Roman Family Law and Traditions

Roman Law One of the greatest legacies of Rome is their legal system. The development of Roman law began with the Twelve Tables in the mid-fifth century B.C. During a period of over 1000 years, the Roman jurists created a rich literature about all aspects of law: property, marriage, guardianship and family, contracts, theft, and inheritance. Roman law laid the foundations for much of Western civil and criminal law. The Roman Family The family came first for the Romans, before all other obligations; such as, civil, politic, and military obligations. The family was the vehicle for transmission of moral character. The institution of the Roman family was strengthened by a healthiness, a solidarity, and a spirit of uprightness and self-restraint superior to that of perhaps all other ancient peoples. Roman families were very diverse. The Basis of Roman civil law was the familia, a group consisting of a head, the paterfamilias, and his descendants in the male line. Free members and slaves, all under the guardianship and control of the paterfamilias, were also part of the familia. Free members were the wives, unmarried children (biological and adopted) and other dependents. The members of the familia had no voice in the Curiae, yet they were subject to its decisions and laws, as well as to the decisions made on the family level by the patriarch.