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 quote the words of Sir Henry Maine, "the situation of the Roman female, whether married or unmarried, became one of great personal and proprietary independence." He continues:

Justinian, acting under the influence of the Church, so far abandoned the old contractual notion of marriage, which prevailed in the Roman law, as to prohibit divorce by mutual consent, but his legislation in this particular was beyond the endurance of his subjects. His successor, Justin, repealed his prohibitions in deference to the popular wishes. With the downfall of the Empire in the West, and the