Roman family
Topic: The Roman Empire · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "An Empire Across Three Continents"
Meaning
In the Roman Empire most households were nuclear families: parents and their children. Adult sons did not live with their parents, and adult brothers rarely shared a home. This looks surprisingly "modern". But slaves were counted as part of the family. By the late Republic, a wife had strong property rights, though men still dominated family life.
Example
In the typical late-Republican marriage, the wife stayed outside her husband's legal authority. She kept full rights in her natal family's property (the family she was born into). The dowry went to the husband only while the marriage lasted. She remained her father's main heir, and either spouse could end the marriage simply by giving notice. Even so, marriages were arranged, wives were often beaten, and fathers had a power of life and death over their children.
Don't confuse with
- Joint family: Roman households were mostly nuclear. Adult brothers rarely lived together under one roof.