A Casebook on Roman Family Law

by Frier, Bruce W.; McGinn, Thomas A. J.; Lidov, Joel

• ISBN13: 9780195161854
• ISBN10: 0195161858
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-11-06
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The Roman household (familia) was in many respects dramatically different from the modern family. From the early Roman Empire (30 B.C. to about A.D. 250) there survive many legal sources that describe Roman households, often in the most intimate detail. The subject matter of these ancientsources includes marriage and divorce, the property aspects of marriage, the pattern of authority within households, the transmission of property between generations, and the supervision of Roman orphans. This casebook presents 235 representative texts drawn largely from Roman legal sources, especially Justinian's Digest. These cases and the discussion questions that follow provide a good introduction to the basic legal problems associated with the ordinary families of Roman citizens. Thearrangement of materials conveys to students an understanding of the basic rules of Roman family law while also providing them with the means to question these rules and explore the broader legal principles that underlie them. Included cases invite the reader to wrestle with actual Roman legal problems, as well as to think about Roman solutions in relation to modern law. In the process, the reader should gain confidence in handling fundamental forms of legal thinking, which have persisted virtually unchanged from Romantimes until the present. This volume also contains a glossary of technical terms, biographies of the jurists, basic bibliographies of useful secondary literature, and a detailed introduction to the scholarly topics associated with Roman family law. A course based on this casebook should be of interest to anyone who wishes to understand better Roman social history, either as part of a larger Classical Civilization curriculum or as a preparation for law school.

Author Biography

Bruce W. Frier is Professor of Classics and Roman Law at the University of Michigan. Thomas A.J. McGinn is Associate Professor of Classical Studies at Vanderbilt University.

Table of Contents

Major Jurists Cited in This Casebook	xxi
Introduction to Roman Family Law	3	(9)
Chapter I. Basic Concepts
Case 1: Freedom, Citizenship, and Household	12	(2)
Case 2: Slavery and Freedom	14	(2)
Case 3: Agnatic Relationship	16	(2)
Case 4: The Household (Familia) and the Pater Familias	18	(3)
Case 5: Sui Iuris and Alieni Iuris	21	(2)
Case 6: The Age of Majority	23	(4)
Chapter II. Marriage
Part A. Getting Married
Section 1. Capacity to Marry
Case 7: Less Than Minimum Age	27	(2)
Case 8: The Ability to Procreate	29	(2)
Case 9: Conubium	31	(3)
Case 10: Legal Impediments	34	(2)
Case 11: Incestuous Marriage	36	(3)
Case 12: Incentives to Marry and Reproduce	39	(2)
Section 2. Agreement and Marital Affection
Case 13: The Requirement of Agreement	41	(2)
Case 14: A Freedwoman's Agreement	43	(2)
Case 15: Not Standing on Ceremony	45	(2)
Case 16: What the Neighbors Know	47	(2)
Case 17: Marital Affection	49	(2)
Case 18: A Wife or a Concubine?	51	(3)
Section 3. Ceremony?
