Potestas is a Latin term for power or authority, which was an important concept in Roman law. It was used at various levels, including patria potestas, the power of the father over all children. It also applied to masters and their slaves. Today, the concept is obsolete, but still present in legal relationships between parents and children and people with disabilities.
Potestas is a Latin term referring to authority or power. This term was an important concept in Roman law and thus informed the legal systems of Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire, because many new nations incorporated Roman legal concepts into their new laws. Eventually, the concept of potestas began to be replaced by other legal powers and authorities.
In Roman law, potestas occurred at various levels, each of which implied absolute power over persons subject to an individual’s authority. The highest form was imperius, the power commanded by rulers and military commanders. These individuals had the power to issue edicts that everyone had to abide by, or face potential legal consequences for disobedience. Magistrates also had a form of potestas that they could use to enforce compliance with legal sentences and the law.
One of the most important forms of potestas was the patria potestas, the power of the father. Under Roman law, all children, including adult children, were subject to the supreme authority of the father, unless the father specifically chose to emancipate them. It was possible for this concept to cross the generations, with a grandfather acting as head of the household and both his children and grandchildren subject to his authority.
When Roman women married, they did so only with the consent of their fathers, and usually by agreement between the heads of the two families involved. At marriage, the father could decide whether to hand the woman over to the command of her husband or her father, or to maintain her control over her, keeping her subject to her patria potestas. The Romans were far from the first or last culture to use such measures to control women, but it is notable that they applied to men as well, unless their fathers chose to emancipate them.
Potestas also applied to the relationship between masters and their slaves. Roman slaves were subject to their owners or their owners’ fathers, although they could also be emancipated. Emancipated slaves were socially restricted, unable to serve in the military or to run for public office, and could obtain emancipation in a variety of ways.
Many legal systems today recognize that adults should have full authority and autonomy over their lives, and this legal concept is consequently obsolete. However, the concept of maintaining authority over other people is still present in the legal relationship between children and their parents and in cases where people with disabilities are deemed incapable of making decisions on their own.
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