confarreatio

Confarreatio was a highly solemnized ceremony of marriage in ancient Roman law, typically reserved for patrician families. This ceremony involved numerous witnesses and animal sacrifice, and it conferred upon the husband the right of absolute control over his wife, similar to the control a father had over his daughter. This form of marriage was distinct from other Roman marriage types like coemptio (marriage by purchase) and usus (marriage by mutual consent and cohabitation). The term confarreatio itself derives from Latin, relating to a spelt cake, suggesting a ritualistic element involving this grain.12