Ancient
Weddings
by Jennifer
Goodall Powers, SUNY Albany
Original text
© 1997 Jennifer Goodall Powers
Catullus and His
Wedding Songs
Carmen 61:
The Wedding of Junia Aurunculeia and Manlius Torquatus
One of Catullus'
best poems, this poem was probably not intended to be sung at
the actual ceremony, unlike most of Sappho's epithalamia, but
was a wedding gift to the couple. It verifies most of what we
know about the wedding ceremony. The choice of the date for the
wedding, for instance, is here a "hilari die"
(11). Similarly, the bride's veil and dress are described as
might be expected:
cinge
tempora floribus
suaue olentis amarci,
flammeum cape laetus, huc
huc veni, niveo gerens
luteum pede soccum
(6-10).
The ritual of the
bride unwillingly leaving her mother's embrace is seen throughout
Carmen 61, "dedis a gremio suae/matris" (58-9)
and "flet quod ire necesse est" (80). Catullus
encourages the bride, as a pronuba might, to accept her
lot and go with her new husband, when he tells her "flere
desine" (81). Junia is afraid her looks will not be
pleasing enough for her new husband, and Catullus again reassures
her that she is beautiful. Finally, the crowd encourages the
couple by singing, "nuptialia concinens/voce carmina
tinnula" (12-3); by shouting Fescennine obscenities,
"ne diu taceat procax /Fescennina iocatio" (121-2);
and by beating the ground with their feet, "pelle humum
pedibus" (14).
Many of the physical
symbols of a wedding ceremony are also present in the poem. Torches,
a main component of the actual ceremony, repeatedly appear: "pineam
quate taedam" (15); "faces splendidas quatiunt
comas" (78); "faces aureas quatiunt comas"
(95); "tollite faces" (112). Walnuts too, with
their fertility connotations, play a role: "nuces pueris"
(123); "da nuces pueris" (126); "da
nuces" (130); and "nuces da" (135).
Catullus details
the second half of a wedding ceremony in this poem, starting
with the boys escorting the bride during the procession, "mitte
brachiolum teres,/praetextate, puellulae" (176-7). When
they arrive at the groom's house, the bride carefully steps over
the threshold. Maidens encourage Junia Aurunculeia with an epithalamium.
The univiri and pronuba undress the bride. The
marriage bed is, of course, present in the poem as it is in the
ceremony itself. The groom enters the bridal chamber, "iam
licet venias" (186) and "perge, ne remorare"
(195). The couple is then expected to consummate the marriage.
As stressed in the
previous chapter, the hope for children was the main concern
for marriage. That sentiment is seen in this poem as well:
Torquatus
uolo paruulus
matris gremio suae
porrigens teneras manus
dulce rideat ad patrem
semihiante labello.
(206-10)
Further indications
of Roman marriage values are found in the advice Catullus gives
to both bride and groom. By calling Junia "nupta"(144),
Catullus advises her on her upcoming role as wife, not just her
duties on the wedding night. Again, Catullus assumes the role
of pronuba by constantly reassuring the bride. The following
three stanzas (144-58) present his ideal picture of a proper
Roman matron's life. He warns Junia that by neglecting her husband
in bed, he will seek other women
nupta,
tu quoque quae tuus
vir petet cave ne neges,
ni petitum aliunde eat (144-46).
The second stanza
is not advice about sexuality, but is a comment on the wealth
of the house, which will become Junia's responsibility and source
of her power and control, the only outlet a Roman matron was
allowed
en
tibi domus ut potens
et beata viri tui,
quae tibi sine serviat (149-51).
The final of these
stanzas stresses the importance of the univira and expresses
the hope that Junia will never be a widow and faced with the
prospect of remarriage. In contrast to the previous passage,
this one emphasizes the Roman matron's powerlessness and submissiveness.
This then brings
to light the dichotomy in the life of a Roman matron. Within
the household, her power is great, but there is no place for
a woman outside the house. Catullus concludes his advice to the
bride later in the poem by wishing that she will have the same
chaste reputation as Penelope, again stressing the importance
of pudicitia, chastity, in evaluating a Roman matron:
talis
illius a bona
matre laus genus approbet,
qualis unica ab optima
matre Telemacho manet
fama Penelopeo
(219-23).
Catullus also advises
the couple on how to avoid homo- and heterosexual extra-marital
affairs. He tells Junia that Manlius will not seek others as
long as he has her to lie with. Catullus reminds his audience
that the act is only probra if the mistress is already
married. This would suggest then that affairs with unmarried
women were acceptable and overlooked by wives. Turning from Junia,
Catullus turns to Manlius and advises him to give up homosexual
affairs, since such a practice is not acceptable in a married
man:
diceris
male te a tuis
unguentate glabris marite
abstinere, sed abstine.
...
scimus haec tibi quae licent
sola cognita, sed marito
ista non eadem licent.
(134-41)
This is one of the
few indications in this poem that the husband did have some responsibility
for the success of a marriage. Typically, poets put the burden
of expected fidelity exclusively on the wife rather than on the
couple.
