Contents

Major Jurists Cited in This Casebook xxi

Introduction to Roman Family Law 3

Chapter I.

Case 1: Freedom, Citizenship, and Household 12

Case 2: Slavery and Freedom 14

Case 3: Agnatic Relationship 16

Case 4: The Household (Familia) and the Pater Familias 18

Case 5: Sui luris and Alieni luris 21

size=1 color=black face="Book Antiqua">Case 6: The Age of Majority 23

Chapter II. Marriage

Part A. Getting Married

Section 1. Capacity to Marry

Case 7: Less Than Minimum Age 27

Case 8: The Ability to Procreate 29

Case 9: Conubium 31

Case 10: Legal Impediments 34

Case 11: Incestuous Marriage 36

Case 12: Incentives to Marry and Reproduce 39

Section 2. Agreement and Marital Affection

Case 13: The Requirement of Agreement 41

Case 14: A Freedwoman’s Agreement 43

Case 15: Not Standing on Ceremony 45

Case 16: What the Neighbors Know 47

Case 17: Marital Affection 49

Case 18: A Wife or a Concubine? 51

Section 3.

Case 19: An Archaic Wedding Ceremony 54

Case 20: Leading a Bride into the Home 56

Case 21: The Significance of Ceremony 58

Case 22: Cohabitation and Marriage 60

Case 23: The Man Who Died beside the Tiber 62

Part B. Further Aspects of the Marriage Process

Section 1. Betrothal

Case 24: Arranging a Betrothal 65

Case 25: Agreement to Betrothal 67

Case 26: Betrothal and Marriage 68

Case 27: An Affront to the Fiancee 70

Case 28: Jilting Your Intended 71 Section 2. Dowry

Case 29: Marriage, Dowry, and Public Policy 72

style='font-size:8.0pt'>Case 30: Giving the Dowry 75

Case 31: The Bride Gets Cold Feet 78

Case 32: The Duty to Provide a Dowry 79

Case 33: Appropriate Dowries 81

Case 34: The “Dowered” Wife 83

Case 35: The Burdens of Marriage 84

Case 36: Appraising the Dowry 85

Part C.

Section 1. Manus Marriage

Case 37: Filiae Loco 89

Case 38: The Wife's Property 91

Case 39: Acquisitions by a Wife in Manus 93

Case 40: Can a Wife in Manus Divorce? 94

Section 2. Relations between Spouses

Case 41: Free Marriage: The Principle of Noninterference 96

Case 42: Sharing Status 97

Case 43: Showing Reverence 99

Case 44: An Affront to a Spouse 100

Case 45: No Infamy 101

Section 3. Procreation and Sexual Fidelity

Case 46: An Unknown Son 104

Case 47: Notice of Pregnancy 105

Case 48: Protecting the Unborn Child 108

Case 49: Custody of Children 109

Case 50: Adultery and Marriage 110

Case 51: Killing the Adulterer... 112

Case 52:... But Not His Own Wife 114

Case 53: Pandering 116

Case 54: The Necessity of Divorce 118

Case 55: A Double Standard? 120

Antiqua">Section 4.

Case 56: Separate Estates 122

Case 57: Managing His Wife's Property 124

Case 58: What the Woman Brings with Her 125

Case 59: Q. Mucius's Presumption 127

Case 60: Maintenance 128

Case 61: No Gifts 130

Case 62: A Fake Sale 133

Case 63: Making Clothes 134

Case 64: Exceptions 135

Case 65: Severan Reforms 137

Section 5. Administering the Dowry

Case 66: Equitable Ownership? 140

Case 67: Fruits and Capital Gains 143

Case 68: A Dowry Allowance to the Wife 145

Case 69: Tying the Dowry to the Wife's Maintenance 147

Case 70: Diligence 149

Case 71: Necessary Expenses 151

Case 72: Statutory Limits on a Husbands Power 153

Part D. The End of Marriage

Section 1. Captivity, Deportation, and Divorce

Case 73: Captured 156

Case 74: A Daughter Is Deported 158

Case 75: Free Divorce 160

Case 76: Divorce by Remarriage? 161

Case 77: The Mental Element 163

Case 78: Formal Requirements? 164

Case 79: Free-Form Divorce 167

Case 80: Amicable Divorce 169

Section 2.

