Familia: a brief legal historical reflection.

There is no doubt that from ancient times until now, the family has represented an institution, whose social function has been constantly recognized and never questioned. From this circumstance, however, arose the question, which involved scholars of the subject, whether Roman law has shown a tendency to recognize juridical consequences (and possibly within what limits) even to unions that did not constitute matrimonium iustum. The contribution aims to highlight how, in reality, the answer must be sought in facts, in individual concrete cases, confirming the absolute inclination of Roman law towards a casuistic approach, which however does not want to feed uncertainty rather aims to identify the most suitable response to the concrete case, inspired by canons of justice and reasonableness or to use the now well-known words of Celsus to the bonum ed aequum.