Bücher der Reihe OUP/Humanities Research Centre of the Australian National University Series

Recent studies of ancient Rome have shown that the sentimental ideal of a nuclear family was strong throughout the period, but that the reality was often different. This work looks at aspects of the composition of the Roman family and provides a case-study of the sentimental ideal versus reality.

In this volume, the study of family draws on a range of disciplines to develop the intertwined themes of status, sentiment and space. It makes use of evidence from the legal and literary to the iconographical and archaeological, with visual and material evidence reconstructing real lives.