21. The Greeks and Romans practiced monogamy in marriage
Both the Greeks and the Romans practiced monogamy as it applied to marriage, in the sense in both that marriage was to one woman at a time. This distinguished them from other ancient civilizations, in which polygamy was common. In contrast, the biblical account of King Solomon described him as having hundreds of wives and concubines, though only one was named in the Bible (Naamah). Roman and Greek monogamy likely arose as part of the egalitarian nature of their civilizations, in which all citizens shared certain rights equally, and even the slaves and lower classes were afforded protection under the common law.
In both Rome and the Greek city-states, divorce was possible, and in some cases demanded by the state, as in the case of Rome requiring cuckolded husbands to divorce their adulterous wives. Other than adultery, there were no laws in either civilization regarding premarital or extramarital relationships. Roman law claimed to support the sanctity but married men who visited the brothels were not guilty of adultery. The monogamous marriage remained a feature of Roman life as Christian sects emerged in Rome, and it was adopted throughout the empire, and in the lands where Christianity continued to spread following the demise of the Western Empire.
