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HERSCH, Karen K., The Roman Wedding. Ritual and Meanig in Antiquity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (...), 2010. XII,341,(6)p. Paperback. 'Hersch presents us with a modern, up-to-date study of the Roman wedding which is almost exclusively based on literary sources, since the primary artistic source, biographical Roman sarcophagi, do not show an actual moment from the ceremony per se, but figures from a wedding. The wide-ranging nature of these literary sources and the problems of using them to reconstruct the Roman wedding, along with a review of the modern scholarship on the Roman wedding and an outline of the chapters of the book, form the core of the book’s Introduction. The former includes the fact that because there is no single complete description of a true Roman wedding, we are forced to reconstruct the ceremony from a pastiche of sources ranging in type, date and locale in the Roman world, and that different levels of society held different versions of the ceremony. Chapter 1 focuses on the laws connected with marriage and the wedding. (...) The next chapter focuses on the bride, primarily her preparations for the ceremony and the preparatory rites for when she is lead to the groom’s house (domum deductio). A study of the garments comprising the bride’s costume forms the heart of the chapter. (...) The third chapter opens by considering the groom to whom the ancient sources pay far less attention than the bride. The bulk of the chapter examines the various elements of the main ritual of the wedding, the procession to the groom’s house. (...) The gods and priestesses associated with the wedding are the subject of chapter four. Many gods were necessary for a Roman wedding, and the author reviews the evidence thoroughly for each. Most prominent in the literary and artistic sources are Venus, Cupid, Concordia, and Hymenaeus.(...) The final chapter is a conclusion that summarizes much already presented in the earlier chapters, including the fact that the bride was the focal point of the ceremony. A touching comparison of the Roman wedding to a modern American one reminds the reader of how we still have much in common with antiquity (...). The book concludes with a bibliography, general index, and six pages of images. The sarcophagi shown on the latter are reproduced at too small a scale, so that details are often difficult or impossible to see. An index of ancient passages cited should have been included. But these are minor quibbles and should not distract from the very high quality text that Hersch has given us. All interested in Roman daily life, from student to scholar, will benefit from this excellent book.' (JOHN H. OAKLEY in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2011.03.62). € 25.00 (New) ISBN: 9780521124270