Did married women in ancient Celtic and Germanic societies wear veils? I’m aware that this was done in Greek and Roman society, but did it also occur in Northern Europe? Or was it purely a Mediterranean thing?

Question

Lars Eidevall · Accepted Answer

Nordic trade with the Mediterraneans is as old as the Bronze Age, and they traded with the Sogdians for silk in the Viking age, so many of our folk lore patterns have Persian elements and origin.

The role of free women were quite different though. In Norse society she could own and inherit land, and when she was married she could divorce, and she was responsible for the house finances and wore a headscarf to tell that she was married. Her role was more public, but she could not vote in the Thing parliament.

In Greece a married woman was given away by her father and only he could dissolve the marriage, she could only go out to visit friends or religious ceremonies, but had to be covered from top to toe when and if she did, and she was dependent on man in everything.

A Nordic woman wore her hair long and in braids until she was married, and then wore a hat or scarf. And this only changed in the 1920s, when short hair became fashion and scarfs and hats became reserved for church and festivities.

Free men generally wore their hair shorter, but from Merovingian times long male hair became a symbol for the free, rich and nobles, like in Viking and Gaelic society.

Alice Twain · Answer

In many European societies women wore some kind of headdress. This has been an habit until the mid-XX century. In some cases this was done for modesty reasons (in medieval Spain women, regardless of their religion, wore a tapado, a thick veil or shawl that left only one visible eye). More often it was done to protect the hair and the hairdo from the elements, the wind, and the grease and soot produced by cooking.

Bruce Byers · Answer

History behind the bridal veil [ https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.richmond.com/life/celebrations/history-behind-the-bridal-veil/article_1d042232-e3f9-11e2-af1e-0019bb30f31a.amp.html ]

The veil goes back to Roman times, but it filtered into western Germany, though not to eastern Germany, during Roman occupation. It was not accepted as a common cultural experience and the Catholic Church had no standard.

Celts were resistant to cultural change in the late Roman empire. I do not think they largely adopted it, but the Catholic Church did marriages both with and without veils in Scotland and Ireland. The veil is an option either way, but if you want to keep it completely untouched by cultural drift, go without veil.

Mats Andersson · Answer

In old Scandinavian society, the “Viking” society, married women wore headscarves that covered their hair. It was actually still common among older people in rural areas as late as the 1960s; it was used in movies at the time as a shorthand for “rustic”.

As I recall, the last one I saw was in 2002, but I’ve been living in a city since then so it might still be around somewhere.

ChatGPT · Answer

In ancient Celtic and Germanic societies, the practice of married women wearing veils was not as prominent or culturally significant as it was in Greek and Roman societies. However, there are some references and archaeological evidence that suggest the use of head coverings or veils in these cultures, albeit not as a universal or defining practice.
Celtic Societies
1. Head Coverings: Some depictions from Celtic art and artifacts indicate that women wore various types of head coverings, which could include scarves or shawls, but these were not necessarily veils in the same sense as those in Mediterranean cultures. The use of head coverings could have been influenced by practicality, climate, and social status rather than a strict cultural norm.
2. Symbolism and Status: In some Celtic traditions, the way a woman styled her hair or covered her head could symbolize her marital status or social role. However, the details of these practices can vary significantly by region and period.
Germanic Societies
1. Veils and Headgear: In Germanic societies, evidence from archaeological finds suggests that women sometimes wore head coverings. For instance, the use of hoods, caps, or other forms of headgear could serve both practical and social purposes. Some Germanic women are depicted in historical records and artifacts with covered heads, but these were not necessarily veils in the same cultural context as those in the Mediterranean.
2. Marriage and Modesty: The practice of covering the head might have had associations with modesty and marital status, but the specific customs could vary widely among different tribes and regions.
Conclusion
While head coverings were present in Celtic and Germanic societies, they did not have the same cultural significance or strict conventions as in Greek and Roman societies. The practices were more varied and influenced by local customs, climate, and practical needs rather than a standardized approach to marital status.

Jason Almendra · Answer

Rich Roman women loved silk clothing. They were so addicted, the Western Roman Empire went bankrupt and out of business in 476. There was no way to stop the flow of gold & silver. The Romans could not negotiate with China directly. Persia was one in a series of middlemen who charged the Romans through the nose for it.

Jason Almendra's answer to What’s the biggest gamble an ancient civilization took that paid off? [ https://www.quora.com/What-s-the-biggest-gamble-an-ancient-civilization-took-that-paid-off/answer/Jason-Almendra ]

They really desired silk for its staticky, form hugging effect.

