Emotions and feelings are noticeably moving into the focus of gender research – also in Ancient Studies. Until into the 21st century, however, no increased attention has been paid to the emotions and feelings that a Roman ‚maritus‘ expresses towards his wife, although especially epistolography offers a number of texts that are predestined for motif analysis (Chapter 1). In the following study, after a concise survey of the state of research (Chapter 2), selected marriage letters of Marcus Tullius Cicero to his first wife Terentia and the most expressive marriage letters of the Younger Pliny to his still young wife Calpurnia are discussed as examples illustrating the epistolary communication between spouses from the Roman upper class. Based on philological interpretations that also consider the literary motifs, the emotions and feelings of the mariti depicted in the marriage letters are analysed for aspects of the constitution of masculinity (Chapters 3 and 4). Against this background it will be explained – as a conclusion – how Cicero and the Younger Pliny manage to present themselves in the epistolary conversation with their uxores – in times of spatial separation – as passionate ‚mariti‘ (Chapter 5).