Roman law made the mother equal to the father by 178 CE.

Evidence

When she had three children and the deceased had no heirs, a Senate decree, under Hadrian, entitled her to an ab intestat succession right for each of them. And under Marcus Aurelius the Roman family’s evolution was completed: from 178 on, the mother’s children become her heirs, over her male relatives; from then on, the family is based on coniunctio sanguinis, and the mother is equal to the father; the daughter inherits like her brothers. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 194

Categorization

• SEED: The shift from agnatic to cognatic succession as a turning point in family law — a historical marker that feminine equality arrived via inheritance law before any political rights.
• DEFINE: Coniunctio sanguinis names the principle that blood relation, not male-line authority, grounds the family.
• XREF: connects to: Roman paternal authority operated against mothers with equal investment — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 2184; Roman fathers held unique life-and-death authority over their children — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 1373; Roman fathers exercised less actual power over children than law allowed — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 12347

Broader Connections

• Roman paternal authority operated against mothers with equal investment #qualifies (0.85) — , The Rod and the Child, 2184
• Roman fathers held unique life-and-death authority over their children #contradicts (0.80) — , The Rod and the Child, 1373
• Roman fathers exercised less actual power over children than law allowed #qualifies (0.75) — , The Rod and the Child, 12347