The origin of the family, private property, and the stateEngels, Friedrich
Philosophy
The origin of the family, private property, and the state
Engels, Friedrich
Families -- History; Morgan, Lewis Henry, 1818-1881. Ancient society; Prehistoric peoples; Property -- History; State, The
Without a doubt Fecenia, a freed slave, here obtains permission to marry
outside of the gens. And equally doubtless the husband here has the
right to confer on his wife by testament the right to marry outside of
the gens after his death. But outside of which gens?
If a woman had to intermarry in the gens, as Mommsen assumes, then she
remained in this gens after her marriage. But in the first place, this
assertion of an endogamous gens must be proven. And in the second
place, if the women had to intermarry in the gens, then the men had to
do the same, otherwise there could be no marriage. Then we arrive at the
conclusion that the man could bequeath a right to his wife, which he did
not have for himself. This is a legal impossibility. Mommsen feels this
very well, and hence he supposes: "The marriage outside of the gens most
probably required not only the consent of the testator, but of all
gentiles." (Page 10, footnote.) This is not only a very daring
assertion, but contradicts also the clear wording of the passage. The
senate gives her this right as a proxy of her husband; they expressly
give her no more and no less than her husband could have given her, but
what they do give is an absolute right, independent of all limitations,
so that, if she should make use of it, her new husband shall not suffer
in consequence. The senate even instructs the present and future consuls
and praetors to see that no inconvenience arise to her from the use of
this right. Mommsen's supposition is therefore absolutely inadmissible.
Then again: suppose a woman married a man from another gens, but
remained in her own gens. According to the passage quoted above, her
husband would then have had the right to permit his wife to marry
outside of her own gens. That is, he would have had the right to make
provisions in regard to the affairs of a gens to which he did not belong
at all. The thing is so utterly unreasonable that we need not lose any
words about it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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