The family has played a central role in most societies, and the complexity and variety of that role has engaged the minds of scholars from a wide range of disciplines. Recent studies of ancient Rome have shown that the sentimental ideal of a core nuclear family was strong throughout the period, but that the reality was often different. This book looks in detail at many aspects of the composition and inner workings of the Roman family and provides an illuminating case-study of the sentimental ideal vis-à-vis everyday reality. The areas of study covered are adult-child relationships (Beryl Rawson), the frequency of divorce (Susan Treggiari), divorce and adoption as familial strategies (Mireille Corbier), remarriage and the structure of the upper-class Roman family (K. R. Bradley), the sentimental ideal of the Roman family (Suzanne Dixon), fathers and sons (Emiel Eyben), familial authority and obedience (Richard Saller), children of freedmen (P. R. C. Weaver), and the impact of domestic architecture with reference to Pompeii and Herculaneum (Andrew Wallace-Hadrill).
