Page:The Ancient City- A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome.djvu/428

 422 THE REVOLUTIONS. BOOK IV man without children was free to will his property ac- cording to his fancy.' This last rule was absolutely new in Athenian legis- lation, and we can see by this how many new ideas concerning the family sprang up at that time. The primitive religion had given the father sovereign authority in his own house. The ancient law of Athens went so far as to permit a father to sell his son, or to put him to death.' Solon, conforming to new manners, limited this power.' It is certainly known that he for- bade a father to sell his daugliter, and it is probable that the same injunction protected the son. The pa- ternal authority went on diminithing as the ancient religion lost its power, — an event which happened earlier at Athens than at Rome. The Athenian law, therefore, was not satisfied to say, like the Twelve Ta- bles, "After a triple sale, the son shall be free." It permitted the son, on reaching a certain age, to escape from the paternal power. Custom, if not the laws, insensibly came to establish the mnjority of the son during the lifetime of his father. There was an Athe- nian law which enjoined the son to support his father when old or infirm. Such a law necessarily indicates that the son might own property, and consequently that he was freed from parental authority. This law did not exist at Rome, because the son never possessed anything, and always remained a minor. As for females, the law of Solon still conformed to the earlier law, when it forbade her to make a will be- cause a woman was never a real proprietor, and could have only the usufruct. But it deviated from the an- ' Isseus, III. 41, C8, 73; VI. ; X. 9, 13. Plutarch, Solon, 21 • Plutarcli, Solon, 13. ' J'lutarch, Solon, 23.