Human nature leads us to be curious. Due to this we have acquired a thirst for knowledge about many aspects of life - one of these is the past. The city of Rome was founded in 753 B.C. By 275 B.C., it controlled most of the Italian Peninsula. At its peak, in the A.D. 100's, the Roman Empire covered about half of Europe, much of the Middle East, and the north coast of Africa. Roman society was generally stable and ordered, with a clear legal system and understood ways of doing things; writings from Roman times indicate this. There are many aspects of Roman society and culture, which provide essential insights into the everyday lives of this ancient society; family life is one of these aspects.
             Fathers arranged marriages for their children. Girls were often married when they were only 13, and boys were not much older. However, it was not uncommon for a girl to be married to an older man, even if he was twice her age. Marriages occurred for social, business and political reasons; alliances between noble families for political and dynastic reasons were very important. Considerations of property and social standing were more important than love. Many marriages were quite happy and there are quite a few written and archaeological sources depicting happy families with children, however, some were horribly unhappy and there are sources to support this also. As in most societies, the relationship between man and wife depended as much on the character of the individuals as on custom and law, but there was no doubt that a wife had to obey her husband. Yet we hear little of oppressed wives, and wives seem to have been fairly respected within their households, however this does not mean that women were not oppressed. This is indicative of the fact that the majority of sources were written by men.
             Originally called by the Latin title of paterfamilias, the father evolved into the patron of Roman Republican and early Imperial society. The father...