These are statues of goddesses. But you get the idea.

Let's start from the underwear. They found a leather bikini bottom or subligacum preserved in the mud of the Thames river. It's unknown if they were male or female clothing or both. The Romans did not fetishized breasts. Even hookers in sexually explicit frescoes in Pompeii wore strophium or chest wraps.

Over that is where the silk comes into play. They wore silk tunics. They were ankle length, long sleeved pullover garments. They had no buttons. They tied a sash under their breasts as a sort of belt. In the summer it could be short-sleeved or sleeveless.

Then over that, married women wore the stola. It was a sign she was taken. It was secured at the shoulders with jewelled brooches. A belt was tied under the breasts and excess cloth allowed to drape over. Another belt tied at waist with even more cloth draped over that. Overall it was longer than the height of the wearer.

Roman women used to wear the toga. But it became restricted to prostitutes.

Then finally the palla or shawl. Married women must cover their heads in public. Indoors they can wear it over their shoulders or draped over one shoulder or wrapped around the left arm.

On their feet they wore solea or sandals,

slippers or soccus,

or calceus or closed shoes.

Maryanne Slater · Answer

Right up to the 1960s, western women didn’t go to church without a hat on. In some places and religions, a hat or a headscarf is still required for church. And groups like the Amish still wear the same sorts of caps they did two centuries ago.

Covering the hair, and sometimes veiling the face, started out largely as a status thing in the Mediterranean region in ancient times. Women of higher status veiled themselves to protect themselves from the sun, from the gaze of lowly men, from evil spirits, and so on. It also signaled that her husband had enough money for lots of fine fabric and to hire or buy help to do most of the housework, since a voluminous veil or scarf would get in the way. Lower class women didn’t wear veils — they could even be punished for covering their hair.

The tradition stuck through the Roman era and seemed to stay with Christian women in the former empire. Married women of rank and nuns wore some kind of head covering, although for early Saxon queens in England the crown itself seems to have been enough.

Eleanor of Aquitaine made wimples, which covered the head and neck with a barbette wrapped around under the chin, fashionable in the 12th century, and in the centuries thereafter, most married women seemed to wear some sort of head covering, and often unmarried women did too. It could be a cloth coif [ https://rosaliegilbert.com/coifs.html ], plain for common women, something fashionable for gentry and nobility. There was the French hood  [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_hood ]in Tudor times. Sometimes it was only a token hairband or lace/net snood [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Toledo#/media/File:Eleanora_of_Toledo.jpg ], more jewellery than hair covering.

Then came the Protestant Reformation, and women were expected to wear a very prim white linen cap that hid all the hair among the more puritan sects in the 17th century. Some even do so today.

Plain bonnets and caps were required for honest working women through the 18th and 19th centuries, while ladies never went anywhere without a fashionable hat — which often stayed on while visiting a friend for tea. At home, they had wispy lacy things, as seen in pictures of Queen Victoria.

And then, in the first half of the 20th century, respectable women wore hats for church and events and visiting. My mom had a brown satin pillbox thing with a wisp of netting, that matched her best brown dress she wore to weddings and funerals in the 1950s and early 60s, tucked away in her closet. It was a bit grim.

Garrett Ryan · Answer

Roman sources (which are the only ones I’m qualified to assess) shed some light on marriage customs in Gaul and Germany.

In the proto-ethnographic account of the Gauls and Germans that appears in the sixth book of his Commentaries on the Gallic War, Caesar says this about marriage among the Gauls:

“Whatever sums of money the husbands have received in the name of dowry from their wives, making an estimate of it, they add the same amount out of their own estates. An account is kept of all this money conjointly,and the profits are laid by: whichever of them shall have survived [the other], to that one the portion of both reverts together with the profits of the previous time. Husbands have power of life and death over their wives as well as over their children: and when the father of a family, born in a more than commonly distinguished rank, has died, his relations assemble, and, if the circumstances of his death are suspicious, hold an investigation upon the wives in the manner adopted toward slaves; and, if proof be obtained, put them to severe torture, and kill them.” (19)

We do not know how much of this account is based in truth. The absolute power that Caesar claims Gallic husbands had over their families looks suspiciously Roman; and the “custom” of postmortem wife inquests may have been drawn from hearsay about a single scandalous case.

