Paterfamilias

By Deane Barker • • tags: definition •
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Definition: the head of a family

Clearly, this is a combination of “paternal” and “family.”

Why I Looked It Up

In a discussion of William F. Buckley:

Through his longevity, sustained productivity, and public visibility, Buckley served the intellectual conservative movement as a paterfamilias.

Update

Added on

The role of paterfamilias comes up a lot in The First Man in Rome.

Links from this – The First Man in Rome June 14, 2022
This is a “historical novel.” It’s sort of fiction, but sort of not. It’s a narrative of history, but apparently quite accurate. The book mainly follows two men: Gaius Marius (a real person ) and Lucius Cornelius Sulla (also a real person ), during the period of 110 - 100BC in Ancient Rome and its...