The father from the Roman spouse and children (paterfamilias) exercised absolute and lifelong electric power more than all other close relatives (patria potestas): his wife, youngsters, and slaves. If the father’s father was alive – then he was the supreme authority while in the household. Fathers have been even permitted to execute their grown sons for critical offenses like treason.
Just about every household maintained a cult of ancestors and hearth gods and the paterfamilias was its priest. The household was considered to posses a “genius” (gens) – an inner spirit – passed down the generations. The residing and also the lifeless members of the family shared the gens and ended up sure by it.
Legitimate offspring belonged to the father’s relatives. The father retained custody When the couple (not often) divorced exclusively at the spouse’s initiative. The daddy experienced the correct to disown a newborn – usually deformed boys or girls. This resulted in a extreme shortage of ladies in Rome.
The daddy of the bride experienced to pay a sizable dowry on the household on the groom, Consequently impoverishing the opposite family members. In addition, daughters shared equally inside the estate of the father who died with no will – Therefore transferring assets from their loved ones of origin to their husband’s relatives. No surprise girls had been decried being an economic liability.
At the start, slaves had been thought of as Element of the family members and had been perfectly-treated. They had been permitted to economize (peculium) and to acquire their flexibility. Freed slaves became total-fledged Roman citizens and typically stayed on Together with the loved ones as hired assistance or paid laborers. Only Substantially afterwards, in the broad plantations amassed by wealthy Romans, have been slaves abused and regarded as inanimate home.