Caesar’s only comment about marriage among the Germans is that they put it off until well after adolescence:

“Those who have remained chaste for the longest time, receive the greatest commendation among their people; they think that by this the growth is promoted, by this the physical powers are increased and the sinews are strengthened. And to have had knowledge of a woman before the twentieth year they reckon among the most disgraceful acts…” (21)

Here again, it’s hard to say how reliable Caesar’s sources are. Like Tacitus after him (more on whom in a moment), the idea of German continence may owe as much to literary convention as to historical reality.

I came, I saw, I misconstrued…

More than a century after Caesar, the great historian Tacitus composed a brief treatise on the Germans beyond Rome’s northwestern frontiers, in which he provides a fairly detailed description of German marriage:

“Their marriage code, however, is strict, and no feature of their morality deserves higher praise. They are almost unique among barbarians in being content with one wife apiece - all of them, that is, except a very few who take more than one wife not to satisfy their desires but because their exalted rank brings them many pressing offers of matrimonial alliances. The dowry is brought by husband to wife, not by wife to husband. Parents and kinsmen attend and approve the gifts - not gifts chosen to please a woman's fancy or gaily deck a young bride, but oxen, a horse with its bridle, or a shield, spear, and sword. In consideration of such gifts a man gets his wife, and she in her turn brings a present of arms to her husband.” (Germania, 18)

Like Caesar, Tacitus reports that Germans married late, and were not given to extramarital romance:

“The girls, too, are not hurried into marriage. As old and full-grown as the men, they match their mates in age and strength, and the children inherit the robustness of their parents.” (20)

The Germans probably did marry later than their Mediterranean counterparts - or at least, it was not customary among them, as it was among the Greeks and Romans, for husbands to be a decade or more older than their wives. It is probable, however, that Tacitus’ portrait of German marriage is at least colored, if not completely skewed, by his desire to contrast barbarian virtue with Roman vice.

The Roman sources on Gallic and German marriage, in short, sketch customs that differed considerably from those current within the Empire. It is difficult to say, however, how much those differences may have been stylized, or even created, by our Roman authors.

Donald Turner · Answer

Yes, there were instances of intermarriage between ancient Romans and other groups, including Gauls, Celts, and Germans, beyond the context of conquests. The Roman Empire was a vast and diverse entity, and as a result, there was significant cultural and social interaction between Romans and various indigenous populations.

Intermarriage between Romans and people from conquered regions was not uncommon. The Roman practice of granting citizenship to individuals in conquered territories facilitated assimilation and intermarriage. Over time, this contributed to the formation of a diverse population within the Roman Empire.

In the case of Gauls and Celts, who inhabited territories that are now modern-day France, Belgium, and parts of Western Europe, intermarriage with Romans occurred as a result of both conquest and peaceful interactions. The Roman presence in these regions extended over many centuries, allowing for cultural exchange and the mingling of populations.

Similarly, in regions inhabited by Germanic tribes, such as present-day Germany and parts of Central Europe, intermarriage between Romans and Germanic peoples did occur. The Roman Empire had a complex relationship with various Germanic tribes, involving both conflict and diplomacy. Through alliances and interactions with Roman soldiers, traders, and officials, intermarriage between Romans and Germanic individuals was not uncommon.

These instances of intermarriage were part of a broader process of cultural assimilation and interaction within the Roman Empire. They contributed to the spread of Roman customs, language, and social practices throughout the conquered territories, while also influencing Roman society through the adoption of local customs and traditions.

It is important to note that the extent and frequency of intermarriage varied across different regions and time periods within the Roman Empire. The level of integration and assimilation depended on factors such as local customs, social status, and the policies of the Roman administration.

Anonymous · Answer

There was no ghunghat or veil in Vedic period. In Vedic period womans were at par with man's. You can find the woman rishikas. Womans also played active role in Veda writing along with rishis.

The ghunghat is social evil, introduce by patriarchal societies. In India it was mainly prevailed in Rajasthan, Hariyana, UP and Bihar. With Islamic invasions these evil becomes more common. Even if you see today, the tribal womans of Gujarat, MP, Jharkhand etcetera do not wear any type of veil.

Robert Caruso · Answer

Hard to say. We must bear in mind that at the time of the Roman empire - and antiquity in general - the average temperature was at least 3 degrees warmer, if not more. Celts lived in colder climates, of course. Romans are represented wearing togas, tunics and skirts. I’m not sure about trousers, but it’s possible that they wore leggings made of wool or some other warm material; Roman soldiers wore a type of trousers, they were part of their uniform. The Persians wore tapered trousers and the Greeks considered them the clothes of their enemies and did not adopt them. It’s possible that the Romans did the same since their culture - in the widest sense of the term, from religion to art - was based on the Greeks.
When the Roman Republic expanded and arrived in south Italy, they discovered that people spoke Greek there (since south Italy was a Greek colony, part of the “Magna Grecia” (Greater Greece). The most famous athlete who won several Olympic games was called Milo and he was from Croton, in Calabria, south Italy. That’s where Pythagorean communities were as well).

