Ancient Roman laws had a huge impact on Roman society. That said, the Roman legal system was established following rising demand for written rights by commoners. At the time, they felt that the upper-class judges were unfair. This was in the mid-6th century BC. Soon, the Roman administration appointed a commission of ten men to write down the laws. Known as the Twelve Tables, the laws were inscribed onto bronze tablets and put on display in the Roman Forum, Rome’s main city square. The tables covered a wide range of issues, from family and property, to crime.
Patria Potestas, the Authority of the Father
Among the most defining Roman laws was the concept of patria potestas. In many ways, the family was a mini-state within the empire. In the setup, the oldest living male in the family (pater familias) held total power over his household. He controlled all property and finances and had authority and the power of life and death over his children. A Roman father also legally held the right to reject a newborn baby, and if a baby was sickly or simply unwanted, the father could order it to be left outside. The law in this case did not protect children. Over time, however, the practice became less common but remained a legal right for many years.
Notably, the power of the father did not end when a child grew up. Even an adult son with his own family could not own property while his father lived. All money earned by the son technically belonged to the father. However, the father could set his son free by selling the son into slavery three times. After being sold and released three times, the son was finally free from the father’s power.
Laws on Luxury and Women
A weird law was enacted in Rome during the Second Punic War against Hannibal when the Roman state was broken, and desperate. Called the Oppian Law (enacted in 215 BCE), the law was meant to limit luxury and opulence and save money for the war effort. It specifically targeted the wealth and appearance of women. According to the law, no woman could own more than half an ounce of gold. It also stopped women from wearing dresses made of many colors.
Additionally, women were banned from riding in horse-drawn carriages within the city of Rome. Unless they were going to a public religious event, they had to walk. Politicians argued that luxury ruined the character of the republic. The women of Rome, however, grew tired of these rules after the war ended. It is said that in 195 BCE, the women flooded the streets in a massive public protest and blocked the entrances to the Forum. They demanded that the law be removed. The conservative leader, Cato the Elder, is said to have spoken against the women. The law was eventually repealed.
The Law on Adultery
In 18 BCE, the first emperor, Augustus, decided to fix the morals of the upper class. He believed that the Roman elite cared too much about pleasure and not enough about duty, and so, he passed the Lex Julia de Adulteriis Coercendis. The law made adultery a public crime instead of a private family matter. Under these rules, a father could kill his daughter and her lover if he caught them in the act.
The killing had to happen immediately at the father’s house. Lex Julia allowed the father to kill the daughter and her lover if they were caught in his own house or in the house of his son-in-law (the husband). However, a husband had fewer rights than a father. A husband could only kill the lover if the lover was a slave or a prostitute. He could not kill his wife. Instead, the law forced the husband to divorce his wife immediately.
Rules Regarding Death
The Romans had a deep fear of the dead. As such, written into the original Twelve Tables was a strict law that banned burials within the city walls. No body could be buried or burned inside the city limits. Because of this, the roads leading out of Rome were lined with tombs. The Appian Way, for example, became famous for the monuments that crowded its sides.
At the same time, laws attempted to control how people showed their grief. The state banned loud crying and mourning at funerals, for example. The laws specifically prohibited women from scratching their faces during mourning. The rules were established as leaders felt that wild displays of sadness were undignified and did not reflect Roman culture.
