El origen de los poderes del paterfamilias i: el paterfamilias y la patria potestas

Abstract

This article examines the origins of the powers that the Roman paterfamilias wielded in the archaic era of the history of Roman law in its family sphere, particularly concerning its legitimate direct line of descent (patria potestas).  In order to do this, the study has been divided into two sections: one exposes the theories that attempt to explain the phenomenon of the Roman family and the terms Latin people used to employ to define it, analyzing in depth the evolution from an economic concept of family to one of kinship. The second one explores the patria potestas and, particularly, the faculties of its own, i.e., the ius vitae necisque, the ius vendendi, and the ius noxa dandi. A case study helps conclude that the powers of the pater familias are limited by juridical frontiers that the civitas has imposed from at least the XII Tables.