Child and Parent.
The relation which existed between the father and the child was known as the patria potestas. This power of the father was very great in early times. He could sell his children, disinherit them, select a wife for a son or a husband for a daughter, and he even had the power to put them to death. This power ceased only at death or if the father lost his rights of Roman citizenship. The father himself could emancipate his son. Also this power over the son ceased should he become a flamen, or priest, and it ceased over the daughter if she married or took the vestal vows.