FĂMĬLĬA

The word familia contains the same element as the word famulus, a slave, and the verb famulari . In its widest sense it signifies the totality of that which belongs to a Roman citizen who is sui juris, and therefore a paterfamilias. Thus, in certain cases of testamentary disposition, the word familia is explained by the equivalent pat rim onium ; and the person who received the familia from the testator was called familiae empt or . But the word familia is sometimes limited to signify “persons,” that is, all those who are in the power of a paterfamilias, such as his sons ( filii-familias ), daughters, grandchildren, and slaves. Sometimes familia is used to signify the slaves belonging to a person, or to a body of persons ( societas ).