for the episode of Ghost Whisperer, see Pater Familias. The pater familias (plural: patres familias) was the father of a Roman family. The term's Latin for "father of the family". The form's irregular and archaic in Latin, preserving the old genitive ending in -as (see Latin declension). The pater familias held supreme authority over his children. Patria potestas The pater familias had vitae necisque potestas - the "power of life and death" - over his children, his wife (in some cases), and his… (More on Paterfamilias)