Monogamy

History

Richard Hanania:

European familial norms did not start with Christianity, but can be found in Ancient Greece and Rome. Here are two papers people have sent me on the subject. The most interesting part is that Henrich himself appears to agree with their arguments! (see here, pp. 733-34)

Interestingly enough, Henrich wrote a 60+ page affidavit for the Supreme Court of British Columbia under the title “Polygyny in Cross Cultural Perspective: Theory and Implications” (2010). He not only made a powerful case against the legalization of polygyny today, but suggested that monogamy was intentionally invented by the ancient Greeks.

- “Greek city states first legally instituted monogamy as part of many different reforms, including elements of democratic governance, which were meant to build egalitarian social solidarity among their citizenries.” [1]

He also stated in this affidavit that the Romans consciously mandated monogamy as a way of strengthening social solidarity and functionality. During the reign of the first Roman emperor, Augustus (27 BC – AD 14), a series of reforms were implemented to discourage serial monogamy and concubinage, to make divorce a legal process, and to restrict extra-marital relationships to women who were registered prostitutes.

I don’t have the historical knowledge to judge these things, but I don’t think it’s controversial that Ancient Greece and Rome were individualistic relative to other societies."

(https://richardhanania.substack.com/p/links-and-best-of-twitter-12222)