ABSTRACT
The study of the liberal arts in the nascent universities of Italy and Europe consisted of two groups of subjects, the so-called trivium, consisting of three subjects, and then the quadrivium, consisting of four. The three subjects of the trivium were grammar, rhetoric and logic; the four of the quadrivium, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music. Most civil law systems today deal with the law of persons in the first book of their civil codes. However, the law of persons has changed somewhat in its meaning since it was first used by the Roman jurists. Under the law of ancient Rome, the oldest living male ancestor in a particular family controlled all those of his descendants who were descended from him in the male line. Thus, all of his sons and daughters were in his power or potestas, as were his sons' sons and daughters.
