Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 246: Law of Nations

After the long religious ceremony was over, Orville and Domitia stood up and left the temple.

Domitia said to Orville: "This is still a very sacred place, but it is a bit too serious. I still prefer the temples in the downtown area, which are more popular."

The religious beliefs of the Romans were relatively down-to-earth, and temples were closely related to civilian life, but this time the place Domitia chose was very formal.

"Seriousness and sacredness are also part of faith, especially this kind of formal prayer. Only when it is formal will the gods listen to our voices seriously."

Orville explained a little bit, and at the same time he started to complain in his heart.

Even though Domitia disliked the other party for being too serious now, she had never seen a truly frivolous type. He was very curious about how Domitia would view Ovid in the future, as he knew that Ovid would write the epic "Metamorphoses" in the future. Domitia would probably be so angry after reading the content of this article that she would give the other party a gift package of exile in the Black Sea. Who knows, she might be sentenced to death directly because of Domitia's bad temper, not because of the immoral content, but because of disrespect for God.

In the world of the Athenians, the goddess Athena is a very serious goddess of civilization, and in the world of the Sabines like Domitia, Minerva is also the master of divine wisdom. Although there are more or less some unauthentic black histories, there will never be such a situation as the following.

Poseidon (Neptune) transformed into a bird and played life games with Medusa in the Temple of Athena (Minerva). Minerva couldn't stand it but didn't want to offend Poseidon, so she turned Medusa's hair into snakes as punishment.

The weaver weaved better than Athena and challenged theocracy, so Athena "knocked Arachne on the head three or four times with the shuttle in her hand" and then turned the weaver into a spider, so that "your race will also suffer the same punishment, and you will not be safe for generations to come."

What Ovid wrote were not entirely mythological stories, but more fables based on mythological stories, which were used to reflect and perhaps satirize the decadent life of the Roman nobles.

Although these stories became famous in later generations, they are not the Greeks' own myths at all. Instead, they were stories written by Ovid that entered the Greek mythology system.

For a devout believer, these fables can really make one's blood pressure soar, not to mention that Domitia is also a typical Roman aristocrat. This is not just a veiled criticism, this is a direct criticism.

After Ovid spoke out in support of him, he gave Ovid another gift and promised to help make the book next time.

Although Ovid's family background was good, it was only that of an ordinary wealthy family. He earned some wealth through his literary talent, but it was also spent on his socializing. People like Caesar who studied and socialized would be in debt, let alone him. But he did not have his own Crassus, and no one was generous enough to support him regardless of the cost.

He couldn't afford the high cost of ancient books, and Orville's sponsorship was more or less for fun - he wanted to write the book "Metamorphoses" as it was written in history. On the one hand, it was a precious cultural heritage, and on the other hand, he wanted to see what the Romans and Greeks would think. Domitia didn't think about these things in her mind. When she heard Orville's words, she nodded in agreement: "That's right. Gods should be gods anyway, and they should have a sense of distance from mortals. I just agree that gods shouldn't always be high above. You did a good job in Gaul and Britain. These actions are not only beneficial to civilians, but also greatly increase the number of Minerva's believers. I think this policy can be promoted."

The other party was referring to the Minerva Mutual Aid Society, a grassroots mutual aid organization created by Orville, which referred to the organization of the early Christian church but did not emphasize the faith part. Despite this, these mutual aid societies still attracted many believers. After all, in their eyes, Minerva did bring them real benefits.

However, things did not develop completely according to Orville's idea, because later Christians such as Jeanna and some local druids also participated in it, and the color of Nerva faith faded a lot, which made the mutual aid association closer to a grassroots organization rather than a religious organization. Orville himself did not have any opinions. No matter what, it was a good development. Domitia did not seem to be fully aware of the twists and turns in it, which was also a good thing, otherwise she would have objected again.

"I'll find a way to promote it, but now is not the right time. It's almost time to go back," he reached out and patted Domitia's shoulder, "Starting tomorrow, you can invite some of your friends over. Note that they are your personal friends. The wedding is not open to the public or political allies. Only family friends will be allowed in. There is no limit to the number of people. You can invite as many people as you want, up to a hundred people will be fine."

"Oh..." Domitia responded, her tone inexplicably low.

………………

After complicated preparations, the wedding officially began.

The traditional Roman marriage form, whether it is the simple and crude "marriage of limitation" or "marriage by sale" or the complicated "marriage of eating together", all highly emphasize the husband's power. In essence, women are subordinate to their husbands. Even if the marriage law was changed later, this problem was not fundamentally solved. For Tia, this is definitely not an option. She also cannot accept simple cohabitation (which can be understood as cohabitation without formal marriage but recognized by the law, living together, which is a bit like the cohabitation type of modern Westerners and is also recognized by the law and enjoys some rights. There is also a view that this is keeping a mistress.) This does not change Orville's situation at all, and it also damages his own reputation.

So a strange scene took place, and it was estimated that there would not be another similar example in the next few decades or even hundreds of years - with the emperor's sponsorship, a very elegant and informal wedding was held in the Flavian mansion.

The "elegance" refers to the pomp of the wedding. The Guards were dispatched, and many celebrities from Rome and other places took part in it. All together, there were more than 2,000 people after streamlining, which was a very large number for an ordinary wedding.

Informal refers to the type of marriage. They did not follow the Roman tradition, but instead had a marriage of international law.

The so-called civil law marriage is also called abbreviated marriage or marriage without husband's power. Its characteristic is that the husband and wife have separate property system after marriage, and each husband and wife retains their personal property and the right to manage and dispose of it. In other words, the husband has no control over the wife, and the status of both parties is equal in law.

This was not a "Latin marriage" but a "Roman marriage". All citizens within the empire could do this and it was recognized and protected by the law of nations.

PS. Today is still early, tomorrow may return to normal time
(End of this chapter)