The
pater familias (plural:
patres familias) was the head of a Roman family. The term is
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
for "father of the family" or the "owner of the family estate". The form is irregular and
archaicIn language, an archaism is the use of a form of speech or writing that is no longer current. This can either be done deliberately or as part of a specific jargon or formula...
in Latin, preserving the old genitive ending in
-as (see
Latin declensionLatin is an inflected language, and as such has nouns, pronouns, and adjectives that must be declined in order to serve a grammatical function. A set of declined forms of the same word pattern is called a declension. There are five declensions, which are numbered and grouped by ending and...
). The
pater familias was always a Roman citizen.
Roman law and tradition (
mos maiorumMos Maiorum, literally translated as the “custom of the fathers/ancestors,” is the core concept of Roman traditionalism. The mos maiorum , was an unwritten code from which the Romans derived their societal norms. These customs were distinct from the laws that would be recorded in writing...
) established the power of the
pater familias within the community of his own extended
familia. He held legal privilege over the property of the
familia, and varying levels of authority over his dependents: these included his wife and children, certain other relatives through blood or adoption, clients, freedmen and slaves. The same
mos maiorum moderated his authority and determined his responsibilities to his own
familia and to the broader community. He had a duty to father and raise healthy children as future citizens of Rome, to maintain the moral propriety and well-being of his household, to honour his clan and ancestral gods and to dutifully participate - and if possible, serve - in Rome's political, religious and social life. In effect, the
pater familias was expected to be a good citizen. In theory at least, he held powers of life and death over every member of his extended
familia through ancient right but in practice, the extreme form of this right was seldom exercised. It was eventually limited by law.
The Roman familia
The Roman household was conceived of as an economic and juridical unit or estate:
familia originally meant the group of the
famuli (the
servi or
serfsSerfdom is the socio-economic status of unfree peasants under feudalism, and specifically relates to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe...
and slaves of a rural estate) living under the same roof. This meaning later expanded to indicate the familia as the basic Roman
social unitSocial unit is a term used in sociology, anthropology, ethnology, and also in animal behaviour studies, zoology and biology to describe a social entity which is part of and participates in a larger social group or society....
, which might include the domus (house or home) but was legally distinct from it – a
familia might own one or several homes. All members and properties of a familia were subject to the authority of a
pater familias: his legal, social and religious position defined
familia as a microcosm of the Roman state.
In Roman law, the
potestas of the
pater familias was official but distinct from that of magistrates. Only a
Roman citizenCitizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged social status afforded to certain individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance.It is hard to offer meaningful generalities across the entire Roman period, as the nature and availability of citizenship was affected by legislation, for...
held the
statusRomans usually used the expression 'status' to describe a person's position in the legal system . The individual could be a Roman citizen unlike foreigners, or he could be free unlike slaves, or he could have a certain position in a Roman family either as head of the family , or as a lower...
of
pater familias and there could only be one holder of the office within a household. He was responsible for its well-being, reputation and legal and moral propriety. The entire
familia was expected to adhere to the core principles and laws of the
Twelve TablesThe Law of the Twelve Tables was the ancient legislation that stood at the foundation of Roman law. The Law of the Twelve Tables formed the centerpiece of the constitution of the Roman Republic and the core of the mos maiorum...
: the
pater familias had a duty to exemplify, enjoin and if necessary enforce them, so Republican law and tradition (
mos maiorum) allowed him power of life and death (
vitae necisque potestas) over his
familia. He was also obliged to observe the constraints imposed by Roman custom and law on all
potestas. His decisions should be obtained through counsel, consultation and consent within the familia – these were decisions by committee (
consilium). These family
consilia probably involved the most senior members of his own household – especially his wife – and if necessary his peers and seniors within his extended clan (
gens).
AugustusGaius Julius Caesar Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in AD 14.
[These are the contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian after 45 BC...]
' legislation on the morality of marriage co-opted the traditional
potestas of the
pater familias. Augustus was not only Rome's
princeps – he was its father (
pater patriae) and as such was responsible for the entire Roman
familia. Rome's survival required that citizens produce children. This could not left to individual conscience – the falling birthrate was a marker of degeneracy and self-indulgence, particularly among the elite who were supposed to set an example. The Augustan
Lex Julia maritandis ordinaribus compelled marriage upon men and women within specified age ranges, and remarriage on the divorced and bereaved within certain time limits. The
Lex Julia de adulteriis coercendis severely penalised adulterous wives and any husbands who tolerated such behaviour. The
Lex Papia PoppaeaThe Lex Papia Poppaea was a Roman law introduced in AD 9 to encourage and strengthen marriage. It included provisions against adultery and celibacy and complemented and supplemented Augustus' Lex Julia de Maritandis Ordinibus of 18 BC and the Lex Iulia de Adulteriis Coercendis of 17 BC. The lex...
extended and modified these laws in relation to intermarriage between social classes and inheritance. Compliance was rewarded and exceptional public duty brought exemption but dictatorial compulsion was deeply unpopular and quite impractical. The laws were later softened in theory and practise, but the Imperial
quaestio perpetuaThe Executive Magistrates of the Roman Empire were elected individuals of the ancient Roman Empire. During the transition from monarchy to republic, the constitutional balance of power shifted from the executive to the Roman Senate. During the transition from republic to empire, the constitutional...
remained. Its public magistrates now legally over-rode the traditional rights of the family
concilium and
pater familias. The principate shows a clear trend towards the erosion of individual
patria potestas and the increasing intrusion of the state into the juridical and executive independence of the
familia under its
pater.