One thing that most people don’t seem to realize is that Rome was founded by “criminals” and bandits: people who had been rejected by and isolated from their communities; hence Rome’s military culture, the emphasis on physical violence (even in their “sports”) and the lack of women in Rome’s earliest days, during the reign of first legendary king Romulus. In fact they kidnapped the Sabine women (at least 30 of them) from their neighbours. Funnily enough, these young Sabine women stopped a war between Romans and Sabines: they apparently decided to stay with these Roman “bad boys” who kidnapped them - or so the story goes; let it be a lesson to us all about human nature… I attach links for two of these curiosities in case someone is interested in finding out more about them…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_the_Sabine_Women
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milo_of_Croton

Sandra Schubert · Answer

In ancient Rome, grooms typically wore a toga during weddings, specifically the toga virilis, a plain white garment symbolizing adulthood and citizenship. Brides, however, did not wear togas; they donned a tunica recta (white wool tunic) and a bright yellow-red veil called a flammeum. The toga was reserved for Roman men and signified formality, making it suitable for the groom's ceremonial role. While the groom’s attire emphasized civic identity, the bride’s outfit focused on tradition and symbolism tied to fertility and modesty. Thus, togas were part of weddings but only worn by male participants, aligning with social norms dictating gendered clothing in Roman culture.

Lars Eidevall · Answer

The Norse in the Viking age were considered grownup by 12 and cold run a farm by then, as unmarried or married women. By 20 most were married. The chiefs had to marry wisely and strategically. So Haralda Hardrada married at 27 in Kiev when he had made enough money, and Harald Hairfair waited 10 years and let his hair grow to marry his love after 872AD, when he had united Norway.

The Norse custom among farmers is otherwise for midsummer that the young women should jump seven fences and find a lover from another village. and most children are even today born 9 months after midsummer in Sweden. No

The Norse custom among farmers is otherwise for midsummer that the young women should jump seven fences and find a lover from another village. and most children are even today born 9 months after midsummer in Sweden. Norse women could decide to divorce, and could be independent landowners as widows or unmarried.

Josh Bariola · Answer

There’s no way to know the reasons behind ancient fashions, or even most modern fashions. They tend to have many varied influences, and evolve at random based on the fickle winds of fate and popular taste.

One thing that seems to be universal among human cultures, however, is that we like to stand out, in comparison to our neighbors.

If the neighboring cultures eat pork, we’ll abstain. If they wear trousers, we’ll stick with tunics. If they worship animal-headed gods, we’ll worship anthropomorphic gods. If they have kings, we’ll try a republic. If they sacrifice humans, we’ll only sacrifice livestock. And if they wear long hair and beards, we’ll go clean shaven and neatly trimmed.

Because God forbid anyone mistake us for those heathen barbarians, right?

Anonymous · Answer

There are cultural and lifestyle differences between ancient Northern Europe and the ancient Mediterranean.

* Women in the north had a natural advantage from food collection and industry. According to history books, married women usually ended up as CEO of households regardless of size and wealth. While the husband in the vast majority of cases was chairman of the board, the CEO was mostly self-governing the 6 warm months of the year, and partially self-governing most of the spring and autumn. In the Mediterranean, only some wives had the possibility of such self-governance.
 * Northern clan structures had a larger degree of internal separation and geographical distance, whereas Mediterranean clan structures were concentrated and women subject to supervision or surveillance from a larger number of male relatives.
Regards

Zeddik · Answer

Well we only know little and it is from very different times and very different places. Most likely every tribe had its own traditions. Some things however seem to have been very common or wide spread:

-political Marriages were a thing. Marriages were arranged. Women could be forced by their families to marry a husband they did not want, like the Galatian princess Camma. Petta of Massalia however was allowed to choose between several candidates and eventually chose a greek ambassador her family had not really intended as husband ,but it was considered an omen of the gods and accepted (or it was all an act and a clever political maneuver of her family who knows). Dumnorix married out all of his female relatives to political allies including his daughters and even his own mother.

-Camma and Sinorix married in the temple of Artemis , made a swear and drank both from a chalice with honeymilk or mead.

