(_a_) The betrothal took the form of a solemn contract between the fathers and guardians on either side. In all Roman contracts it was customary that a pledge should be given, and this pledge often consisted in a ring. It was fitting, therefore, that a ring given to the woman by her betrothed should come to be a sign of the betrothal contract. It is natural to identify these rings with a series of Roman rings which have for their design two clasped right hands. An example in gold of about the third century A.D. (No. =639=) is shown in this Case. (_b_) The actual ceremony of marriage consisted in the solemn clasping of hands (_dextrarum iunctio_), an action seen on the relief on the sepulchral chest (No. =640=) placed in this Case. The inscription shows that the chest was dedicated by a freedman and imperial scribe named Vitalis to the memory of his wife Vernasia Cyclas. The ceremony is only shown in an abbreviated form on this chest, but it appears in more detail on a relief from a sarcophagus (No. =641=; fig. 250). The husband and wife clasp hands, and between them stands the _pronuba_ or matron-friend of the bride, placing a hand on the shoulder of each. On the left of the group stands a man, perhaps the bride's father. To left and right of this scene of everyday Roman life we have the mythological personages whose attendance at the wedding may be supposed to be of good augury--Mars, Victory and Fortune. The clasping of hands was followed by a sacrifice to Jupiter, and this closed the actual wedding ceremonies. The sacrifice is represented in the illustration (fig. 251) taken from a Roman sarcophagus.[92] The bride, and bridegroom stand by the burning altar, upon which the latter pours a libation. Behind the pair stands _Juno pronuba_, the presiding goddess of the wedding rites. On the right a bull is being led up to sacrifice, and on the left stand Venus, Hymenaeus and the Graces. [Illustration: FIG. 251.--ROMAN WEDDING SACRIFICE.]