Case 81: A Wife Dies 170

Case 82: Divorce and the Dowry 173

Case 84: Retaining Necessary Expenses 177

Case 85: Reducing the Dowry by Law 179

Case 86: Useful Expenses 181

Case 87: Opening a Quarry 183

Case 88: Luxury Expenses 185

Case 89: Gaius Gracchus and Licinias Dowry 186

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

Case 91: The Consilium II: The Quality of Mercy 196

Case 92: A Hunting Accident? 199

Case 93: Disciplining a Troublesome Son 202

Case 94: An Offense Related to Public Pietas 204

Case 95: An Adulterous Daughter 205

Case 96: Limitations on Killing a Daughter 207

Case 97: A Son and the State 210

Section 2.

Case 98: Who Consents 212

Case 99: Compelling a Child's Consent 214

Case 100: A Fathers Consent 215

Case 101: Impaired Consent: Madness 218

Case 102: Impaired Consent: Captivity 219

Case 103: Parental Consent and Public Policy 221

Case 104: Divorce: The Emperor Pius Intervenes 222

Case 105: A Father Changes His Mind 223

Case 106: Disposition of Gifts 224

Case 107: Breaking Up Is Hard to Do 226

Section 3. Custody and Maintenance

face="Book Antiqua">Case 108: Stealing a Child 229

Case 109: Mother versus Father 230

Case 110: Deciding on Custody 231

Case 111: Self-Custody 234

Case 112: Maintenance of Relatives 235

Part B. Property and Obligations

Section 1. Acquiring for the Pater Familias

Case 113: Owning and Possessing Nothing 240

Case 114: Through Whom Do We Acquire? 241

Case 115: Ownership and Possession 244

Case 116: The Father's Knowledge 246

Case 117: Acquiring a Debt 248

Section 2. Obligating the Pater Familias

Case 118: The Uniqueness of the Son-in-Power 251

Case 119: As Though He Were a Pater Familias 253

Case 120: Suing the Son 254

Case 121: The Fathers Order 255

Case 122: Turned to the Fathers Benefit 256

Case 123: Obtaining a Daughters Dowry 258

Case 124: Business Managers 260

Section 3. The Peculium

Case 125: The Nature of the Fund 265

Case 126: The Contents of a Peculium 267

Case 127: Constituting a Peculium 269

Case 128: Slave Women and Daughters 271

Case 129: Acquiring Property 272

Case 130: Free Administration 274

Case 131: Gifts from a Peculium 277

Case 132: Lending Money 278

Case 133: Defending the Peculiumlang=EN-US style='font-size:7.5pt'> 280

Case 134: Computing the Balance 282

Case 135: Deductions from the Peculium 285

Case 136: The Deceitful Pater 288

Case 137: Alternative Remedies 289

Case 138: The Camp Peculium 290

Section 4. Liability for Wrongful Acts

Case 139: Noxal Actions 292

Case 140: Liability and Status 294

Case 141: Defending the Son 295

Case 142: Wrongs against Children-in-Power 296

Part C. Creation and Termination

Section 1. Birth

Case 143: Paternal Power and Status 298

Case 144: Presuming a Father 299

Case 145: Periods of Gestation 300

Case 146: Strange Bedfellows? 302

Case 147: A Divorced Wife Takes Vengeance 303

Section 2. Adrogation and Adoption

Case 148: Adrogation 304

Case 149: The Adoption Process 306

Case 150: Age Requirements 309

Case 151: Family Ties 310

Case 152: Adoption and Adrogation of Women 311

Case 153: Adoption by Women 312

Case 154: The Imitation of Nature 313

Section 3. Emancipation

Case 155: The Decision to Emancipate 315

Case 156: Study Abroad 317

Case 157: Emancipated versus Freed 318

Case 158: The State Intervenes 319

Chapter IV. Succession

Section 1. Civil and Praetorian Law

Case 159: Rules of the lus Civile 323

Case 160: An Unwilling Heir 326

Case 161: The Praetors Rules 328

Case 162: Emancipated and Disinherited 330

Case 163: A Legal Puzzler 331

Case 164: The Third Praetorian Class (Unde Cognati) 333

Case 165: Illegitimate Children 334

Case 166: Son-in-Power as Cognate 335

Case 167: Husbands and Wives 337

Section 2. The Senatusconsulta Tertullianum et Orphitianum

Case 168: Mothers Inherit from Children 339

Case 169: Children Inherit from Mothers 340

Case 170: Disqualifications 341

Part B. Heirs and the Will

