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 Romes illustrious families like the ID: 392248
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Slide1
The Roman FamilySlide2
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. Slide3
What is wrong with the outfit?Slide4
The Right OutfitSlide5
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. Slide6
Paterfamilias and adult sonSlide7
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. Slide8
The GladiatorsSlide9
The DecadenceSlide10
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 the theory, at least.
A moralizing propaganda was created by Augustus, intended to promote allegedly traditional ideals of the Roman family.Slide11
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.