ABSTRACT
The central argument of this work has been that the Roman mother was not associated as closely with the young child or with undiscriminating tenderness as the mother of our own cultural tradition but was viewed primarily as the transmitter of traditional morality - ideally, a firm disciplinarian. This forms a contrast with the recurrent stereotype of more recent history which characterises the mother as typically affectionate and the father as typically disciplinarian. Although differences between the parental roles have emerged in this study they have seldom been absolutely clear-cut.
