Were pagan Roman marriages valid?

[MysticMissMisty]

Sure, this is a rather hypothetical question, but, as a person with interest in the classics, I was just curious as to whether the Church would have considered/considers the pagan (natural) marriages conducted under typical circumstances to have been valid ones?

I ask this since, among other things, divorce was so common/accepted and prostitution and even concubinage were considered not so morally reprehensible as in many of today’s societies. Indeeed, at least visiting prostitutes (adultery) was considered rather par for the course within Roman marriages.

Perhaps a related question would be: Were Old Testament marriages such as those involving multiple wives and concubines considered (naturally) valid?

 

[Salibi]

The Church considers the marriages of non-Catholics valid, provided they are not same-sex marriages.

Not sure about polygamous marriages too.

 

[1ke]

Sure, this is a rather hypothetical question, but, as a person with interest in the classics, I was just curious as to whether the Church would have considered/considers the pagan (natural) marriages conducted under typical circumstances to have been valid ones?

Yes. As She still does today vis-a-vis non-Catholic marriages.

Were Old Testament marriages such as those involving multiple wives and concubines considered (naturally) valid?

These are different questions.

Yes in general marriage before Christ and after Christ between non-Catholics and non-Christians was and is valid. Any particular marriage, we can’t really say.

Polygamous marriages and concubinage are different matters. The Church does not recognize polygamy. The Church does not condone concubinage. At the time, those arrangements would have been valid in civil law.

Which wife was a true wife, if any, would have been a matter for the Church— such as in a situation of conversion and baptism. And that is still the same today.

 

[Vico]

Sure, this is a rather hypothetical question, but, as a person with interest in the classics, I was just curious as to whether the Church would have considered/considers the pagan (natural) marriages conducted under typical circumstances to have been valid ones?

I ask this since, among other things, divorce was so common/accepted and prostitution and even concubinage were considered not so morally reprehensible as in many of today’s societies. Indeeed, at least visiting prostitutes (adultery) was considered rather par for the course within Roman marriages.

Perhaps a related question would be: Were Old Testament marriages such as those involving multiple wives and concubines considered (naturally) valid?

In Judaism polygamy was available sometimes to men (if both husband and wife agreed) but a wife could only have one husband at a time. Polygamy was frowned upon from about 200 AD. Multiple spouses at a time would not have the proper consent to constitute a valid Catholic natural marriage. There was divorce.

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/bigamy-and-polygamy

 

[Elf01]

Which wife was a true wife,

Actually, since fidelity was clearly not intended I would not imagine that any of them could be seen as valid.

 

[1ke]

I did qualify:
if any

I think that there could indeed be intent of fidelity where one wife is married and later the husband took concubines.

In polygamy, I would agree:

Can. 1148 §1. When he receives baptism in the Catholic Church, a non-baptized man who has several non-baptized wives at the same time can retain one of them after the others have been dismissed, if it is hard for him to remain with the first one. The same is valid for a non-baptized woman who has several non-baptized husbands at the same time.

§2. In the cases mentioned in §1, marriage must be contracted in legitimate form after baptism has been received, and the prescripts about mixed marriages, if necessary, and other matters required by the law are to be observed.

§3. Keeping in mind the moral, social, and economic conditions of places and of persons, the local ordinary is to take care that the needs of the first wife and the others dismissed are sufficiently provided for according to the norms of justice, Christian charity, and natural equity.