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.

Family and Familia in Roman Law and Life

History

Gardner, Jane F.

Ancient Civilizations

Clarendon Press

"The book meets the highest standards of scholarly rigor, and treatment of disputed issues is informative without being esoteric. An excellent general survey and introduction." ―Choice
"... will be enormously useful for those interested in teaching courses on Roman women or Roman law." ―The Classical Outlook

Women in Roman Law and Society (MIDLAND BOOK)

Indiana University Press

An introduction to the various myths the Romans associated with their city, including its foundation and the work of writers such as Livy, Virgil and Ovid. Gardner examines the place of myth in the society, religion and literature of ancient Rome.

Roman Myths (The Legendary Past)

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

University of Texas Press

Being a Roman Citizen

The status of citizen was increasingly the right of the majority in the Roman empire and brought important privileges and exemption from certain forms of punishment. However, not all Roman citizens were equal; for example bastards, freed persons, women, the physically and mentally handicapped, under-25s, ex-criminals and soldiers were subject to restrictions and curtailments on their capacity to act. Being a Roman Citizen examines these forms of limitation and discrimination and thereby throws into sharper focus Roman conceptions of citizenship and society.

Routledge

Women in Roman Law and Society

The legal situation of the women of ancient Rome was extremely complex, and - since there was no sharp distinction between free woman, freedwoman and slave - the definition of their legal position is often heard. Basing her lively analysis on detailed study of literary and epigraphic material, Jane F. Gardner explores the provisions of the Roman laws as they related to women. Dr Gardner describes the ways in which the laws affected women throughout their lives - in families, as daughters, wives and parents; as heiresses and testators; as owners and controllers of property; and as workers. She looks with particular attention at the ways in which the strict letter of the law came to be modified, softened, circumvented, and even changed, pointing out that the laws themselves tell us as much about the economic situation of women and the range of opportunities available to them outside the home.

Reference

Leadership and the Cult of the Personality: The Ancient World: Source Books

Americas

Edgar Kent

The Roman Household: A Sourcebook (Routledge Sourcebooks for the Ancient World)

With the help of a wide variety of source material, particularly legal documents and inscriptions, some of it made available for the first time in English, this book illustrates the activities associated with the household, demonstrating the different and frequently conflicting roles and moral values expected from its various members: male and female, old and young, freedman and slave.

The Roman Household (Routledge Sourcebooks for the Ancient World)

WIEDEMANN, Thomas

Parenting & Relationships

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