DOS

( φερνή , προΐξ ), dowry. (1) Greek. In the Homeric times it was customary for the husband to purchase his wife from her relations, by gifts called ἕδνα or ἔεδνα . But at Athens, during the historical period, the contrary was the case; for every woman had to bring her husband some dowry, and so universal was the practice, that one of the chief distinctions between a wife and a παλλακή , or concubine, consisted in the former having a portion, whereas the latter had not; hence, persons who married wives without portions appear to have given them or their guardians an acknowledgment in writing by which the receipt of a portion was admitted. Moreover, poor heire es were either married or portioned by their next of kin, according to a law, which fixed the amount of portion to be given at five minae by a Pentacosiomedimnus, three by a Horseman, and one and a half by a Zeugites. The husband had to give to the relatives or guardians of the wife security ( ἀποτίμημα ) for the dowry, which was not considered the property of the husband himself, but rather of his wife and children. The portion was returned to the wife in case of a divorce.—(2) Roman. The dos among the Romans was every thing which on the occasion of a woman’s marriage was transferred by her, or by another person, to the husband. All the property of the wife which was not made dos continued to be her own, and was comprised under the name of paraph ern a . The dos upon its delivery became the husband’s property, and continued to be his so long as the marriage relation existed. In the case of divorce, the woman, or her relations, could bring an action for the restitution of the dos; and, accordingly, a woman whose dos was large ( dotata uxor ) had some influence over her husband, inasmuch as she had the power of divorcing herself, and thus of depriving him of the enjoyment of her property. IMG:6459379820872971714_ill145.jpg: Attic Drachma. (British Museum.)