiers' illegitimate children. This article also discusses the soldiers' union in social practice, based on a survey of Latin epitaphs. Soldiers more frequently married in the second century; other features, such as relatively late marriage or celibacy, seem characteristic of the homosocial military subculture.