Wife
Further information: Women in Ancient Rome and Marriage in ancient RomeThe legal potestas of the pater familias over his wife depended on the form of marriage contracted between them. In the Early Republic, a wife was "handed over" to the legal control of her husband in the form of marriage cum manu (Latin manus means "hand"). If the man divorced his wife, he had to give the dowry back to his wife and her family. By the Late Republic, manus marriage had become rare, and a woman remained legally a part of her birth family.
Women emancipated from the potestas of a paterfamilias were independent by law (sui iuris), but had a male guardian appointed to them. A woman sui iuris had the right to take legal action on her own behalf, but not to administer legal matters for others.
Read more about this topic: Pater Familias
Famous quotes containing the word wife:
“Juggling produces both practical and psychological benefits.... A woman’s involvement in one role can enhance her functioning in another. Being a wife can make it easier to work outside the home. Being a mother can facilitate the activities and foster the skills of the efficient wife or of the effective worker. And employment outside the home can contribute in substantial, practical ways to how one works within the home, as a spouse and as a parent.”
—Faye J. Crosby (20th century)
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“On the whole, the great success of marriage in the States is due partly to the fact that no American man is ever idle, and partly to the fact that no American wife is considered responsible for the quality of her husband’s dinners.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)