Section 1. Freedom of Testation and Substitution

Case 171: The Mancipatory Will 344

Case 172: Common Substitution 347

Case 173: Pupillary Substitution 348

Case 174: The Causa Curiana 349

Case 175: Who's on First? 351

Case 176: Two Wills 352

Section 2. The Sui Heredes

Case 177: Privileged Heirs 353

Case 178: Defective Wills 354

Case 179: Name Games 356

Case 180: Disinheritance as an Advantage 358

Case 181: Partial Disinheritance 359

Case 182: Providing for Postumi 360

Case 183: style='font-style:italic'>Postumi and the (Un)married Man 361

Case 184: Subfecundity 363

Case 185: Twins 365

Section 3. Bonorum Possessio against the Terms of a Will

Case 186: The Challenge of the Emancipatus 367

Case 187: Adopted Children 369

Case 188: Passing Over Sui Heredes 371

Case 189: The Son of an Adopted Child 373

Case 190: Adopting a Son as a Grandson 375

Case 191: Adopting a Grandson as a Son 376

Section 4. The Undutiful Will

Case 192: Complaints about the Will 377

Case 193: Duty and Sanity 378

Case 194: Evil Stepmothers 379

Case 195: A Mothers Mistake 381

Case 196: Multiple Claims 383

Case 197: Procedural Alternatives 384

Part C. Bequests to Nonheirs

Section 1. Legacies

Case 198: The Lex Falcidia 387

Case 199: Legacy of a Dowry 389

Case 200: Legacy in Place of a Dowry 390

Case 201: Generic Legacies 392

Case 202: Things Acquired for a Wife 394

Case 203: Legacy of a Usufruct 397

Case 204: Legacy of a Peculium 400

Case 205: Release from Liability 402

Section 2. Fideicommissa

Case 206: Inheritance by Another Name? 404

Case 207: Fideicommissum or Not? 406

size=1 color=black face="Book Antiqua">Case 208: The Gargilian Farm 408

Case 209: Legacy and Fideicommissum 410

Case 210: Bad Blood 412

Section 3. Gifts Mortis Causa

Case 211: Motives and Reasons 413

Case 212: Just Like a Legacy 416

Appendix: A Specimen Roman Will 418

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

Case 214: Appointing a Tutor 426

Case 215: The Tutor as Owner 428

Case 216: Authorization 430

Case 217: Welfare of the Child 432

Case 218: Pitfalls of Tutelage 434

Case 219: Liability for Alienating Property 437

Section 2. Curatorship of Young Adults

Case 220: Making Whole: Restitutio in Integrum 438

Case 221: The Appointment of a Curator 441

Case 222: Paying a Debt 443

Section 3. Curatorship of Lunatics and Prodigals

Case 223: Parting Lunatics and Prodigals from Their Property 445

Case 224: A Worried Mother 447

Part B. The Status of Women

Section 1. The Permanent Tutelage of Women

Case 225: The Weaker Sex? 450

Case 226: The Tutor’s Authorization 453

Case 227: Escaping a Tutor 454

Case 228: Womens Wills 455

Section 2. Women’s Public Position

Case 229: Where the Boys Are 457

Case 230: Order in the Court 460

Case 231: Male Jobs 461

Case 232: Ignorance of the Law 463

Case 233: The Credit of Women 464

Case 234: Protecting Women in Financial Matters 467

Case 235: Sexual Harassment 468

Appendix: Biographies of the Major Roman Jurists 471

Glossary of Technical Terms 479

Suggested Further Reading 489

Bibliography on the Roman Family 491

Index of Sources 495

Classroom Notes

The authors have prepared a set of teaching notes to accompany this book. Teachers may obtain a copy, free of charge, by sending a request on depart­mental stationery to Prof. Bruce W Frier, Law School, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1215, USA.

Major Jurists Cited in This Casebook

(in Rough Chronological Order)

Preclassical (100-30 B.C.)

Q. MUCIUS Scaevola

G. Aquilius GALLUS

SERVIUS Sulpicius Rufus

P ALFENUS Varus

Early Classical (30 B.C. to A.D. 90)

High Classical (A.D. 90-190)

Late Classical (A.D. 190-235)

Note: The Latin name by which each jurist is referred to in the text and listed in the Appendix is capitalized. The Appendix contains further biographical information on these and other jurists mentioned in the text.

Major Jurists Cited in This Casebook xxi