The Roman Family Roman Family Life Rome during

The Roman Family

Roman Family Life Rome during the time of its expansion was essentially run by a few powerful and rich families. The network was not completely closed to outsiders, but it certainly safeguarded the privileges and wealth of Rome’s illustrious families like the Julians, the Claudians, or the Aemilii. As Rome expanded so did the network of wealth and privilege, but it never extended as far as involving the masses of the Roman Republic and later Empire. A system of patronage operated where the rich and prominent offered protection to lower class Romans in exchange for votes.

What is wrong with the outfit?

The Right Outfit

The Roman Family Paterfamilias: Originally a land-owner, leader of the family, and usually the oldest male. He had rights of live and death over the members of his family. The Roman matrona: respectable (at least in theory) Like the Greek oikos, the Roman family encompassed other relatives (e. g. grandparents, single or widowed women), and slaves. The family dynamics are not very dissimilar from those of the Greek family, but there are differences. Roman women could and did participate in parties and symposia, they were more vain and money/power was more important to them than it was for Greek women.

Paterfamilias and adult son

The morals According to Juvenal, adultery was rife and the morals of the upper classes very loose. Upper class women are accused of sleeping even with gladiators and robust slaves. Childbirth was not high in their list of priorities, and this is why Seneca, for example, is praising his mother for accepting the damage of childbirth on the body and not preferring vanity as the virtuous thing to do. Marriages among the upper classes were often conducted with a view to political alliances.

The Gladiators

The Decadence

The Augustan legislation trying to strengthen family life Augustus and many emperors afterwards were worried about the numbers of Roman citizens. Rome needed men to lead the empire and those should come from the good families of the empire. Adoption to some degree compensated, but still Rome needed to preserve the family structure which had let to its greatness, or that was theory, at least. A moralizing propaganda was created by Augustus, intended to promote allegedly traditional ideals of the Roman family.

The main laws Lex Iulia de Maritandis Ordinibus (18 BC), Limited marriage across social class boundaries Lex Iulia de Adulteriis Coercendis (17 BC). This law punished adultery with banishment. The two guilty parties were sent to different islands, and part of their property was confiscated. Fathers were permitted to kill daughters and their partners in adultery. Husbands could kill the partners under certain circumstances and were required to divorce adulterous wives. Lex Papia Poppaea (9 CE) (to encourage and strengthen marriage) is usually seen as an integral part of Augustus' Julian Laws. The Lex Papia Poppaea also explicitly promoted offspring (within lawful marriage), thus also discriminating against celibacy. This legislation contributed to a change in morality during the first century, which with the intervention of Christianity has had immense influence upon our civilization.