The
pater familias, also written as
paterfamilias (plural
patres familias), was the head of a Roman family. The
pater familias was the oldest living male in a household. He had complete control of all family members. The term is
Latin for "father of the family" or the "owner of the family estate". The form is
archaic in Latin, preserving the old
genitive ending in (see
Latin declension), whereas in classical Latin the normal genitive ending was . The
pater familias was always a
Roman citizen.