If I'm remembering my history correctly, this more controlling form of marriage was traditional among elite patricians, a hereditary aristocracy that had already lost its unquestioned political dominance by the time of the late Republic.

But even though patricians no longer automatically ruled the Roman world, they still possessed a lot of social and political privilege. Julius Caesar traded in his patrician allure for a great deal of power, even though though his immediate family had struggled with poverty when he was young. His father probably remained on the senatorial rolls only because censors winked and nodded at wealth requirements they would have strictly enforced for a senator not from a famous patrician family.

All that to say that patricians were important. They also tended to be deeply socially conservative. Since their importance derived from Rome's earliest days, they often supported the upholding of Rome's earlier values and traditions — included the more difficult and restrictive form of marriage you write about. (J. Caesar, himself was a populist, however, not a traditionalist.)

I knew about the different forms of Roman marriage, but I did not know early Christianity adopted the values and emulated the more traditional and restrictice form of Roman marriage.

Thanks for the insight!