Case 19: An Archaic Wedding Ceremony	54	(2)
Case 20: Leading a Bride into the Home	56	(2)
Case 21: The Significance of Ceremony	58	(2)
Case 22: Cohabitation and Marriage	60	(2)
Case 23: The Man Who Died beside the Tiber	62	(3)
Part B. Further Aspects of the Marriage Process
Section 1. Betrothal
Case 24: Arranging a Betrothal	65	(2)
Case 25: Agreement to Betrothal	67	(1)
Case 26: Betrothal and Marriage	68	(2)
Case 27: An Affront to the Fiancée	70	(1)
Case 28: Jilting Your Intended	71	(1)
Section 2. Dowry
Case 29: Marriage, Dowry, and Public Policy	72	(3)
Case 30: Giving the Dowry	75	(3)
Case 31: The Bride Gets Cold Feet	78	(1)
Case 32: The Duty to Provide a Dowry	79	(2)
Case 33: Appropriate Dowries	81	(2)
Case 34: The "Dowered" Wife	83	(1)
Case 35: The Burdens of Marriage	84	(1)
Case 36: Appraising the Dowry	85	(4)
Part C. The Marital Regime
Section 1. Manus Marriage
Case 37: Filiae Loco	89	(2)
Case 38: The Wife s Property	91	(2)
Case 39: Acquisitions by a Wife in Manus	93	(1)
Case 40: Can a Wife in Manus Divorce?	94	(2)
Section 2. Relations between Spouses
Case 41: Free Marriage: The Principle of Noninterference	96	(1)
Case 42: Sharing Status	97	(2)
Case 43: Showing Reverence	99	(1)
Case 44: An Affront to a Spouse	100	(1)
Case 45: No Infamy	101	(3)
Section 3. Procreation and Sexual Fidelity
Case 46: An Unknown Son	104	(1)
Case 47: Notice of Pregnancy	105	(3)
Case 48: Protecting the Unborn Child	108	(1)
Case 49: Custody of Children	109	(1)
Case 50: Adultery and Marriage	110	(2)
Case 51: Killing the Adulterer ...	112	(2)
Case 52: ... But Not His Own Wife	114	(2)
Case 53: Pandering	116	(2)
Case 54: The Necessity of Divorce	118	(2)
Case 55: A Double Standard?	120	(2)
Section 4. The Property of the Spouses
Case 56: Separate Estates	122	(2)
Case 57: Managing His Wife's Property	124	(1)
Case 58: What the Woman Brings with Her	125	(2)
Case 59: Q. Mucius's Presumption	127	(1)
Case 60: Maintenance	128	(2)
Case 61: No Gifts	130	(3)
Case 62: A Fake Sale	133	(1)
Case 63: Making Clothes	134	(1)
Case 64: Exceptions	135	(2)
Case 65: Severan Reforms	137	(3)
Section 5. Administering the Dowry
Case 66: Equitable Ownership?	140	(3)
Case 67: Fruits and Capital Gains	143	(2)
Case 68: A Dowry Allowance to the Wife	145	(2)
Case 69: Tying the Dowry to the Wife's Maintenance	147	(2)
Case 70: Diligence	149	(2)
Case 71: Necessary Expenses	151	(2)
Case 72: Statutory Limits on a Husbands Power	153	(3)
Part D. The End of Marriage
Section 1. Captivity, Deportation, and Divorce
Case 73: Captured	156	(2)
Case 74: A Daughter Is Deported	158	(2)
Case 75: Free Divorce	160	(1)
Case 76: Divorce by Remarriage?	161	(2)
Case 77: The Mental Element	163	(1)
Case 78: Formal Requirements?	164	(3)
Case 79: Free-Form Divorce	167	(2)
Case 80: Amicable Divorce	169	(1)
Section 2. Return of the Dowry
Case 81: A Wife Dies	170	(3)
Case 82: Divorce and the Dowry	173	(1)
Case 83: Retention on Moral Grounds	174	(3)
Case 84: Retaining Necessary Expenses	177	(2)
Case 85: Reducing the Dowry by Law	179	(2)
Case 86: Useful Expenses	181	(2)
Case 87: Opening a Quarry	183	(2)
Case 88: Luxury Expenses	185	(1)
Case 89: Gains Gracchus and Licinia's Dowry	186	(7)
Chapter III: Patria Potestas
Part A. Powers
Section 1. The Power of Life and Death
Case 90: The Consilium I: Almost the Entire Senate	193	(3)
Case 91: The Consilium II: The Quality of Mercy	196	(3)
Case 92: A Hunting Accident?	199	(3)
Case 93: Disciplining a Troublesome Son	202	(2)
Case 94: An Offense Related to Public Pietas	204	(1)
Case 95: An Adulterous Daughter	205	(2)
