Page:Roman Constitutional History, 753-44 B.C..djvu/16

2 spread over the middle and eastern part of central Italy. They devoted themselves largely to the rearing of cattle, for which their country was well adapted ; they did not become so fixed in their habitations as the Latins, and in fact continued their migrations well into historic times. The chief divisions of the Umbro-Sabellians were the Umbrians, the Sabines, and the Samnites.

II.

The Latins.—The Latins, who were destined to influence so profoundly the history of the world, inhabited the naturally unwholesome and not very fertile district of about seven hundred square miles, situated between the Anio, the Tiber, the Volscian mountains, and the sea. As compared with the Umbro-Sabellians, they paid more attention to the cultivation of the soil, and formed permanent settlements. They engaged in trade, and reached at an early period a higher plane both in industry and in political organization than the Umbro-Sabellians.

The Family.—The monogamic family and the clan, or group of families, were institutions common to all the Indo-European peoples. The Latins developed them in their own way and preserved them with characteristic conservatism. The Latin family (familia) in a restricted sense consisted of the father (paterfamilias) and mother (materfamilias); their male descendants in the male line (agnati), with their wives; and their unmarried daughters and female descendants in the male line. Persons who were adopted belonged to the families and clans of their adoptive fathers. The father alone was independent (sui juris) in private affairs; the others were subject to his authority (alieni juris). He was the lord, judge, and priest of the family. He might in exceptional cases punish his wife even with death, and he