§81. The confarreate ceremony began with the _dextrārum iūnctiō_. The bride and groom were brought together by the _prōnuba_, a matron married to her first husband, and joined hands in the presence of ten witnesses representing the ten _gentēs_ of the _cūria_. These are shown on an ancient sarcophagus found at Naples (Fig. 14). Then followed the words of consent spoken by the bride: _Quandō tū Gāius, ego Gāia_. The formula was unchanged, no matter what the names of the bride and groom, and goes back to a time when _Gāius_ was a _nōmen_, not a _praenōmen_ (§55). It implied that the bride was actually entering the _gēns_ of the groom (§§23, 28, 35), and was probably chosen for its lucky meaning (§44). Even in marriages _sine conventiōne_ the old formula came to be used, its import having been lost in lapse of time. The bride and groom then took their places side by side at the left of the altar and facing it, sitting on stools covered with the pelt of the sheep slain for the sacrifice. [Illustration: FIGURE 15. A CAMILLUS] §82. A bloodless offering was then made to Jupiter by the _Pontifex Maximus_ and the _Flāmen Diālis_, consisting of the cake of spelt (_farreum lībum_) from which the _cōnfarreātiō_ got its name. With the offering to Jupiter a prayer was recited by the Flamen to Juno as the goddess of marriage, and to Tellus, Picumnus, and Pilumnus, deities of the country and its fruits. The utensils necessary for the offering were carried in a covered basket (_cumerus_) by a boy called _camillus_ (Fig. 15), whose parents must have both been living at the time (_patrīmus et mātrīmus_). Then followed the congratulations, the guests using the word _fēlīciter_. §83. The _coēmptiō_ began with the fictitious sale, carried out in the presence of no less than five witnesses. The purchase money represented by a single coin was laid in the scales held by a _lībripēns_. The scales, scaleholder, coin, and witnesses were all necessary for this kind of marriage. Then followed the _dextrārum iūnctiō_ and the words of consent, borrowed, as has been said, from the confarreate ceremony. Originally the groom had asked the bride: _An sibi māter familiās esse vellet._ She assented, and put to him a similar question: _An sibi pater familiās esse vellet._ To this he too gave the answer "Yes." A prayer was then recited and sometimes perhaps a sacrifice offered, after which came the congratulations as in the other and more elaborate ceremony.