The Roman mother

Abstract

It is the contention of this work that the defining characteristic of the Roman mother was not tenderness but authority. It will be argued, further, that this authority derived in part from the mother's power of financial disposition and the general social freedom of the Roman matron which enabled her to command respect in her own right both outside and within the family. The characteristic features of motherhood, as defined by Roman moralists and tombstone inscriptions, are not easily distinguishable from those of fathers. Indeed, it is unlikely that mothers saw more of children than fathers in their early years within the upper class, where child-rearing in its initial stages was assigned to social inferiors. The reciprocal duties and obligations of the relationship between mother and child were determined by the fact of the maternal relation, not by the particular role played by a mother in the early stages of a child's life, and her authority lasted until her death. The great difference between the position of mother and father was that that of the father was supported by the institution of patria potestas. Although in practice fathers seldom employed the full range of powers legally available to them, the possibility existed. A mother's power did not have the same firm basis. Adult children were expected to be respectful and submissive to both parents, but there could be areas where a mother's interference might be resented, particularly by an adult son and if she were not sensitive to his reaction conflict could be serious. In general, though, relations between the generations appear to have been harmonious, with both sides observing the conventions. The mother's authoritative position eventually achieved some acknowledgement at law but was, in the last analysis, socially defined and therefore not to be equated with that of the paterfamilias.