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Conclusion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2010

Hugh Lindsay
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle, New South Wales
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Summary

The introduction of outsiders is used in many historical communities as a strategy for succession, and adoption proves to be a versatile method of accomplishing this. The first section of this book surveys the range of uses to which adoption can be adapted, which includes finding homes for children from impaired families, providing childless couples with a family life, as well as providing descendants and heirs to property. Adoption has also been used to make individuals eligible to inherit real property or social position from which they would otherwise have been excluded because of inalienability in the case of property or status in the case of position. The creation of fictitious proximate relationships satisfies social demands for stability and conservatism in cases of this sort. Not all the communities surveyed encouraged the adoption of complete strangers for these purposes, and in some cases the choices taken simply promote close relatives in the pecking order. Contemporary concerns have until recently ensured that adoption in the modern Western world was largely concerned with providing homes for disadvantaged children, while at the same time providing a family life for childless couples. Something closer to the ancient world has developed more recently in same-sex adoptions, which have been instituted to enable the parties to ensure the transfer of property rights to their partners.

The question of the role of kinship in Greece and Rome is important in relation to adoption.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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  • Conclusion
  • Hugh Lindsay, University of Newcastle, New South Wales
  • Book: Adoption in the Roman World
  • Online publication: 25 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511657399.019
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  • Conclusion
  • Hugh Lindsay, University of Newcastle, New South Wales
  • Book: Adoption in the Roman World
  • Online publication: 25 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511657399.019
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Conclusion
  • Hugh Lindsay, University of Newcastle, New South Wales
  • Book: Adoption in the Roman World
  • Online publication: 25 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511657399.019
Available formats
×