Roman dads could kill their daughters and those defiling them
The Roman patriarch’s powers of life and death over his family members were particularly evident when it came to his authority over the women of the family. Notwithstanding the ancient Romans’ reputation for licentiousness and debauchery and wild orgies, they managed to indulge in such carnal excesses while simultaneously viewing adultery as a serious matter. Not just on moral grounds, but also because it introduced the possibility of illegitimate heirs to a pater familias’ estate. When Augustus became emperor, he sought to restore traditional values with a slate of morality laws aimed at combating adultery – defined as a woman having sex with a man who was not her husband. However, sex with female slaves and prostitutes did not count.
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