Definitions and connotations of Latin terms of relationship.

摘要

Latin epitaphs include multiple terms of relationship that cannot strictly be defined through bonds of blood, marriage, slavery or patronage. In order to develop a clear understanding of how the Romans defined and understood these quasi-kin terms of relationship, it is necessary to study how the literary sources, legal texts, and epitaphs use them. A database comprising every occurrence of these quasi-kin terms of relationship in the epitaphs of CIL 6 was analyzed with rigorous statistical methodology. The use of comparative theories from the social sciences explained how such bonds formed and why they were so prevalent in Rome. Overall, quasi-kin relationships formed within the household, parallel to pre-existing bonds, in order to fulfill the usual social and emotional functions of blood and marital kin. Because such kin was frequently lost to Rome's high mortality, quasi-kin in particular and the household as a whole provided the necessary social support.