Pater familias as priest of Familia, gens and genius
The domestic responsibilities of the
pater familias included his priestly duties (
sacra familiae) to his "household gods" (the
laresLares were ancient Roman deities protecting the house and the family, they were a form of household gods....
and penates) and the ancestral gods of his own
gensIn ancient Rome, a gens was a family or clan that shared a common name and a belief in a common ancestor...
. The latter were represented by the
di parentesParentalia was a Roman festival for the cult honour of the di/divi parentes . On the first day of the festival, the Ides of February , a Vestal Virgin performed the opening public rites for the collective Roman di parentes at the "tomb of the Vestal Tarpeia"....
as ancestral shades of the departed, and by the
geniusGenius in Roman mythology is the individual instance of a general divine nature that is present in every individual person, place or thing.-Religious context:...
cult.
Genius has been interpreted as the essential, heritable spirit (or divine essence, or soul) and generative power that suffused the
gens and each of its members. As the singular, lawful head of a family derived from a
gensIn ancient Rome, a gens was a family or clan that shared a common name and a belief in a common ancestor...
, the
pater familias embodied and expressed its
genius through his pious fulfillment of ancestral obligations. The
pater familias was therefore owed a reciprocal duty of
genius cult by his entire
familia. He in his turn conferred
genius and the duty of
sacra familiae to his children – whether by blood or by adoption.
Roman religious law defined the religious rites of
familia as
sacra privata (funded by the
familia rather than the state) and "unofficial" (not a rite of state office or magistracy). Apart from its rites of domestic worship, each family observed an internal religious calendar – the formal acceptance of infant children, coming of age, marriage, deaths and burial. In rural estates, the entire
familia would gather to offer sacrifice to the gods for the protection and fertility of fields and livestock. All such festivals and offerings were presided over by the
pater familias.
Wives
The legal
potestas of the
pater familias over his wife depended on the form of marriage contracted between them. In the Early Republic, marriage submitted a wife to her husband's control (
manus. Towards the Empire period, such forms were still contracted but a more equal relationship became the norm in both law and practise.
Women had the status of
sui iuris, being considered the beginning and the end of their family. They had legal capacity for themselves but not for others
Children
The laws of the
Twelve TablesThe Law of the Twelve Tables was the ancient legislation that stood at the foundation of Roman law. The Law of the Twelve Tables formed the centerpiece of the constitution of the Roman Republic and the core of the mos maiorum...
required the
pater familias to ensure that "obviously deformed" infants were
put to deathInfanticide is the practice of someone intentionally killing an infant. Often it is the mother who commits the act, but criminology recognizes various forms of non-maternal child murder. In many past societies, certain forms of infanticide were considered permissible...
. The survival of congenitally disabled adults - conspicuously evidenced among the elite by the partially lame Emperor Claudius - demonstrates that personal choice was exercised in the matter.
The pater familias had the power to sell his children into
slaveryThe institution of slavery in ancient Rome reduced those held to a condition of less than persons under their legal system. Stripped of many rights, including the ability to marry, slaves were the property of their owners. Over time, the rights of slaves increased, to include the ability to file...
;
Roman lawThe term Roman law denotes the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the seventh century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the official lingua franca. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence —...
provided, however, that if a child had been sold as a slave three times, he was no longer subject to
patria potestas. The
pater familias had the power to approve or reject marriages of his sons and daughters; however, an edict of the
EmperorThe Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin titles such as imperator , augustus, caesar and princeps were all associated with it...
Caesar Augustus provided that the
pater familias could not withhold that permission lightly.
The
filii familias (children of the family) could include the biological and
adopted childrenIn ancient Rome, adoption of boys was a fairly common procedure, particularly in the upper senatorial class. The need for a male heir and the expense of raising children were strong incentives to have at least one son, but not too many children. Adoption, the obvious solution, also served to...
of the paterfamilias and his siblings.
Because of their extended rights (their
longa manus, literally "long hand"), the
patres familias also had a series of extra duties: duties towards the
filii and the slaves (though some of these duties were not recognized by the original
iusJus may refer to:* Au jus, a cuisine term referring to sauce served with meat* Jump Ultimate Stars, a video game* Juridisk Selskab, a Danish student organization* Yus, a letter in the Cyrillic alphabet...
civile, but only by the
ius gentium, specially directed to foreigners, or by the
ius honorarium, the law of the
Magistratus, specially the
PraetorPraetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, either before it was mustered or more typically in the field, or an elected magistrate assigned duties that varied depending on the historical period. The...
, which emerges in a latter period of
Roman lawThe term Roman law denotes the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the seventh century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the official lingua franca. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence —...
).
Adult
filii remained under the authority of their
pater and could not themselves acquire the rights of a
pater familias while he lived. Legally, any property acquired by individual family members (whether sons, daughters or slaves) was acquired for the family estate: the
paterfamilias held sole rights to its disposal and sole responsibility for the consequences, including personal forfeiture of rights and property through debt. Those who lived in their own households at the time of the
paters death succeeded to the status of pater familias
over their respective households (pater familias sui iuris
), even if they were only in their teens. Children "emancipated" by a pater familias were effectively disinherited. Should a paterfamilias
die intestate, his children were entitled to an equal share of his estate. Where a will was left, children could contest it.
Over time, the absolute authority of the pater familias weakened, and rights that theoretically existed were no longer enforced or insisted upon. The power over life and death was abolished, the right of punishment was moderated, and the sale of children was restricted to cases of extreme necessity. Under Hadrian, a father who killed his son was stripped of citizenship and all its attendant rights, had his property confiscated and was permanently exiled.
External links
- George Long, "Patria Potestas", in William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities London, John Murray, 1875, pp. 873‑875.
- "Roman Law", in Catholic Encyclopedia New York, Robert Appleton, 1913.
- Olga Tellegen-Couper, "A Short History of Roman Law".