Patriarchy, Property and Death in the Roman Family (Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time) [Paperback]

Richard P. Saller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 28, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0521599784 | ISBN-13: 978-0521599788

The Roman father has traditionally provided the pattern of patriarchy in European thought. This book shows how the social realities and cultural representations diverged from this paradigm. Demographic analysis and computer simulation demonstrate that before adulthood most Romans lost their fathers by death. Close reading of Latin texts reveals Roman fathers as devoted and loving, and not harsh, exploitative masters of slaves. The demographic and cultural contexts deepen our understanding of how the patrimony was transmitted.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a remarkable book, impressive in its command of diverse materials and methodologies and certain to inspire further advances." American Historical Review

"The current prominence of the Roman family as a field of research is due in large part to a series of stimulating studies written over the last decade by Richard P. Saller, whose already considerable achievements now culminate in a book of great importance for historians of Roman society....[A] remarkable book, impressive in its command of diverse materials and methodologies and certain to inspire further advances." Keith Bradley, American Historical Review

"This is clearly a book that historical demographers and European family historians, as well as scholars of classical history, will want to add to their libraries. However, it is also a book that offers students of the modern family much to think about." Caroline Brettell, Amercan Journal of Sociology

Book Description

The Roman father has traditionally provided the pattern of patriarchy in European thought. This book shows how the social realities and cultural representations diverged from this paradigm. Demographic analysis and computer simulation demonstrate that before adulthood most Romans lost their fathers by death. Close reading of Latin texts reveals Roman fathers as devoted and loving and not harsh exploitative masters of slaves. The demographic and cultural contexts deepen our understanding of how the patrimony was transmitted.

Product Details

• Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (November 28, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521599784
• ISBN-13: 978-0521599788
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,376,778 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Faulty Axiom, November 14, 2005

By 

William A. Percy "William A. Percy" (Professor of History, UMass Boston) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Patriarchy, Property and Death in the Roman Family (Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time) (Paperback)

Beginning in 1984 in a series of articles, Richard P. Saller, joined a bit later by his ally Brent D. Shaw, mistakenly contended that the ancient Romans married late - males on average at age twenty-eight, females at nineteen. They cited hundreds of Latin epitaphs from the late Republic into the Christian empire which proved beyond reasonable doubt that fathers normally commemorated their sons who died before age twenty-eight and their daughters who died before age nineteen; after those ages spouses became the predominant commemorators of each other. From this solid base they erroneously concluded that those were the average ages of marriage. Although otherwise erudite, much of Saller's Patriarchy, Property and Death is based on these miscalculations. His corollary about marriage ages, upon which most all of his other conclusions were based, was deduced from a faulty axiom. That is, he claimed that the patria potestas was really rather insignificant because most Romans married for the first time after the deaths of their fathers. In fact very, very few of the specific references collected to date corroborate such a late age for first marriage. Regardless, the text has been praised to the skies in numerous reviews and gained a seemingly widespread acceptance, most notably in Debating Roman Demography (Brill, 2001), authored in part and edited by Walter Scheidel, the dean of Roman demography, and containing a long article by Shaw. No one has yet seriously criticized this gross mistake.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a good attempt, May 17, 2000

By 

TammyJo Eckhart "TammyJo Eckhart" (Bloomington, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Patriarchy, Property and Death in the Roman Family (Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time) (Paperback)

Saller sometimes seems more a sociologist than a historian and this book is no exception. These articles exam a wide range of subjects which may interest historians and laypeople studying the family, law, or even sexuality in the ancient world. Very worth reading but not for the uninformed reader I'm afraid.