How were business and household decisions handled in a Roman family unit?

Professor Richard Epstein discusses the Roman institution of paterfamilias. The father was the ultimate authority in a family who had to authorize all transactions and distribute duties to various family members. The sons could arrange partnerships together to carry out business on behalf of the father but all transactions had to be considered in light of the good for the entire family.

Professor Richard Epstein is the inaugural Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at NYU School of Law, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and Professor of Law Emeritus and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago.

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As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.

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   • Roman Law [Course] [No. 86]