Humanities

What is pater familia? »Its definition and meaning

Anonim

The pater de familia was, in ancient Rome, that person or individual who had the power and legal domain of the home and of each of the members that made it up. This person, immersed in a very typical patriarchal society of ancient times, was the one who worked in order to maintain his home and defend it from whatever was necessary, that is to say, he was that fundamental piece on which every family was sustained. He was the one who had the responsibility of governing it in the most appropriate way according to their interests, but not only of the family unit itself but of the gens to which they belonged and which were related by sacred bonds.

The pater de familia was the figure with the highest authority in the family due to the power granted called "patria potestas", which means parental authority, a power that shows that this character is the law within the family and that each and every one of the members owe him homage and obedience in his decisions. Parental authority, in addition to being a legal fact, was considered sacred by the Romans since, like everything in Ancient Rome, it was part of the tradition.

And in part it was thanks to this that the pater de familia had legal power over all members of his family, in addition to the power granted to him by being his sole economic maintainer and representatives in front of the different political entities in Rome. But the important law of the XII tables also attributed to the pater the power of life or death or "vitae necisque potestas", over his children, wife and slaves who were under his authority.