The Family in Late Antiquity offers a challenging, well-argued and coherent study of the family in the late Roman world and the influence of the emerging Christian religion on its structure and value.
Before the Roman Empire's political disintegration in the west, enormous political, religious and cultural changes took place in the period of late antiquity. This book is the first comprehensive study of the family in the later Roman Empire, from approximately 300 AD to 550 AD. Geoffrey Nathan analyses the classical Roman family as well as early Christian notions of this most basic unit of social organisation. Using these models as a contextual backdrop, he then explores marriage, children, domestic servitude, and other familial institutions in late antiquity. He brings together a diverse collection of sources, transcending traditional studies that have centred on the legal record.

Dr Geoffrey Nathan is a lecturer in Roman History a the University of California at Los Angeles. He has published numerous articles on late antiquity in learned journals.

1: Introduction Introduction Scope of Study, Definitions and Models, Plan of Study, The Sources 2: Two Traditions The Roman Family, Marriage, Divorce Widowhood and Remarriage, Children, Half-Siblings, Step-Siblings and Other Children, Extended Family, Slaves and Freemen, Discipline, Conclusions, Christianity and the Family, Early Christian Thought, Early Evidence of the Family in Christianity 3: Constantine and the Confluence of Two Traditions Prologue: Legal Developments in the Third Century, Constantine and the New World Order, Constantine's Social Legislation, Introduction, The Married State, Children and Family, Slave Familia and Familiae, Conclusions 4: Marriage Introduction, Marriage, Augustine with Secular and Christian Thought, Contracting a Marriage: the Example of Honorius and Maria, Disconnects: Canon and Imperial Law, The Negative Example: Melania the Younger and Pinian, Problems in Marriage, Adultery, Domestic Violence, Conclusions 5: Alternatives to Marriage Divorce, Divorce and the Church, Divorce and the Law, Divorce in Practice, Widowhood and Remarriage, Church Encouragement, Choosing Widowhood, Remarriage, Legal Issues Surrounding Widowhood and Remarriage, Other States, Concubinage, Virginity, Conclusions 6: Children The Child, A New Status?, Making it to Adulthood, Children and Education, The Child in the Family, Fathers and their Children, Mothers and their Children, Domestic Help, Adult Children, Conclusions 7: The Extended Family Introduction, Two Extended families, Conclusions 8: Household Slaves Domestics, Christian Thought and Institutional Constructs, The Church as a Mediating Influence, The Church as a Supporter of Slavery, Legal Changes, Slaves in the Domus, Slaves as Victims, Slave Anger, Freedmen and Women, Conclusions 9: Final Thoughts Appendix Notes References