The gentes
Families claiming descent from a common ancestor formed a broader social group, the clan or gens. Each gens was distinguished by its own name (nomen gentilicium), which was borne by all its members (gentiles),[113] and each celebrated its own religious rites (sacra gentilicia).
The members of a gens held meetings in which various matters of private or public nature were discussed and passed resolutions that were binding within their gens. The Law of the XII Tables (c. 450 BC) provided that when a person died intestate, his inheritance had to go to the members of the gens to which he belonged. The same law provided, further, that a person's guardians or tutors had to be appointed from among the members of that person's family or gens. But during the early Empire the so called ius gentilicium - the law concerning the members of a gens - fell into desuetude and the gentes, although they continued to exist, ceased to have any legal significance. This was the result of the gradual weakening, largely due to the social conditions of the times, of the sense of unity that once prevailed among the clan members.[114] Although the gentes never played a direct part in Roman politics, gentile solidarity was one of the key elements upon which the ruling families of Rome relied when seeking to further their social and political influence.[115]
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