Mesopotamian prayers included blessings for such couples,
美索不达米亚的祷文中包括了为同性夫妻进行祝福，
while Native American Two-Spirit individuals had relationships with both sexes.
而美洲印第安的双灵人与两种性别的人都会发生关系。
The first instances of such arrangements actually being called "Marriage" come from Rome,
首例同性婚姻被实际称作为“婚姻”的情况出现在罗马，
where the Emperors Nero and Elagabalus both married men in public ceremonies with the practice being explicitly banned in 342 A.D.
皇帝尼禄和埃拉伽巴路斯二人都以公开典礼的形式与男性结婚，这种行为在公元342年被明令禁止。
But similar traditions survived well into the Christian era, such as Adelphopoiesis, or "brother-making" in Orthodox churches,
但是，类似的传统在进入公元后幸免于难，比如滴血为盟，或者传统教会中的兄弟结拜，
and even an actual marriage between two men recorded in 1061 at a small chapel in Spain.
甚至是两个男人之间实质的婚姻，在1061年西班牙某个小礼堂的记录中都有所记载。
Nor was marriage even necessarily between two living people.
婚姻甚至都不一定需要发生在两个活人之间。
Ghost marriages, where either the bride or groom were deceased, were conducted in China to continue family lineages or appease restless spirits.
冥婚，就是新娘或新郎已经过世，它曾在中国出现过，主要是为了延续家族香火或者安抚死不瞑目的灵魂。
And some tribes in Sudan maintain similar practices.
另外，苏丹的一些部落延续了相似的情况。
Despite all these differences, a lot of marriages throughout history did have one thing in common.
尽管有这些五花八门的差异，但古今历史中的许多婚姻也的确有一个共同点。
With crucial matters like property and reproduction at stake, they were way too important to depend on young love.
一些决定性的因素，比如财产和至关重要的传宗接代的问题，这些因素都太重要了，以致于婚姻无法只取决于脆弱的爱情。
Especially among the upperclasses, matches were often made by families or rulers.
尤其在上流社会，配偶的人选常常由家庭或者统治者来决定。
But even for commoners, who had some degree of choice, the main concern was practicality.
即使对于有一定选择权的普通百姓，主要的考量还是实用性。
The modern idea of marriage as being mainly about love and companionship only emerged in the last couple of centuries.
现代婚姻的理念，主要围绕着爱和友谊，这种观念仅仅是在过去的几个世纪才出现的。
With industrialization, urbanization and the growth of the middle class more people became independent from large extended families and were able to support a new household on their own.
随着工业化，城市化以及中产阶级的涌现，越来越多的人从庞大的家族中独立出来，并且有能力自己负担一个新的家庭。
Encouraged by new ideas from the Enlightenment, people began to focus on individual happiness and pursuits,
受到来自于启蒙运动中新思想的鼓舞，（对于婚姻）人们开始更加注重个人的幸福和诉求，
rather than familial duty or wealth and status, at least some of the time.
而不是家庭责任或财富地位，至少有些时候是这样的。
And this focus on individual happiness soon led to other transformations, such as easing restrictions on divorce and more people marrying at a later age.
而这种对个人幸福的放大很快导致了其他方面的转变，比如放宽对离婚的束缚以及晚婚率的增加。
So, as we continue to debate the role and definition of marriage in the modern world,
所以，随着我们进一步讨论婚姻在现代社会的角色和定义，
it might help to keep in mind that marriage has always been shaped by society,
也许我们应谨记婚姻始终都是社会的产物，
and as a society's structure, values and goals change over time, its ideas of marriage will continue to change along with them.
而随着社会的结构，价值观和目标的不断改变，其对于婚姻的定位也会随之不断进行着调整。
