[211] Vinnius, In quatuor libros institutionum imperialium commentarius, iv. 18. 4, p. 993. Cf. Digesta, l. 16. 101. 1; Mommsen, Römisches Strafrecht, p. 688 sq.
[212] Oratio in Neæram, p. 1386. Cf. Schmidt, Die Ethik der alten Griechen, ii. 196 sq.
At the same time the idea that fidelity in marriage ought to be reciprocal was not altogether unknown in classical antiquity.[213] In a lost chapter of his ‘Economics,’ which has come to us only through a Latin translation, Aristotle points out that it for various reasons is prudent for a man to be faithful to his wife, but that nothing is so peculiarly the property of a wife as a chaste and hallowed intercourse.[214] Plutarch condemns the man who, lustful and dissolute, goes astray with a courtesan or maid-servant; though at the same time he admonishes the wife not to be vexed or impatient, considering that “it is out of respect to her that he bestows upon another all his wanton depravity.”[215] Plautus argues that it is unjust of a husband to exact a fidelity which he does not keep himself.[216]
[213] Lecky, op. cit. ii. 312 sq. Schmidt, op. cit. ii. 195 sq.
[214] Aristotle, Œconomica, p. 341, vol. ii. 679. Cf. Isocrates, Nicocles sive Cyprii, 40.
[215] Plutarch, Conjugalia præcepta, 16.
[216] Plautus, Mercator, iv. 5.
In its condemnation of adultery Christianity made no distinction between husband and wife.[217] If continence is a stringent duty for unmarried persons independently of their sex, the observance of the sacred marriage vow must be so in a still higher degree. But here again there is a considerable discrepancy between the actual feelings of Christian peoples and the standard of their religion. Even in the laws of various European countries relating to divorce or judicial separation we find an echo of the popular notion that adultery is a smaller offence in a husband than in a wife.[218]
[217] Laurent, op. cit. iv. 114. Gratian, Decretum, ii. 35. 5. 23.