Under early Roman law, the oldest living male was the head of a family, or pater familias, and had absolute authority ("patria potestas") over his children and, to a lesser extent, his wife. His household was thus understood to be under his "manus" (literally, "hand"). He had the right and duty to seek a good and useful match for his children, and might arrange a child's betrothal long before he or she came of age. To further the interests of their birth families, sons of the elite should follow their fathers into public life. and daughters should marry into respectable families. If a daughter could prove the proposed husband to be of bad character, she could legitimately refuse the match.