[[Image:Ac.augustus.jpg|thumb|Possibly the most famous Roman adoptee, Augustus Caesar]] In ancient Rome, adoption of boys was a fairly common procedure, particularly in the upper Roman senate class. The need for a male heir and the expense of raising children were strong incentives to have at least one son, but not too many children. Adoption, the obvious solution, also served to cement ties between families, thus fostering and reinforcing alliances. In the Roman Empire, the system also acted as a mechanism for ensuring a smooth Order_of_succession, the Roman emperor taking his chosen successor as his adopted son. ==Causes== As Rome was ruled by a selected number of powerful families, every senator's duty was to produce sons to inherit the estate, family name and political tradition. But a large family was an expensive luxury. Daughters had to be provided with a suitable dowry and sons had to be pushed through the political offices of the ''cursus honorum''. The higher the political status of a family, the higher was the cost. Due to this, Roman families restricted the number of children, avoiding more than three. The six children of Appius Claudius Pulcher (lived 1st century BC) were considered at the time as political suicide. Sometimes, not having enough children proved to be a wrong choice. Infants could die and the lack of male births was always a risk. For families cursed with too many sons and the ones with no boys at all, adoption was the only solution. Even the wealthy Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus did not hesitate in giving his two oldest boys up for adoption, one to the Scipio (Scipio Aemilianus, the winner of the Third Punic War) the other to Quintus Fabius Maximus Cunctator. ==Practice== In Roman law, the power to give children in adoption was one of the recognised powers of the ''pater familias''. The adopted boy would usually be the oldest, the one with proved health and abilities. Adoption was an expensive agreement for the childless family and quality had to be ensured. Adoption was agreed between families of (for the most part) equal status, often political allies and/or with blood connections. A plebeian adopted by a patrician would become a patrician, and vice versa; however, at least in Roman Republic times, this required the consent of the Roman Senate (famously in the case of Publius Clodius Pulcher). A sum of money was exchanged between the parties and the boy assumed the adoptive father's name, plus a ''cognomen'' that indicated his original family (see Roman naming convention). Adoption was not secretive or considered shameful, nor was the adopted boy expected to cut ties to his original family. Like a marriage contract, adoption was a way to reinforce inter-family ties and political alliances. The adopted child was often in a privileged situation, enjoying both original and adoptive family connections. Almost every politically famous Roman family used it. Probably the most famous adopted man in Roman Republic times was Augustus Caesar. Born as Gaius Octavius, he was adopted by his great-uncle Julius Caesar and acquired the name of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (hence his common name of Octavian). As in the case of Clodius, one could be adopted by a man younger than oneself; his sister Clodia is also the one known example of a Roman woman being adopted. Although not technically adoption, it was common for a dying man to leave guardianship of his children to another man, thus granting him the power of a ''paterfamilias'' over what were now effectively his foster children. Examples include the Roman dictator Sulla leaving his children in the care of Lucullus, and Mark Antony's children being left in Augustus' care. ==Imperial Succession== In the Roman Empire, adoption was the most common way of acceding to the throne without use of force. During the 2nd century, each of the successive Five Good Emperors (except the last, Marcus Aurelius) would adopt an heir from outside his family; the system produced such highly regarded emperors as Trajan and Hadrian. Adoption proved a more flexible and workable tool for orderly succession in the Roman Empire than natural succession did. It guaranteed that people of promise, and often of proven competence, were named as official successors to what was in effect a military dictatorship. By contrast, the succession of Marcus Aurelius' natural son Commodus to the throne proved to be a turning point, marking the beginning of the Empire's steady decline. ==See also== *Roman culture Ancient Rome Adoption Roman law
In paragraph one: "The six sons and daughters of Appius Claudius Pulcher" is ambiguous. It might be better to say "six children" or "twelve children" (which ever is appropriate). User:Malcohol 11:40, 15 Jan 2004 (UTC) ---- Too bad it's pretty much completely irrelevant(?), but it's amusing to note the parallels between this entire concept and the Simpsons episode Burns' Heir... User:Krupo 04:48, Sep 29, 2004 (UTC) :Why not? A lot of articles have a "references in pop culture" section. User:Sanders muc 08:08, 29 Sep 2004 (UTC) ---- I've once read that a good deal of male upper-class romans suffered from impotence, suspected to be caused by lead poisoning -- because lower-class people got their water from the public fountains at the ends of the aquaeducts (built of stone) while rich people used lead pipes to move on the water to their houses. And as we know today, but they didn't, the low, but steady lead intake can cause poisoning, with impotence being one of the prime symptoms. This, of course, would have forced them to adopt children. So, is there truth to this claim? But I can't remember where I read it.) User:Sanders muc 08:08, 29 Sep 2004 (UTC) :Rich families adopted