The pater familias was the highest ranking male in a Roman household. The word is Latin for "father of the family." The form is irregular and archaic in Latin, preserving the old genitive ending in -as; see Latin declension. Nickname: The Eternal City Motto: SPQR: Senatus PopulusQue Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area    - City 1285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... In language, an archaism is the deliberate use of an older form that has fallen out of current use. ... The genitive case is a grammatical case that indicates a relationship, primarily one of possession, between the noun in the genitive case and another noun. ... Latin is an inflected language, and as such its nouns, pronouns, and adjectives must be declined in order to serve a grammatical function. ...

The power held by the pater familias was called patria potestas, "paternal power." Potestas is distinct from auctoritas, also held by the pater. Under the laws of the Twelve Tables, the pater familias had vitae necisque potestas—the "power of life and death"—over his children, his wife (in some cases), and his slaves, all of whom were said to be sub manu, "under his hand." For a slave to become a freedman, he would have to be delivered "out of the hand" of the pater familias, hence the terms manumissio and emancipatio. At law, at any rate, his word was absolute and final. If a child was unwanted, under the Roman Republic the pater familias had the power to order the child put to death by exposure. Auctoritas is the Latin origin of English authority. According to Benveniste [citation?], auctor (which also gives us English author) is derived from Latin augeó (to augment): The auctor is is qui auget, the one who augments the act or the juridical situation of another. ... Ordinary Magistrates Extraordinary Magistrates Dictator Titles and Honors Emperor Politics and Law The Law of the Twelve Tables (Lex Duodecim Tabularum, more informally simply Duodecim Tabulae) was the ancient legislation that stood at the foundation of Roman law. ... The Buxton Memorial Fountain, celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, London. ... A freedman is a former slave who has been manumitted or emancipated. ... Manumission is the act of freeing a slave, done at the will of the owner. ... Look up emancipation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ...

He had the power to sell his children into slavery; Roman law provided, however, that if a child has been sold as a slave three times, he is no longer subject to the patria potestas. The pater familias has the power to approve or reject marriages of his sons and daughters; however, an edict of the Emperor Caesar Augustus provided that the pater familias could not withhold that permission lightly. The Buxton Memorial Fountain, celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, London. ... Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The famous statue of Octavian at the Prima Porta Caesar Augustus (Latin:IMP·CAESAR·DIVI·F·AVGVSTVS) ¹ (23 September 63 BC–19 August AD 14), known to modern historians as Octavian for the period of his life prior to 27 BC, is considered the first and one of the most...

Only a Roman citizen could enjoy the status of pater familias. There could only be one holder of the office within a household. Even male adult children remained under the authority of their fathers while he still lived, and could not acquire the rights of a pater familias while he was yet alive; at least in legal theory, all their property was acquired on behalf of their fathers, and he, not they, had ultimate authority to dispose of it. Those who lived in their own households at the time of the father's death succeeded to the status of pater familias over their respective households.

Over time, the absolute authority of the pater familias tended to be weakened, and rights that theoretically existed were no longer enforced or insisted upon.

Later usage

The word gained some modern recognition when George Clooney's character in [[O Br George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an Academy Award- and two-time Golden Globe winning American actor, director, producer and screenwriter, known for his role in the first five seasons of the long-running television drama ER (1994–99), and his rise as an A-List movie star...

See also

• Auctoritas
• Honor killing
• Potestas
• Roman law