num_pages: 320
description: Ancient Roman families were very diverse, of course, but the basis of Roman civil law was the familia , a strictly defined group consisting of a head, called a paterfamilias , and his descendants in the male line. Recent work on the Roman family mainly ignores the familia , examining instead such matters as emotional relationships within families, the practical effects of control by a paterfamilias , and demographic factors producing families which did not fit the familia pattern. Gardner investigates the complex relationship that existed between family and familia , illustrating in particular how families exploited the legal rules for their own ends--and disrupted the familia --by use of emancipation (release from patria potestas ) and adoption. She also traces legal responses to the effects of verious demographic factors, which gave increased importance to maternal connections, and to social effects, such as the troubles ex-slaves faced in conforming to the familia pattern.
language: English
title: Family and Familia in Roman Law and Life
titlecomplete: Family and Familia in Roman Law and Life
ratings_count: 3
publisher: Clarendon Press