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Roman Family
The father in the Roman family (paterfamilias) exercised absolute and
lifelong power over all other family members (patria potestas): his
wife, children, and slaves. If the father's father was alive - then he
was the supreme authority in the household. Fathers were even allowed
to execute their grown sons for serious offenses like treason.
Each house maintained a cult of ancestors and hearth gods and the
paterfamilias was its priest. The family was thought to posses a
"genius" (gens) - an inner spirit - passed down the generations. The
living and the dead members of the family shared the gens and were
bound by it.
Legitimate offspring belonged to the father's family. The father
retained custody if the couple (rarely) divorced exclusively at the
husband's initiative. The father had the right to disown a newborn -
usually deformed boys or girls. This led to a severe shortage of women
in Rome.
The father of the bride had to pay a sizable dowry to the family of
the groom, thus impoverishing the other members of the family.
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