8 Cbc Conservative *
TIIK J'ATKIA I'OTKSTAS.
[ Written for TUB CONSEHVATIVK by Frank
Huller ] .
In ancient Rome the status of a per
son was determined by the relation such
person sustained to his government and
to the family to which ho belonged.
And , firstly , persons were classified into
two great divisions , free and slave ;
secondly , whether a person was or was
not under the power of the father , the
patria potestas , the subject of this
paper.
Definitions.
In order to get a clearer conception of
the terms "patria potestas" or paternal
power , and "pater familias" it is not
only proper but necessary to describe
briefly the artificial and peculiar organization -
ization of the Roman family , which has
been justly termed to bo the greatest
moral phenomenon of the human race.
Like many other social , moral and poli
tical phenomena of the race , the family
has its origin in the religious belief of
primitive man. But bear in mind that
the term "family" in this connection
means a great deal more than it does in
the modern sense. It not only includes
husband and wife and their children ,
grandchildren and great grandchildren ,
but houses , lauds , graveyards , money ,
slaves , clients ; and might comprise sev
eral thousand beings , the whole being a
juridical entity subject , and the title to
which , was exclusively vested in the
"Dttter familias. " who boloncrerl to no
one but himself. It follows that the
term "pater familias , " or father , can
not here bo used in its modern sense.
The "pater" might bo a bachelor , a
child , or even a woman. Persons were
or were not subject to paternal power ;
there was no middle ground.
In The Morning of the "World.
In the long , long time ago , when con
sciousness first dawned upon the human ,
mind religion was man's whole ex
istence. His religion was of a simple
kind , near at hand and most readily
understood. It seems that from the
earliest times man has believed in a
double existence of himself , once in the
body and ouco in the spirit. He has be
lieved in the worship of the dead. The
soul , or ghost , or manes , or whatever it
might be called , was buried with the
body in the tomb , and the dead became
a god to his descendants. In order that
the manes should oujoy perennial hap
piness in the spirit world it had 1o be
propitiated at his tomb with offerings of
delicatessen and fine drinks. The manes
lived in the tombs under the ground. It
was subject to like frailties and like
wants as the living. The repasts of oil ,
wine , milk , honey , etc. , were taken to
the tomb for the exclusive use of the
dead. The soul was not rewarded or
punished for acts committed during life ,
but its happiness depended solely upon
whether or not its descendants rendered
appropriate offerings at its tonib. These
offerings were made once a year , or
of teuer in times of trouble and tribula
tion. Woo unto the disembodied soul
that had no sacrifices rendered in its behalf -
half I The person who died without a
descendant to attend to this matter was
destined to become a malignant , an
archic spirit , roaming aimlessly through
the spirit world , condemned to everlast
ing hunger , misery and woe. On the
other hand an ungrateful descendant
was cursed with a like ailliction by the
outraged manes. It is apparent that in
ancient days the lot of a bachelor was
not a happy one.
Homo Altars.
In the house , or dwelling place , of
every Aryan family there was an altar
upon which it was the duty of the
"pater" to keep forever burning the
sacred fire. In the evening the fire was
banked with ashes to keep the embers
alive till morning. The fire was sym
bolical of purity , divinity and immortal
ity. It must never go out , because that
meant extinction of the family. An ex
tinguished fire and an extinguished family
were synonymous terms. Around this
altar of domestic religion were per
formed all the ceremonies and sacred
mysteries that made up the secret relig
ion of the family. Here the marriage
rites were performed ; here the new
born infant was initiated and formally
accepted by the father. The Hindoos ,
Greeks and Romans , nsrhans the wholn
Aryan race , professed this religious
belief and practiced these family rites.
The father , during life , was the exclu
sive master of ceremonies and custodian
of the family religion. This office with
all its concomitants descended to the
first born in the male line only. "This
is claimed to bo based on the idea that
generation was entirely due to males.
The father alone possessed the reproduc
tive power , the mysterious principle of
existence , and transmitted the spark of
life. " Females had ancestors only
through their fathers or their husbands ,
but were incapable of having descend
ants. Upon marriage the wife's former
relations , worship and religion were ut
terly extinguished by her adoption of
those of her husband. Henceforth the
gods of her father were her gods no
more. She had abjured her religion ,
practiced other formulas and other rites.
Perpetuation of u Itaoc.
In order to perpetuate the family
there sprung into being artificial meth
ods to accomplish this end. In case a
mole found himself free from the pater
nal power which always happened if
the father of the second generation died
before the father of the first and the
third generation , he had the choice to
extinguish himself to become a malevol
ent demon after death , or start a new
family with an independent god , or be
come a member of an existing family.
This latter process was called arrogation.
Again , on the other hand , if a father
had no male issue ho could 'adopt any
number of males from other families
into his own. This process was called
adoption. The distinction between the
two is this : Arrogation is where a
male , not under power , places himself
under power ; and adoption is where a
male under power simply exchanges
families. In both cases the change and
legal effect of the process was as com
plete a transformation as that of a wo
man becoming a wife. Women could
not adopt. The test of relationship was
not who is his father , mother , brother or
sister , but to whoso family does ho or
she belong ? Whose religion does he or
she profess ? Identity of worship was
the sole test of succession and family re
lation. All those who could trace their
descent through a direct line of males tea
a common ancestor , without regard to
consanguinity , were called agnates ; all
others cognates. The father was the
high priest of the family. He kept the
sacred fire going , said the prayers and
uttered the fixed formulas at the altar.
He was likewise the chief executive and
supreme judge ; the source of truth , of
authority and of law. He was the
whole thing the It.
The old religion established a differ
ence between the elder and younger
sous. "The oldest , " says the sacred
book of the Aryans , "was begotten for
the accomplishment of the duty due the
ancestors ; the others are the fruit of
love ; " and "the right of pronouncing
the prayers belongs to that son who
came into the world first. " When the
father was placed into the family tomb
of his ancestors and became a god the
first-born son became the successor to
guide the destiny of the family. In the
philosophy of this institution the mem
bers of a family exist solely to perpetu
ate the same. One father had a temporary
ary charge of it , a temporary adminis
tration of all its affairs , and on passing
away was succeeded by another. The
family in theory was expected never to
die ; it resembled very much the modern
corporation. All property belongs to
the family as such and was unalienable ;
and over all ruled the epitome of despo
tism , the father.
Paternal J'oww.
The father's power as to his daughter
became extinct , in later days , when she
became a vestal virgin ; or when he
caused her to become an outcast and a
wanton ; and as to his son , when the
father submitted him to exposure , or
sold him three times , or was emanci
pated , or became a pontiff or a bishop.
Illegitimate children could never become
members of a family ; they could not be
come pater familias ; they had no ances
tors and were preordained to everlasting
damnation. In early times all the prop
erty acquired by the son was for the be-