children produced by other rich families, so probably not. User:Markalexander100 09:36, 29 Sep 2004 (UTC) well, actually, we know plenty of the hazards of lead, and other toxic chemicals, but we routinely let it into our drinking water supplies, food, etc, because right wingers and anti-environmentalists and business lobbyists and all sorts of other entrenched interests do not want the system to change. maybe the romans did know, perhaps they, like us, just had other priorities in their society besides pollution. for example if you are constantly killing barbarians and defending against terrorist attacks, who has time for penny-anny stuff like the environmental wackos telling you about poisonous drinking pipes. do you know how much it would cost to replace all the drinking pipes? like today, imagine we discover that pvc in water supplies is bad (well it is to an extent). nobody is going to go and change all that stuff just because its poisoning us. instead they are going to hire sham doctors and scientists to spend millions of dollars proving that its 'not that bad for you'. ---- Somebody changed the words Rome for Afganistan and placed Taliban for another. == Title == Would it be better to rename this to 'Adoption in Ancient Rome'? I read this as a link off of Adoption, before it was a featured article, and expected to read something about present-day Rome. User:Saforrest 15:57, Sep 29, 2004 (UTC) what about the slaves? what about adopting female kids? Renaming to Adoption in Ancient Rome seems a good idea to me. Renaming to Adoption of white upper-class males in Ancient Rome would perhaps be excessive. User:Markalexander100 01:55, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC) Well, Rome didn't have a concept of the white race, even though patricians (being descended from native families) would tend to be white by our standards. But Adoption of patrician males in ancient Rome is all that we cover right now, it's true. Anyway, Adoption in ancient Rome would be more appropriate than the current title. -- User:Toby Bartels 04:12, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC) Yes that actually does make sense Mr. Burns adopting Homers son as his succesor. HAHAHAHA. Wwell im only a kid ignore what i say i only contribiuted to some of the text. Its always at the bottom! == Ben-Hur == Is the adoption of the Judean galley slave Judah Ben-Hur by the Roman official Quintus Arrius unusual? Was Lew Wallace forcing history to match his plot? :Freedmen were sometimes adopted by patricians; Suetonius mentions it in a few places. I seriously doubt a Jewish slave could be adopted without havign to give up his religion, though; and wasn't Ben-hur fictional anyways?User:Kuralyov 06:56, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)
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Adoption_in_Rome
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Adoption in Rome
[[Image:Ac.augustus.jpg|thumb|Possibly the most famous Roman adoptee, Augustus Caesar]] In ancient Rome, adoption of boys was a fairly common procedure, particularly in the upper Roman senate class. The need for a male heir and the expense of raising children were strong incentives to have at least one son, but not too many children. Adoption, the obvious solution, also served to cement ties between families, thus fostering and reinforcing alliances. In the Roman Empire, the system also acted as a mechanism for ensuring a smooth Order_of_succession, the Roman emperor taking his chosen successor as his adopted son. ==Causes== As Rome was ruled by a selected number of powerful families, every senator's duty was to produce sons to inherit the estate, family name and political tradition. But a large family was an expensive luxury. Daughters had to be provided with a suitable dowry and sons had to be pushed through the political offices of the ''cursus honorum''. The higher the political status of a family, the higher was the cost. Due to this, Roman families restricted the number of children, avoiding more than three. The six children of Appius Claudius Pulcher (lived 1st century BC) were considered at the time as political suicide. Sometimes, not having enough children proved to be a wrong choice. Infants could die and the lack of male births was always a risk. For families cursed with too many sons and the ones with no boys at all, adoption was the only solution. Even the wealthy Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus did not hesitate in giving his two oldest boys up for adoption, one to the Scipio (Scipio Aemilianus, the winner of the Third Punic War) the other to Quintus Fabius Maximus Cunctator. ==Practice== In Roman law, the power to give children in adoption was one of the recognised powers of the ''pater familias''. The adopted boy would usually be the oldest, the one with proved health and abilities. Adoption was an expensive agreement for the childless family and quality had to be ensured. Adoption was agreed between families of (for the most part) equal status, often political allies and/or with blood connections. A plebeian adopted by a patrician would become a patrician, and vice versa; however, at least in Roman Republic times, this required the consent of the Roman Senate (famously in the case of Publius Clodius Pulcher). A sum of money was exchanged between the parties and the boy assumed the adoptive father's name, plus a ''cognomen'' that indicated his original family (see Roman naming convention). Adoption was not secretive or considered shameful, nor was the adopted boy expected to cut ties to his original family. Like a marriage contract, adoption was a way to reinforce inter-family ties and political alliances. The adopted child was often in a privileged situation, enjoying