Dopoincrocio, laterrasarebbeunatragedia, nonattraversareilfiume, èlamiastessadistruzione. ）

- Gaius Julius Caesar (Roman dictator)

After the parties have determined the dowry and dowry, the marriage contract is officially signed; Because Oscar has no elders and relatives alive, in order to better respect the equality of the two families and the wishes of both men and women, the marriage contract was signed by Oscar and Prisca themselves. After the signing, it was time to exchange rings, and Sevious's wife, Marcian, brought a tray with two engagement rings made of fine iron.

Men's rings bear the name of Prisca Maxentius in the middle, while women's rings bear the name of Oscar Augustus; Oscar first put the ring on the third finger of Priska's left hand in front of everyone's gaze, and Prisca put another ring on the third finger of Oscar's left hand after Oscar put the ring on himself. At this point, the engagement ceremony of the two is completed.

Then comes the all-important divination wedding day; So, everyone, including Oscar and Prisca, retreated to the sides of the main hall. Marcus entered the main hall with a soothsayer dressed in a strange costume and covered with various bits and pieces; After a closer look at Oscar and Prisca, the soothsayer began his divination activities.

First he recited a spell that no one understood, and then the soothsayer danced a strange dance and said something strange and strange in his words; Finally, he took a piece of tortoise shell from his bosom and threw it in the center of the main hall. After the so-called divination ceremony, the soothsayer took the tortoise shell and examined it carefully, and explained that the union of Oscar and Prisca was a match made in heaven, and that three days later, October 6, would be the best day in a hundred years; If the two can have a wedding on this day, they will definitely be together for a hundred years.

Leaving aside for the time being whether the soothsayer's words were true or not, at least his words satisfied everyone present. Immediately, Marcus gave the soothsayer a hundred gold coins; and sent a butler to give it out of the house. Neither Oscar nor Decius had a problem with the wedding in three days; That's how it was settled.

After these problems are solved, it is time for Oscar to have lunch with the Maxentius family; At a long table of fourteen people, Mr. and Mrs. Decius sat in the two central seats. Mr. and Mrs. Sevius and their two children sat in the first four seats on the right, followed by Mr. and Mrs. Marius; Mr. and Mrs. Marcus and their two children sat in the first four seats on the left, followed by Oscar and Prisca.

Such a seating arrangement obviously regarded Oscar as the son-in-law of the Maxentius family, and Oscar naturally would not refuse; You know, with the support of the Senate represented by the Maxentius family, not to mention what will happen in the future, at least in the next few years, the Augustan family will develop by leaps and bounds. In this regard, Oscar is very willing; Besides, Prisca is also a rare beauty, what is there to dislike about Oscar?

A luncheon of pleasure for the guests and hosts ended in such an atmosphere in which everyone was satisfied; As soon as the luncheon was over, Prisca departed with Mrs. Honoria and the other ladies, and the four children left the main hall with their mother. Oscar and the four were left silently in the main hall, when Oscar wanted to ask about the affairs of the bridal legion; Decius was the first to speak:

"Oscar, I know you must be surprised at the richness of our dowry of the Maxentius family; I arranged it all by myself, and even Sevious and the three of them didn't know. A lot of things in the republic are superficially invisible, and I don't want to talk to you too much at this time; In this way, you can prepare for the wedding in peace before the 6th, and when you come to my mansion on the 7th, I will give you a satisfactory answer. ”

Decius's abrupt candor left Oscar speechless; Moreover, a wedding is different from an engagement, and Oscar really needs to hurry up and go home to prepare. So, without much entanglement, Oscar said goodbye to Decius and went home to prepare. After Oscar left, the four men in the main hall of the Maxentius family soon went their separate ways; Marius needs to continue with his plans for military reform, Sevio needs to prepare for Prisca's wedding, and Marcus has his own business to take care of.

Although Oscar was full of doubts and incomprehension, before Decius did not give him an answer, he could only choose to quietly prepare for the wedding. In addition to the grand decoration of the family mansions of both men and women, Oscar also needed to send invitations to various Roman nobles; This includes not only the other three major families of Rome, but also the 600 senators of the Senate, a large number of industrial and commercial families represented by the Richards and the Cartes, and so on. Just to prepare the banquet for these people and their families, the Augustians had to arrange more than 100 tables (long tables for 20 people) in the family mansion.

Coupled with the 100 tables of flowing water tables set up by the Augustan family for ordinary civilians in the outside world, the Augustus family needs to spend at least 150,000 gold coins on these banquets! This does not include the wine at the banquet, because all the wine at the banquet is made from wines captured by Oscar in Sardinia, so there is no need to calculate the cost. However, with the status of the Augustus family and the Maxentius family, they should be able to receive more bride price; Anyway, there will never be a loss, Oscar knows this.