-the rite of both marriage partners drinking from a cup or chalice also appears in other sources, Petta also gave her future husband a sip of wine from a cup.

-Caesar mentions that gaulish couples made a very elaborate contract that included sharing the common wealth and administrating it together. However of the husband died the wife often was exhibited to the husbands family judically, so she was not truly wholly independent, it was still something of a clan law and the husbands clan had the upper hand over his wife. Boudica of the Iceni on the other hand was such a powerful woman, she inherited the title of King/Queen from her husband and became legal leader of her tribe after his death.

-the wife of the caledonian king Argentocoxos claimed that celtic women united themselves with the best men openly while roman women cheated on their husbands in secret, so there was some degree of legal promiscuity for certain noblewomen at last, if their chosen partners were men of some status. They didn't do it with servants or slaves of lesser rank.

-the Galatian lady Chiomara however murdered a roman officer who had raped her as she didn't wish any other man who had possessed her to live except her own rightful husband. So at last for her marital fidelity and monogamy were a serious thing.

-the Galatian marriage took place in or near a temple of Artemis, the Massalian seemingly in a families hall or a hall of the city, irish at chieftains feast halls or holy places of the Gods like stones sacred to Tailtiu

-in old irish myth before marriage theres extensive wooing, often the future husband asks a friend or comrade to woo a woman for him by praising him. In some occasions also women use a magical taboo to force a certain man to marry them. Cu chullain has to woo for himself and answer certain riddles and tests his beloved gives him. Wooings are their own literary genre in irish poetry, but often the bride is also simply kidnapped (and raped?) Especially if she is from another competitor tribe. The early hours of morning are the best time for wooing. In welsh myth the future husband woos not always to his beloved or her father but instead he asks her brother, but mostly he asks her father.

-in irish myth theres always a feast or banquet provided by the brides father, the entire clan and even allies from far away get invited. Often marriage is after a battle is won as a final triumph and celebration. The banquet is also mentioned for the Galatians and Gauls.

-there is sacrifice, crows are fed with breadcrumbs, wolves with flesh of some animal.A ram sacrificed to get the blessing of the gods is mentioned once

-again the bride hands her husband a chalice or cup of beer or red mead, much like the Gauls and Galatians did.

-at the feast the couple give gifts or grant wishes to their guests, also the bride has one personal wish free

-well and of course the couple had sex the night. Infidelity wasn't always allowed, Becuma has the choice to be banned or burned for cheating her husband, but others like Medb or Ness have openly affairs with other men of high rank besides their husbands. It wasn't necessary to be a virgin at marriage, and divorce was possible.

-according to welsh law a woman could divorce from her husband when he had bad breath, was impotent or preferred to have sex with men over his wife.

-in welsh myth before a marriage theres usually some sort of prophecy, so a seer was asked to find a suitable partner or to ask the gods if a marriage with this or that person will be happy or unhappy.

-sometimes the welsh future husband has to work some time for his brides parents. In mythology these works are heroic quests.

-kidnapping the bride with her own agreement was seen as a legit form of marriage. Also rape was legally a form of marriage. A man who raped a free woman had to pay the full brideprice to her family.

-the welsh also loved banquets, with much meat (from the sacrificed ram?) boiled in a large cauldron and the guests giving gifts to the bridal pair

-they also wear some sort of wedding clothes, maybe just their best formal clothing, or maybe a christian wedding dress in intended here.

-polyandrie also seems to have been a british thing. Brothers seemingly could marry all the same woman. She was then every brothers legal bride and seemingly had sex with all of them. I am unsure how it was legally arranged which brother was the official father of the children though. Sometimes a brother could "inherit" his brothers wife when he died, so the woman now was legally the wife of her husbands brother.

-Polygamy was possible, however it was limited to how many wives a man could provide for, so it was more of a thing among the wealthy.

-there was an irish tradition according to which the pair touched each others hand through a hole in an old stone and swore to live together for a year and a day, this is sometimes interpreted as a provisional short-term marriage or a marriage on try, but more likely "a year and a day" is a poetic form to say "forever", this is often the case in irish myth, a common topos.

-in scotland the right hands of the couple were bound together with a strap of cloth or leather, or parts of their clothing like their cloaks were knotted together. A similar thing existed among the romans as well.

-the Galatian goddess of Marriage called Artemis by the Greeks may have been Sirona or Belisama.In [ http://Belisama.In ] Ireland it seems to have been Tailtiu.

