A gallows or gibbet. Fleta, 1. 2, c. 3, § 9. PATRIA (Lat.). The country; the men of the neighborhood competent to serve on a jury; a jury. This word is nearly synonymous with pais, which see. PATRIA POTESTAS (Lat.). In Civil Law. The paternal power; the authority which the law vests in the father over the persons and property of his legiti- mate children. One of the effects of marriage is the paternal au- thority over the children born in wedlock. In the early period of the Roman history, the paternal authority was unlimited the father had the ab- solute control over his children, and might even, as the domestic magistrate of his family, condemp them to death. They could acquire nothing except for the benefit of the pater-familias; and they were even liable to be sold and reduced to slavery by the author of their existence. But in the prog- ress of civilization this stern rule was gradually relaxed. There are several instances given in which the emperors interfered to moderate the severity of fathers, and the power to kill the child was re- stricted and finally abolished during the empire. The father could originally abandon his male child to relieve himself of responsibility for it, but this was forbidden by the institutes. Inst. 4, 8, 7. Over the property of the child the rights of the father were as absolute as over that of the slave; but this power was also moderated under the emperors until in the time of Justinian it was practically destroyed. The power of the pater familias ex- tended to all descendants in the male line, and it was not lost even over those who held the highest offices in the state or became victorious generals. The children of a daughter were not subject to the paternal authority of her own father but entered into the family of her husband. The pa- ternal power was never exercised by a woman, even if she were herself sui juris. It is for this reason, Ulpian observes, that the family of which a wo- man, sui juris, was the head, mater familias, com- menced and ended with her mulier autem familiæ sucæ et caput et finis est. 1 Ortolan 191. See PATER FAMILIAS. The modern civil law has hardly preserved any features of the old Roman jurisprudence concern- ing the paternal power. The Louisiana code provides that a child owes honor, respect, and obedience to the parents, but even the power of correction ceases with the age of puberty, and boys at fourteen and girls at twelve years of age may leave the paternal roof in opposi- tion to the will of their parents. By modern law the paternal authority is vested in both parents, but usually exercised by the father alone. During the marriage the parents are entitled to the property of their minor children, subject to the obligation of support and education, paying taxes, repairs, etc.