Soon, October 6th came; Weddings in Rome have a complex series of traditional rituals divided into three stages: first the ceremony in the bride's home, then the process of marching to the groom's house, and finally the ceremony of the bride entering her husband's house. Before the formal ceremony, the bride presents her childhood toys and clothes to the family goddess, and then puts on her bridal attire, which includes a special white short-sleeved tunic and a straitjacket, and a woolen belt to tie a true love knot (a knot that only her husband has the right to untie) to protect the bride from witchcraft by jealous people.

The bride's wedding veil is a piece of orange-red rectangular transparent fabric, a color that symbolizes good luck. The veil only covers the head and exposes the face, and the color of the shoes is to match the color of the veil, and the veil is worn, in Latin, for women, to swear not to be celibate. The Romans considered the head to be the noblest part of the body, because the Creator placed it in the most conspicuous place; Therefore, at the wedding, the bride's hairstyle is quite important, the bride's hair is divided into six tufts and tied with a wool hairband on the top of the head in a cone, which is a more traditional hairstyle, only used as the bride's hairstyle at the wedding and the hairstyle of the Vestal virgin.

The opening ceremony of the wedding takes place in the house of the bride's father, which, like the house of the groom's family, is decorated with flowers and shrubs. On the morning of the wedding, Oscar came to Prisca's house and began the wedding with a divination ceremony, a custom that has been passed down from the early days of the Republic. The following ceremonies vary depending on the form of marriage, but there were two forms of marriage in Rome: married with a husband and married without a husband.

The Latin word for husband's authority is manu, which means that the husband has all aspects of dominion over his wife (the husband's daughter). In Rome, the patriarchal marriage originated from the patriarchal family at the end of the primitive society, existed throughout the Roman Republican era, and was concluded in accordance with the provisions of the civil law. However, from the 4th century BC onwards, there were gradually major changes in family relations, the most important of which was that non-patriarchal marriages became the more common form of marriage.

Although matrimonial marriages are still legally recognized, in real life matrimonial marriages are gradually decreasing. Therefore, the marriage of Oscar and Prisca is naturally a husbandless marriage. At dusk, the most important ceremony of the wedding begins, when a procession of torches escorts Prisca to the Augustus family mansion. In the process, mimicking primitive plundering marriage, Oscar pretends to snatch Prisca away from her mother as a way to show his power.

On the way, Prisca was to offer a silver coin to the god at the crossroads, another to Oscar as a symbol of her dowry, and another to Oscar as a gift to the gods in the Augustus mansion. In order to be prolific after marriage, Oscar threw hazelnuts into the crowd, just as rice was sprinkled at today's wedding, the fruit symbolizes fertility.

Prisca and the torch team are the most eye-catching, with a boy standing on the left and right of Priska, and a boy walking in front of Priska with a torch, which was lit at Priska's house! One of the torches must have been made of hawthorn branches, because it was believed that the hawthorn tree could ward off evil spirits. Upon arrival at Augustus' Mansion, the boys throw away the torches, just as the modern bride throws away the bouquets, and the guests compete for each other, as getting the torches portends longevity.

Next, Prisca will apply oil and fat to the doorposts, symbolizing that the days of prosperity will come; And wrap wool thread around the goalposts, symbolizing Prisca as a future career. Prisca was lifted over the threshold for the first time in her new home, to prevent the bad omen of falling, and as a symbol of the bride's entry into her husband's house. Once inside the house, one touches the water and the fire, the one who fires, the manifestation of the god of the house; Water people, the washing water commonly used in family sacrifices, is the most basic part of family life, and it is also to drive away evil spirits and suppress demons.

Prisca is then led to the marriage bed in the atrium of the main entrance, which is the beginning and appearance of married life. Next up is the wedding feast, where Oscar scatters nuts, sweets and pastries on the guests. In order to ward off evil spirits, the noisy crowd began to sing wedding songs. At the wedding celebration in the evening, the young Prisca, as a housewife, participated for the first time in the religious sacrifice of the Augustan family, and the sacred fire and the religion of the ancestors, although passed down from generation to generation by men, did not belong exclusively to men; Women also participate in the sacrifice.

Before she was married, Prisca attended the sacrifices held by her father, Decius; After getting married, she participated in the Oscar ceremony held by her husband. This indicates that she officially became a member of the House of Augustus, indicating that she wants to live a family life and a religious life with Oscar. After all this ritual was over, it was Oscar himself and his wife Prisca who officially announced the official start of the wedding feast to all the guests.

All the guests began to eat and drink, and the flowing water seats outside the Augustan mansion began to operate; In order to hold this wedding, Oscar spared no expense, even the flowing water banquet outside the mansion was full of wine. Although it was only an ordinary wine worth about a gold coin, it was also worth a lot of money to the average Roman citizen; This wedding, with the Oscar dedication, also became the most luxurious wedding in the history of the Roman Republic open to ordinary people!