THE POWER OF PATER FAMILIAS IN ROMAN LAW

Abstract

In Roman law, the notion of „family” did not have the meaning we attribute today, a form of human community, but had a meaning that denoted the totality of slaves that were owned by a person or the totality of people and goods that were under the same person's power head of family. The head of the family was designated pater familias and exercised sole authority over all family members, but also over all their property. In the primitive conception, the family was made up of the wife of pater familias, the sons and daughters born of the marriage, the grandsons of the sons (not the grandsons of the daughters), but also the slaves and persons in mancipio, as well as all the goods possessed by the head of the family. Considering the fact that the family also had the meaning of assets owned by the head of the family, we specify that a child could also become pater familias, in which case the family was made up of the assets owned. Thus, within the Roman family, the pater familias was sui iuris, having full legal capacity, and all other persons under his power were alieni iuris, having limited legal capacity. Specific to the notion of parental power in Roman law is the fact that, as we will analyse in the present study, it was not exercised in the interest of the children, as prevails in modern law, but in the interest of the head of the family, which is why it did not end until his death, regardless of the age of the family son and his social position. Parental power named patria potestas was perpetual and unlimited.

Keywords

• pater familias
• sui iuris
• alieni iuris
• perpetual
• unlimited