*The household.* The cornerstone of the Roman social structure was the household (_familia_). That is to say, the state was an association of households, and it was the individual’s position in a household that determined his status in the early community. The Roman household was a larger unit than our family. It comprised the father or head of the household (_pater familias_), his wife, his sons with their wives and children, if they had such, his unmarried daughters, and the household slaves. *The patria potestas.* The _pater familias_ possessed authority over all other members of the household. His power over the free members was called _patria potestas_, “paternal authority”; over the slaves it was _dominium_, “lordship.” This paternal authority was in theory unrestricted and gave the father the right to inflict the death penalty upon those under his power. But, in practice, the exercise of the _patria potestas_ was limited by custom and by the habit of consulting the older male members of the household before any important action was taken. The household estate (_res familiaris_) was administered by the head of the household. At the death of a _pater familias_ his sons in turn became the head of _familiae_, dividing the estate. The mother and unmarried daughters, if surviving, now passed into the power of a son or the next nearest male relative of the deceased. Although the Roman women were thus continually in the position of wards, they nevertheless took a prominent part in the life of the household and did not live the restricted and secluded lives of the women of Athens and the Greek cities of Asia. Membership in the household was reckoned only through male descent, for daughters when they married passed out of the _manus_ or “power” of the head of their own household into that of the head of the household to which their husbands belonged. *Education.* The training of the Roman youth at this time was mainly of a practical nature. There was as yet little interest in intellectual pursuits and no Roman literature had been developed. The art of writing, it is true, had long been known and was employed in the keeping of records and accounts. Such instruction as there was, was given by the father to his sons. It consisted probably of athletic exercises, of practical training in agricultural pursuits, in the traditions of the state and of the Roman heroes, and in the conduct of public business through attendance at places where this was transacted. At the age of eighteen the young Roman entered upon a new footing in relation to the state. He was now liable to military service and qualified to attend the _comitia_. In these respects he was emancipated from the paternal authority. If he attained a magistracy, his father obeyed him like any other citizen.