-according to some sources (Eusebius of Cesarea) there existed a tradition of legal gay marriage for young men as well. Bardaisan of Edessa claims such a tradition also existed among the german tribes, but he seems to refer to men marrying transvestites.

-Handfasting is not a celtic rite nor is it a marriage rite. It refers to the buying of a bride from her father and agreeing over the price so brideprices and buying women were a thing too.

-jumping over a witches broom is not a celtic rite. However welsh myth mentions the rite of the bride having to jump over a druids staff or wand to prove her virginity.

This is all i know, but i don’t think i forgot anything important. Maybe the various legal forms Of marriage in medieval irish and welsh law. Other people may have better sources on these. There were many forms of marriage including between partners of equal rank, husband of lower rank with wife of higher rank, wife of lower rank with husband of higher rank, kidnapping the bride with or against her will, raping a free woman as above mentioned and even marriage to a mad or mentally handycapped woman. All forms had certain judical consequences for the partners, like rising or falling in rank or legally joining another clan or tribe.

B.B Sharma · Answer

Marriage customs in ancient Greece and Rome varied somewhat over time and across different regions, but there were some common elements in the way women got married in these ancient societies. Here's a general overview:

Ancient Greece:

1. Arranged Marriages: Marriages in ancient Greece were typically arranged by the families of the bride and groom. Marital alliances were often formed for economic, social, or political reasons.
2. Age: Girls usually married at a young age, often in their mid-teens. In contrast, men were typically older when they married, often in their late 20s or early 30s.
3. Betrothal: The process typically began with a formal betrothal ceremony. During this ceremony, the groom or his representative would present gifts, often referred to as the "bride price," to the bride's family as a sign of his commitment to marrying her.
4. Wedding Ceremony: The actual wedding ceremony was a religious and civic event. It involved a procession, sacrifices to the gods, and the exchange of vows.
5. Wedding Feast: After the ceremony, there was a wedding feast to celebrate the union. Family and friends would gather for the festivities.
6. Marital Customs: In ancient Greece, the marital customs and roles within the marriage were quite traditional. Women were expected to manage the household and raise children, while men were responsible for providing for the family.
Ancient Rome:

1. Arranged Marriages: Similar to Greece, marriages in ancient Rome were often arranged by families. Marriages were considered a matter of family honor and social status.
2. Consent: While the bride's consent was important, it was often the decision of the father or male head of the household that carried the most weight in arranging the marriage.
3. Dowry: In Roman marriages, the bride's family typically provided a dowry, which was a sum of money or valuable property that would be given to the groom or his family upon marriage.
4. Wedding Ceremony: The wedding ceremony in ancient Rome was a formal affair. It often involved a procession to the groom's house, during which rituals were performed to protect against evil spirits. A wedding banquet followed the ceremony.
5. Marital Roles: In Roman society, much like in Greece, the roles within a marriage were clearly defined. The wife's primary responsibility was to manage the household and raise children, while the husband was responsible for providing and protecting the family.
6. Divorce: Divorce was allowed in both ancient Greece and Rome, although it was more common and accepted in Rome. In Roman society, a man could divorce his wife fairly easily, but women had fewer rights in this regard.
It's important to note that the specific customs and traditions could vary within these ancient civilizations, and they evolved over time. Additionally, the experiences of women in marriage varied depending on their social class and the region in which they lived.

Roy Murphy · Answer

As a teacher of Ancient History and a person of Irish extraction I have always been annoyed by the English language adoption of the Greek word Keltoi [foreigner] to describe my people. Most of us north of the Mediterranean were Gauls or Gaels with our own tribal names , which are numerous and well known [Iceni etc ] In British history we are Erse, Scots, Picts, Cymru [Welsh or Walshea is Anglo-Saxon for foreigner -same problem}. I see all of this as a colonisers put-down or ignorance which has gone on for many centuries [Fuzzy-wuzzies, Natives,Redskins] and continues today [Negroes,Indians,Eskimos]. It only takes a little time and education to avoid the hurtful disrespect.

Lyn Yana · Answer

Not legally. It was simply part of culture to protect their hair from the elements. Also in early medieval Christian culture, it was unseemly for a married woman to show her hair.

In a way back then, the Bible dictated how people should dress.

Alot has been reflected in art with regards to head covering for women.

Laura Holland · Answer

Greece and Rome are part of the European continent- so considering them European is completely correct.

Greece and in particular Rome traded widely in Northern Europe. There is solid evidence both used Cornish tin in the Bronze age for example.