The ancient worship of the Romans afforded a
peculiar goddess to hear and reconcile the complaints of a married life;
but her epithet of _viriplaca_, the appeaser of husbands, too clearly
indicates on which side submission and repentance were always expected.
Every act of a citizen was subject to the judgment of the censors; the
first who used the privilege of divorce assigned at their command the
motives of his conduct; and a senator was expelled for dismissing his
virgin spouse without the knowledge or advice of his friends. Whenever
an action was instituted for the recovery of a marriage portion, the
praetor, as the guardian of equity, examined the cause and the
characters, and gently inclined the scale in favor of the guiltless and
injured party. Augustus, who united the powers of both magistrates,
adopted their different modes of repressing or chastising the license of
divorce.
The presence of seven Roman witnesses was required for the validity of
this solemn and deliberate act: if any adequate provocation had been
given by the husband, instead of the delay of two years, he was
compelled to refund immediately, or in the space of six months; but if
he could arraign the manners of his wife, her guilt or levity was
expiated by the loss of the sixth or eighth part of her marriage
portion.
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