Amongst the ancient Celtic and German population, before any Greek or
Roman innovations had become engrafted on to their customs, everything,
even political power as well as the rightful possession of lands, appears
to have been dependent on families. Julius Caesar, in his "Commentaries,"
tells us that "each year the magistrates and princes assigned portions of
land to families as well as to associations of individuals having a common
object whenever they thought proper, and to any extent they chose, though
in the following year the same authorities compelled them to go and
establish themselves elsewhere." We again find families (_familiae_) and
associations of men (_cognationes hominum_) spoken of by Caesar, in the
barbaric laws, and referred to in the histories of the Middle Ages under
the names of _genealogiae, faramanni, farae_, &c.; but the extent of the
relationship (_parentela_) included under the general appellation of
_families_ varied amongst the Franks, Lombards, Visigoths, and Bavarians.
Generally, amongst all the people of German origin, the relationship only
extended to the seventh degree; amongst the Celts it was determined merely
by a common ancestry, with endless subdivisions of the tribe into distinct
families. Amongst the Germans, from whom modern Europe has its origin, we
find only three primary groups; namely, first, the family proper,
comprising the father, mother, and children, and the collateral relatives
of all degrees; secondly, the vassals (_ministeriales_) or servants of the
free class; and, thirdly, the servants (_mansionarii, coloni, liti,
servi_) of the servile class attached to the family proper (Fig. 296).
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