'The Roman Family' in Recent Research: State of the Question

Rawson, Beryl

doi:10.1163/156851503765661249

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Beryl Rawson, who pioneered this change, recently described the result as "a revision of the stern paterfamilias stereotype." 73 By 1991, Evans, after examining the evidence, could state, For all intents and purposes, then, whether or not a parent was formally prohibited at law from involving the ius vitae et necis except ex iusta causa, the force of public opinion certainly would have discouraged most people from using this awesome power lightly. 74 Suzanne Dixon, another first-wave Roman social historian to abandon accepted doctrine, echoed the cautions of Roman law specialists against reading Roman law as if it were social history: "[T]he law tells only part of the story."…”

Section: Social Historians Abandon Accepted Doctrinementioning

confidence: 99%

Was Ancient Rome a Dead Wives Society? What did the Roman Paterfamilias Get Away With?

Thompson

2006

Journal of Family History

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Until recently, descriptions of the Roman family routinely attributed to the head of household the right of life and death over his wife, children of any age, and slaves, and assumed he exercised it. Challenges to this position by Roman law specialists have gradually affected the way this right and its exercise are described by historians of the family. This article surveys these challenges, tracks their uptake by historians of the family, and notes the emerging consensus answer to the question What did the Roman father get by with? Relevant ancient sources are quoted and placed in context, and previously unexamined evidence from Roman playwrights and satirists is offered to support the emerging consensus answer, which is that he did not get away with murder.The Roman head of household, known as the paterfamilias (compounded of pater and the old genitive form of familia), meaning "father of a family or household," possessed an authority that ancient and contemporary historians have considered unique. It was known as patria potestas, meaning "legal authority (or power) of the head of household," and it constituted a collection of powers and responsibilities in three welldefined areas: household religious observance, rights over household property, and rights over the persons of household members. Twentieth-century accounts of Roman law during its classical period (second century B.C.E. to second century C.E.) typically provide the following profile: potestas over household religious observance made the paterfamilias responsible for its appropriate conduct; potestas over all household 3 Steven Thompson received his Ph.D. in New Testament from the University of St. Andrews in 1976. Since 1991, he has been senior lecturer in biblical studies at Avondale College, Cooranbong, Australia. His first book, The Apocalypse and Semitic Syntax (1985), has just been reissued in paperback by Cambridge University Press. He is finishing a commentary on the New Testament epistles of John that focuses on their "family" rhetoric, and has commenced writing a book on attitudes and beliefs about wine and drinking in the Greco-Roman world.

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Section: Social Historians Abandon Accepted Doctrinementioning

confidence: 99%

Was Ancient Rome a Dead Wives Society? What did the Roman Paterfamilias Get Away With?

Thompson

2006

Journal of Family History

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“… 6 e.g. Rawson 2003a; 2003b; McWilliam 2001; Harlow and Laurence 2002; Revell 2005; Harlow et al . 2007; Laes 2004; 2007; Crummy 2010; Mander 2013.…”

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Listening to the Kids: The Value of Childhood Palaeopathology for the Study of Rural Roman Britain

Rohnbogner

2017

Britannia

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Childhood palaeopathology remains an underutilised resource in the study of Roman Britain, particularly for exploring the lives of the rural population. Lesions in child skeletons provide unique insights into past lifeways and population health, as adverse environmental conditions translate more readily into the osteological record of these vulnerable members of society. To demonstrate the range of information gleaned from the children, 1,279 non-adults (0-17 years) from 26 first-to fifth-century urban and rural settlements were analysed, comparing morbidity and mortality in the most comprehensive study to date. The distribution of ages-atdeath suggests migration between country and town, the latter presenting a stressful and unsanitary environment. However, as demonstrated by high rates of metabolic disease and infections, life in the countryside was hampered by demanding physical labour and potentially oppressive conditions with restricted access to resources. stress; Roman rural settlement INTRUCTION: ROMANO-BRITISH CHILDHOODHuman skeletal remains present the most direct form of evidence for studying past populations. Numerous palaeopathological studies of Romano-British adults have provided insight into population health, diet and lifeways, albeit with a bias towards urban cemeteries. 1 More recently, several studies have reported on health in both urban and rural contexts, yet the children did not receive emphasis. 2 Roman archaeology is no different from other branches of the discipline in its research concerns, therefore the childhood experience has not yet fully evolved as a dedicated subject in Roman scholarship. While stable isotope analysis of Romano-British children has received considerable attention, 3 the actual health status of children remains relatively unexplored and a comprehensive picture of growing up in Roman Britain is still lacking. As children are growing, they reflect adverse environmental conditions more readily than their parents. 4 Child health is therefore a very powerful indicator of overall population health and dynamics, making non-adult (0-17 years) palaeopathology a primary source of evidence for past lifestyles and living environments.The osteological term 'non-adult' is not without problems but allows us to label, observe and discuss immature individuals in the past without involuntarily attaching social age norms. 5The cut-off age of 17 years is a product of the most accurate osteological ageing methods used and allows comparison between bioarchaeological datasets. Alongside age-at-death, a range of acquired conditions of ill-health can be observed in non-adult skeletons, which can provide information regarding cultural change, environmental pressures and life histories. The classical literature on Romano-British children is limited and, as so often in the study of Romano-British lifeways, we are forced to look to Rome for analogies and guidance. The classical literature, epigraphic and iconographic references provide a wealth of information on the Roman childhood experience...

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“…2. Several publications have already resulted from the work of the group including Moxnes 2003;Rawson 2003, D'Angelo 2003Osiek 2003;Elliott 2003;Destro and Pesce 2003;Levine 2003;Krawiec and Jacobs 2003;Krawiec 2003;Jacobs 2003. …”

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confidence: 99%