§23. Agnati.--It has been remarked (§18) that the children of a daughter could not be included in the _familia_ of her father, and (§21) that membership in the larger organization called the _gēns_ was limited to those who could trace their descent through males. All persons who could in this way trace their descent through males to a common ancestor, in whose _potestās_ they would be were he alive, were called _agnātī_, and this _agnātiō_ was the closest tie of relationship known to the Romans. In the list of _agnātī_ were included two classes of persons who would seem by the definition to be excluded. These were the wife, who passed by _manus_ into the family of her husband (§18), becoming by law his agnate and the agnate of all his agnates, and the adopted son. On the other hand a son who had been emancipated (§18) was excluded from _agnātiō_ with his father and his father's agnates, and could have no agnates of his own until he married or was adopted into another _familia_. The following diagram will make this clearer: 1Gaius (_pater familiās_) = 2Gaia (_māter familiās_) | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | : | | | | 3Faustus = 4Tullia : 5Balbus = 6Licinia 7Publius 8Terentia | | : [Emancipated]| [Emancipated] | ----------- : ------------ 9Marcus = 10Terentia Minor | | : | | | 11Titus 12Tiberius : 13Quintus 14Sextius ------------- : | | :[Servius adopted by Gaius] 15Servius 16Decimus :.........................[Emancipated] §24. It is supposed that Gaius and Gaia have five children (Faustus, Balbus, Publius, Terentia, and Terentia Minor), and six grandsons (Titus and Tiberius the sons of Faustus, Quintus and Sextius the sons of Balbus, and Servius and Decimus the sons of Terentia Minor). Gaius has emancipated two of his sons, Balbus and Publius, and has adopted his grandson Servius, who had previously been emancipated by his father Marcus. There are four sets of _agnātī_: 1. Gaius, his wife, and those whose _pater familiās_ he is, viz.: Faustus, Tullia the wife of Faustus, Terentia, Titus, Tiberius, and Servius, a son by adoption (1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 11, 12, 15). 2. Balbus, his wife, and their two sons (5, 6, 13, and 14). 3. Publius, who is himself a _pater familiās_, but has no _agnātī_ at all. 4. Marcus, his wife Terentia Minor, and their child Decimus (9, 10, 16). Notice that the other child, Servius (15), having been emancipated by Marcus is no longer agnate to his father, mother, or brother.