In Roman Times, the familial structure was based on the leadership and responsibility of the head of the household. Society was based mostly on a class system, one where there were the wealthy and then there were the impoverished, usually unemployed or underemployed. In this brief description and comparison, a resemblance to modern times will be displayed in both the family and in society in the United States, showing obvious ties to the Roman tradition.
A family was considered to be a whole group of people. There was the slaves and servants, and there were the immediate family members and close relatives that all lived together. The father of the family,' or the pater familias, was usually the oldest male in the household, and officially and legally had all the responsibilities for the family, including but not limited to buying and selling slaves, arranging marriages, and determining work duties.
Even though this was the norm, women often had control over many of the family issues, and despite Roman law limiting the powers of women, the families were often set up and the rules not necessarily enforced to allow women to own property and supervise the affairs of family commerce.
The development of the Roman Empire brought new wealth, and classes developed of merchants, contractors, bankers, and various other occupations. In most cases, this new' class rivaled the old wealth for prominence. On the other hand, there were many urban poor in Rome and other Roman cities. This new urban poor class rioted often, many were recruited into military servitude, and it caused a new problem for the leadership of the empire who really had no precedence in dealing with them. Imperial authority used what was called "bread and circuses," subsidizing food and giving them entertainment to keep them happy.
Today, we see much of the same thing in both family and society. Even though modern Western Civilization does not have the laws giving only males authority in family positions, we still live in a male dominated society. Families still seem to have a head of household' mentality, even though often times the women/mothers have most of the actual familial duties and garners considerable influence. There is still a class system, even governmental tax laws establish lower, medium, and upper incomes. The "Upper Class" or the higher income families have power, while the "Lower Class" or low income families are more dependant upon assistance by the government and charitable organizations, if only because upper class can usually afford to spend more. Our government still has welfare, paying for food, just like the Romans paid for grain for their urban poor.
This shows the ties and similarities in brief between Roman family and society and modern, westernized family and society. Since much of our culture, religion, and legal ideology is derived from the Roman Empire, it is simple to see why it is this way today.
