Twelve Tables of Rome

Lex Duodecim Tabularum

1	Affairs of great importance shall not be transacted without the vote of the people, with whom rests the power to appoint magistrates, to condemn citizens, and to enact laws. Laws subsequently passed always take preference over former ones.
2	Matrimony is a lawful union between Gens first by which the offspring inherit their legitimacy.
3	Those who belong to the Senatorial Order and are styled Fathers, shall not contract marriage with plebeians.
4	Marriages should not take place between patricians and plebeians.
5	A man may be betrothed to only one woman at any one time.
6	A man who be in matrimony with two or more wives shall cause his own death and the death of his second wife and any children born from the second matrimony to be sold into slavery.