Consortium and the Joint Family (Zadruga)
Consortium and the Joint Family (Zadruga)

Summary/Abstract: Roman consortium is often considered as one of the most controversial Roman institutes. This type of family organization has appeared in the cradle of Roman civilization and disappeared in the early stages of Roman history. However, it seems that some mutated forms remained to exist for centuries. Many questions evoke: What was the legal nature of the consortium? Did it have any influence on later institutes? Is there a place for analogy between the consortium and Southern Slavic Joint Families? In an attempt to answer these questions, greatest difficulty presents the general lack of Roman sources. However, Plinius’s Epistulae and Gaius’s Institutions reveal valuable information for analysis. In this paper, author tried to examine the consortium as it can be found in these two most relevant texts, and on the other hand to analyze the institute of consortium in general- along with some possible comparisons.

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