Family and Familia in Roman Law and Life
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:14th May '98
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Roman families were infinitely diverse, but the basis of Roman civil law was the familia, a strictly-defined group consisting of a head, paterfamilias, and his descendants in the male line. Recent work on the Roman family mainly ignores the familia, in favour of examining such matters as emotional relationships within families, the practical effects of control by a paterfamilias, and demographic factors producing families which did not fit the familia-pattern. This book investigates the interrelationship between family and familia, especially how families exploited the legal rules for their own ends, and disrupted the familia, by use of emancipation (release from patria potestas) and adoption. It also traces legal responses to the effects of demographic factors, which gave increased importance to maternal connections, and to social, such as the difficulties for ex-slaves in conforming to the familia-pattern. The familia as a legal institution remained virtually unchanged; nevertheless Roman family law underwent substantial changes, to meet the needs and desires of Roman society.
Gardner rescues Roman law from a narrow focus on legal rules and artificial compartmentalizing ... Her meticulous study shows how important an understanding of technical detail continues to be but it also shows how rewarding is the contextualization of such detail in Roman social attitudes and behaviour. * Beryl Rawson, Journal of Roman Studies, Vol 90 *
Each part is presented in a number of small bites, which makes the material more digestible and enhances the book's usefulness for reference. Technical terms are clearly defined, especially familia and 'family'. * Beryl Rawson, Journal of Roman Studies, Vol 90 *
the legal material studied is often difficult and complicated, and we owe Gardner thanks for working through it, teasing it out, and explicating it so well (even, at times, with humour). * Beryl Rawson, Journal of Roman Studies, Vol 90 *
an authoritative work ... useful to both Roman law scholars and social historians * Beryl Rawson, Journal of Roman Studies, Vol 90 *
Jane F Gardner's new book makes a useful addition to the growing scholarship on the Roman family ... Gardner's full treatment of emancipation, adoption, and the mother-child bond fills a significant gap in the scholarship on Roman family life ... based on legal sources, of which Gardner has a detailed and reliable grasp * Richard Saller, American Historical Review, February 2000 *
For the social historian interested in gaining broad insights into the workings of Roman family law, Gardner's book offers many valuable conclusions ... The author's grasp of the complexities of her subject matter is impressive ... Gardner's analysis of cases cited in the Digest offers insight into social realities by giving brief glimpses of real families caught up in complicated legal and personal scenarios ... historians of the Roman family will definitely wish to keep the volume in their home libraries as a reference tool. * Marily B Skinner, University of Arizona, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 10/02/99 *
ISBN: 9780198152170
Dimensions: 228mm x 144mm x 23mm
Weight: 560g
316 pages