WORLD CIVILIZATION

Detailed explanation-1: -The power of the father in the family was called his “potestas.” The rest of the family was under the “potestas” of the paterfamilias. Poor families would sometimes sell their children into slavery if they could not afford to feed them.

Detailed explanation-2: -The pater familias was the oldest living male in a household, and could legally exercise autocratic authority over his extended family. The term is Latin for “father of the family” or the “owner of the family estate".

Detailed explanation-3: -Etymology. Borrowed from Latin pater (“father”).

Detailed explanation-4: -The pater familias was the oldest living male of the family. If he had living sons, even grown men with their own families, those sons would still be under the power of the pater familias. In Ancient Rome, fathers were endowed with nearly limitless power over their family, especially their children.