Case 96: Limitations on Killing a Daughter	207	(3)
Case 97: A Son and the State	210	(2)
Section 2. Consent to Marriage
Case 98: Who Consents	212	(2)
Case 99: Compelling a Child's Consent	214	(1)
Case 100: A Fathers Consent	215	(3)
Case 101: Impaired Consent: Madness	218	(1)
Case 102: Impaired Consent: Captivity	219	(2)
Case 103: Parental Consent and Public Policy	221	(1)
Case 104: Divorce: The Emperor Pius Intervenes	222	(1)
Case 105: A Father Changes His Mind	223	(1)
Case 106: Disposition of Gifts	224	(2)
Case 107: Breaking Up Is Hard to Do	226	(3)
Section 3. Custody and Maintenance
Case 108: Stealing a Child	229	(1)
Case 109: Mother versus Father	230	(1)
Case 110: Deciding on Custody	231	(3)
Case 111: Self-Custody	234	(1)
Case 112: Maintenance of Relatives	235	(5)
Part B. Property and Obligations
Section 1. Acquiring for the Pater Familias
Case 113: Owning and Possessing Nothing	240	(1)
Case 114: Through Whom Do We Acquire?	241	(3)
Case 115: Ownership and Possession	244	(2)
Case 116: The Fathers Knowledge	246	(2)
Case 117: Acquiring a Debt	248	(3)
Section 2. Obligating the Pater Familias
Case 118: The Uniqueness of the Son-In-Power	251	(2)
Case 119: As Though He Were a Pater Familias	253	(1)
Case 120: Suing the Son	254	(1)
Case 121: The Fathers Order	255	(1)
Case 122: Turned to the Father's Benefit	256	(2)
Case 123: Obtaining a Daughters Dowry	258	(2)
Case 124: Business Managers	260	(5)
Section 3. The Peculium
Case 125: The Nature of the Fund	265	(2)
Case 126: The Contents of a Peculium	267	(2)
Case 127: Constituting a Peculium	269	(2)
Case 128: Slave Women and Daughters	271	(1)
Case 129: Acquiring Property	272	(2)
Case 130: Free Administration	274	(3)
Case 131: Gifts from a Peculium	277	(1)
Case 132: Lending Money	278	(2)
Case 133: Defending the Peculium	280	(2)
Case 134: Computing the Balance	282	(3)
Case 135: Deductions from the Peculium	285	(3)
Case 136: The Deceitful Pater	288	(1)
Case 137: Alternative Remedies	289	(1)
Case 138: The Camp Peculium	290	(2)
Section 4. Liability for Wrongful Acts
Case 139: Noxal Actions	292	(2)
Case 140: Liability and Status	294	(1)
Case 141: Defending the Son	295	(1)
Case 142: Wrongs against Children-in-Power	296	(2)
Part C. Creation and Termination
Section 1. Birth
Case 143: Paternal Power and Status	298	(1)
Case 144: Presuming a Father	299	(1)
Case 145: Periods of Gestation	300	(2)
Case 146: Strange Bedfellows?	302	(1)
Case 147: A Divorced Wife Takes Vengeance	303	(1)
Section 2. Adrogation and Adoption
Case 148: Adrogation	304	(2)
Case 149: The Adoption Process	306	(3)
Case 150: Age Requirements	309	(1)
Case 151: Family Ties	310	(1)
Case 152: Adoption and Adrogation of Women	311	(1)
Case 153: Adoption by Women	312	(1)
Case 154: The Imitation of Nature	313	(2)
Section 3. Emancipation
Case 155: The Decision to Emancipate	315	(2)
Case 156: Study Abroad	317	(1)
Case 157: Emancipated versus Freed	318	(1)
Case 158: The State Intervenes	319	(4)
Chapter IV Succession
Part A. Intestate Succession
Section 1. Civil and Praetorian Law
Case 159: Rules of the Ius Civile	323	(3)
Case 160: An Unwilling Heir	326	(2)
Case 161: The Praetors Rules	328	(2)
Case 162: Emancipated and Disinherited	330	(1)
Case 163: A Legal Puzzler	331	(2)
Case 164: The Third Praetorian Class (Unde Cognati)	333	(1)
Case 165: Illegitimate Children	334	(1)
Case 166: Son-in-Power as Cognate	335	(2)
Case 167: Husbands and Wives	337	(2)
Section 2. The Senatusconsulta Tertullianum et Orphitianum
Case 168: Mothers Inherit from Children	339	(1)