both original and adoptive family connections. Almost every politically famous Roman family used it. Probably the most famous adopted man in Roman Republic times was Augustus Caesar. Born as Gaius Octavius, he was adopted by his great-uncle Julius Caesar and acquired the name of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (hence his common name of Octavian). As in the case of Clodius, one could be adopted by a man younger than oneself; his sister Clodia is also the one known example of a Roman woman being adopted. Although not technically adoption, it was common for a dying man to leave guardianship of his children to another man, thus granting him the power of a ''paterfamilias'' over what were now effectively his foster children. Examples include the Roman dictator Sulla leaving his children in the care of Lucullus, and Mark Antony's children being left in Augustus' care. ==Imperial Succession== In the Roman Empire, adoption was the most common way of acceding to the throne without use of force. During the 2nd century, each of the successive Five Good Emperors (except the last, Marcus Aurelius) would adopt an heir from outside his family; the system produced such highly regarded emperors as Trajan and Hadrian. Adoption proved a more flexible and workable tool for orderly succession in the Roman Empire than natural succession did. It guaranteed that people of promise, and often of proven competence, were named as official successors to what was in effect a military dictatorship. By contrast, the succession of Marcus Aurelius' natural son Commodus to the throne proved to be a turning point, marking the beginning of the Empire's steady decline. ==See also== *Roman culture Ancient Rome Adoption Roman law
Adoption in Rome
In paragraph one: "The six sons and daughters of Appius Claudius Pulcher" is ambiguous. It might be better to say "six children" or "twelve children" (which ever is appropriate). User:Malcohol 11:40, 15 Jan 2004 (UTC) ---- Too bad it's pretty much completely irrelevant(?), but it's amusing to note the parallels between this entire concept and the Simpsons episode Burns' Heir... User:Krupo 04:48, Sep 29, 2004 (UTC) :Why not? A lot of articles have a "references in pop culture" section. User:Sanders muc 08:08, 29 Sep 2004 (UTC) ---- I've once read that a good deal of male upper-class romans suffered from impotence, suspected to be caused by lead poisoning -- because lower-class people got their water from the public fountains at the ends of the aquaeducts (built of stone) while rich people used lead pipes to move on the water to their houses. And as we know today, but they didn't, the low, but steady lead intake can cause poisoning, with impotence being one of the prime symptoms. This, of course, would have forced them to adopt children. So, is there truth to this claim? But I can't remember where I read it.) User:Sanders muc 08:08, 29 Sep 2004 (UTC) :Rich families adopted children produced by other rich families, so probably not. User:Markalexander100 09:36, 29 Sep 2004 (UTC) well, actually, we know plenty of the hazards of lead, and other toxic chemicals, but we routinely let it into our drinking water supplies, food, etc, because right wingers and anti-environmentalists and business lobbyists and all sorts of other entrenched interests do not want the system to change. maybe the romans did know, perhaps they, like us, just had other priorities in their society besides pollution. for example if you are constantly killing barbarians and defending against terrorist attacks, who has time for penny-anny stuff like the environmental wackos telling you about poisonous drinking pipes. do you know how much it would cost to replace all the drinking pipes? like today, imagine we discover that pvc in water supplies is bad (well it is to an extent). nobody is going to go and change all that stuff just because its poisoning us. instead they are going to hire sham doctors and scientists to spend millions of dollars proving that its 'not that bad for you'. ---- Somebody changed the words Rome for Afganistan and placed Taliban for another. == Title == Would it be better to rename this to 'Adoption in Ancient Rome'? I read this as a link off of Adoption, before it was a featured article, and expected to read something about present-day Rome. User:Saforrest 15:57, Sep 29, 2004 (UTC) what about the slaves? what about adopting female kids? Renaming to Adoption in Ancient Rome seems a good idea to me. Renaming to Adoption of white upper-class males in Ancient Rome would perhaps be excessive. User:Markalexander100 01:55, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC) Well, Rome didn't have a concept of the white race, even though patricians (being descended from native families) would tend to be white by our standards. But Adoption of patrician males in ancient Rome is all that we cover right now, it's true. Anyway, Adoption in ancient Rome would be more appropriate than the current title. -- User:Toby Bartels 04:12, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC) Yes that actually does make sense Mr. Burns adopting Homers son as his succesor. HAHAHAHA. Wwell im only a kid ignore what i say i only contribiuted to some of the text. Its always at the bottom! == Ben-Hur == Is the adoption of the Judean galley slave Judah Ben-Hur by the Roman official Quintus Arrius unusual? Was Lew Wallace forcing history to match his plot? :Freedmen were sometimes adopted by patricians; Suetonius mentions it in a few places. I seriously doubt a Jewish slave could be adopted without havign to give up his religion, though; and wasn't Ben-hur fictional anyways?User:Kuralyov 06:56, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)
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