What Family Meant in Rome

EXPERIENCING THE ROMAN EMPIRE HIST 1301 | History What Family Meant in Rome Roman legislators and magistrates held power comparable to that of the paterfamilias. Romans behaved in public differently because they personally respected authority, administered justice, and respected the family. The goal to increase the family's wealth permeated other areas of day-to-day existence as well. Everyone in the family had a part to play in achieving the family's goals of affluence and prestige. Politics was undoubtedly a continuation of Roman family values. Roman senators, who held a highly sought-after and influential position in politics, were known as "conscript fathers" (patres conscripti), and their control was exercised through laws and court rulings in a manner similar to that of a father over his home. Roman laws pertaining to marriage and childbearing turned once-private affairs into governmental concerns. For example, in an effort to encourage childbearing in Rome and uphold lawful marriages, the Roman emperor Augustus declared adultery a public offence. However, this legislation disproportionately penalised women, who may face banishment for adultery, much as the demands placed on women in Roman culture. In order to ensure dynastic continuation and to curry favour with the populace, emperors were particularly concerned with preserving the stability of their dynasty. Identifying a successor and maintaining strict control over family affairs were priorities for the ruling class. Before his stepson Tiberius succeeded him, Augustus laboriously named a number of heirs to reign after him. If the circumstances grew too turbulent, an emperor's reign may end abruptly if their household became unstable. Soon after taking office, emperors in the later Roman Empire, when there was a considerable succession crisis, designated an heir. In a same vein, people regarded positively prominent personalities who exemplified Roman family ideals. Cornelia was a noblewoman in the second century BCE who is renowned for putting motherhood first. After her husband passed away, she chose not to get married again and instead concentrated on raising her twelve children. Before their assassinations, her sons Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus had successful political careers. In a reported exchange, Cornelia exclaimed, "These are my jewels," referring to her boys, to another woman who was showing off her jewellery. Cornelia was well-known for her maternal love, which embodied feminine values, and for her indirect influence on Roman politics. On the other hand, well-known people who rejected Roman family principles became notorious. For instance, in her day, Agrippina the Younger— the great-granddaughter of Augustus—was seen to be a lady driven by a desire for power. Twenty-five years older than her, she married her uncle, the emperor Claudius. Then, after persuading him to adopt her son Nero from a previous marriage, she brought Agrippina to justice for the 54 CE murder of Claudius and established Nero's emperorship. After Nero's rise to power, Agrippina witnessed her connection with her son break down rather than gain greater authority as emperor. Nero planned for her to be assassinated by an assassin when she managed to escape from a sinking boat. In particular, Agrippina's brutality and betrayal by the imperial family stained her reputation as a dishonest person. Funeral parades served as a symbol of respect for the departed family members as well as for the customs and precedents known as mos maiorum, or "the way of the ancestors." The deceased was taken from their house to the city centre, or forum, where their body was laid down in these public rites. The heir spoke first, flanked by others donning masks that depicted departed family members, giving a eulogy. The rite gained public and societal significance due to the path through the city and the procession that connected the living family to the past.