Case 169: Children Inherit from Mothers	340	(1)
Case 170: Disqualifications	341	(3)
Part B. Heirs and the Will
Section 1. Freedom of Testation and Substitution
Case 171: The Mancipatory Will	344	(3)
Case 172: Common Substitution	347	(1)
Case 173: Pupillary Substitution	348	(1)
Case 174: The Causa Curiana	349	(2)
Case 175: Who's on First?	351	(1)
Case 176: Two Wills	352	(1)
Section 2. The Sui Heredes
Case 177: Privileged Heirs	353	(1)
Case 178: Defective Wills	354	(2)
Case 179: Name Games	356	(2)
Case 180: Disinheritance as an Advantage	358	(1)
Case 181: Partial Disinheritance	359	(1)
Case 182: Providing for Postumi	360	(1)
Case 183: Postumi and the (Un)married Man	361	(2)
Case 184: Subfecundity	363	(2)
Case 185: Twins	365	(2)
Section 3. Bonorum Possessio against the Terms of a Will
Case 186: The Challenge of the Emancipates	367	(2)
Case 187: Adopted Children	369	(2)
Case 188: Passing Over Sui Heredes	371	(2)
Case 189: The Son of an Adopted Child	373	(2)
Case 190: Adopting a Son as a Grandson	375	(1)
Case 191: Adopting a Grandson as a Son	376	(1)
Section 4. The Undutiful Will
Case 192: Complaints about the Will	377	(1)
Case 193: Duty and Sanity	378	(1)
Case 194: Evil Stepmothers	379	(2)
Case 195: A Mother's Mistake	381	(2)
Case 196: Multiple Claims	383	(1)
Case 197: Procedural Alternatives	384	(3)
Part C. Bequests to Nonheirs
Section 1. Legacies
Case 198: The Lex Falcidia	387	(2)
Case 199: Legacy of a Dowry	389	(1)
Case 200: Legacy in Place of a Dowry	390	(2)
Case 201: Generic Legacies	392	(2)
Case 202: Things Acquired for a Wife	394	(3)
Case 203: Legacy of a Usufruct	397	(3)
Case 204: Legacy of a Peculium	400	(2)
Case 205: Release from Liability	402	(2)
Section 2. Fideicommissa
Case 206: Inheritance by Another Name?	404	(2)
Case 207: Fideicommissum or Not?	406	(2)
Case 208: The Gargilian Farm	408	(2)
Case 209: Legacy and Fideicommissum	410	(2)
Case 210: Bad Blood	412	(1)
Section 3. Gifts Mortis Causa
Case 211: Motives and Reasons	413	(3)
Case 212: Just Like a Legacy	416	(2)
Appendix: A Specimen Roman Will	418	(7)
Chapter V. Tutelage and the Status of Children and Women
Part A. Children, Young Adults, Lunatics, and Spendthrifts
Section 1. The Tutelage of Children
Case 213: Defining Tutelage	425	(1)
Case 214: Appointing a Tutor	426	(2)
Case 215: The Tutor as Owner	428	(2)
Case 216: Authorization	430	(2)
Case 217: Welfare of the Child	432	(2)
Case 218: Pitfalls of Tutelage	434	(3)
Case 219: Liability for Alienating Property	437	(1)
Section 2. Curatorship of Young Adults
Case 220: Making Whole: Restitutio in Integrum	438	(3)
Case 221: The Appointment of a Curator	441	(2)
Case 222: Paying a Debt	443	(2)
Section 3. Curatorship of Lunatics and Prodigals
Case 223: Parting Lunatics and Prodigals from Their Property	445	(2)
Case 224: A Worried Mother	447	(3)
Part B. The Status of Women
Section 1. The Permanent Tutelage of Women
Case 225: The Weaker Sex?	450	(3)
Case 226: The Tutor's Authorization	453	(1)
Case 227: Escaping a Tutor	454	(1)
Case 228: Women's Wills	455	(2)
Section 2. Women's Public Position
Case 229: Where the Boys Are	457	(3)
Case 230: Order 1n the Court	460	(1)
Case 231: Male Jobs	461	(2)
Case 232: Ignorance of the Law	463	(1)
Case 233: The Credit of Women	464	(3)
Case 234: Protecting Women in Financial Matters	467	(1)
Case 235: Sexual Harassment	468	(3)
Appendix: Biographies of the Major Roman Jurists	471	(8)
Glossary of Technical Terms	479	(10)
Suggested Further Reading	489	(2)
Bibliography on the Roman Family	491	(4)
Index of Sources	495