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→Early Historical Development
In polygamous societies, monogamy still seems the norm; however, polygamy was allowed in Mesopotamia and other Near Eastern states. Laws indicate that polygamy, always being polygany, could occur in cases where the first wife was unable to have children. In fact, the second wife was often one with the status of a slave or secondary, where her role was to provide offspring for the household to continue rather than share in its wealth or future. In fact, it was often the first wife that would help or even be responsible for choosing the second wife. Rulers and elites likely also had polygamous relationships, although the reasons are likely different from more common households. Thus, we see that even in polygamous societies in the Middle East, monogamy started becoming the norm. One suggestion is that monogamy started becoming the norm as agriculture took hold. In this case, property and possessions started becoming important and passing on these possessions to ones offspring became important. Monogamy became relatively easier as it helped make it clear who the parents were and who would inherit property. Polygamy, however, was still useful because it provided a greater possibility for those who could inherit in cases where there were no children. Interestingly, we do not see cases of polyandry, that is a woman marrying multiple men, although there have been known cases in various societies, suggesting it did occur in more limited places.
==Early Historical Development== Historical information from Greek and Roman societies shows that both had strict rules about monogamy being the only form of marriage, although it was common practice to accept concubines and other forms of relationships. In Greek societies, marriage was also an expectation, where the relationship had to be monogamous. However, here we also see that society allowed other relationships to be formed, including having concubines or even homosexual relationships. In effect, sexual preference and marriage were sometimes separated. In fact, in Greek society children from concubines could be made legitimate if the wife gave consent. Marriage in Greece and Rome was used to unionize families rather than developed as a standard for sexual behavior. This meant that marriage was often arranged, although a man could win his wife in competition. In most cases we see from early historical Europe is these societies were patrilineal and patrilocal, where households would be headed by a man and the wife was expected to live in the husband's household.
==Rise of Monogamous Marriages==
