Marriage between a man and a woman produces a number of personal and property law effects. During marriage, spouses acquire property through work, but also in other ways, whereby different situations are possible regarding their work status. That is why there are situations where one spouse is employed and receives a salary, while the other one leaves his previous job or does not even enter the labour market. That spouse does that because he/she raises children or because of other reasons and with his/her contribution to the household enables unhindered concentration and earnings for the other spouse. That can cause tension during marriage, but the real problems occur when the marriage ends, because then the contributions of each of them must be determined and the division of property must be decided. Although it may seem to us that this is a modern phenomenon and a problem related to the emancipation of women and constitutional guarantees of gender equality, property law problems related to the termination of marriage were also the object of numerous comments by ancient Roman jurists. At the same time, and in connection with the influence of the Roman legal tradition on contemporary Croatian law, the aim of the paper is to explain how the property relations of spouses were regulated in Roman law, the current regulation of property relations of spouses in the Republic of Croatia and the problems manifested in judicial practice, as well as to analyse how certain institutes known in Roman law influenced the arrangements we know today. In the first part of the paper there will be explained the basic characteristics of marriage in Roman law, the forms of marriage and their effects on the property relations of the spouses. After that, certain institutes that had a significant impact on the property relations of spouses in Roman law will be studied in more detail. First of all, there will be discussed institutes that had impact on marriage sine manu, which was the predominant form in the periods from which originate the majority of preserved sources, such as dowry and gifts between spouses. In the second part of the paper, in brief, the property relations of spouses in Croatian contemporary law are discussed. There are stated important features of the institutions of own property and matrimonial assets, with the accompanying examination of the problems noticed in the judicial practice with regard to the statutory regulation of property relations. Finally, in conclusion, there are shown the results of the analysis of how property relations between spouses were regulated in Roman law, and how they are regulated today. Also, the similarities and differences of certain institutes in Roman and Croatian law are presented, and the advantages of today's arrangement of property relations between spouses are elaborated.