Editing Primogeniture (section)

===Roman law===
During the [[Roman Empire]], [[Roman law]] governed much of Europe, and the laws pertaining to inheritance made no distinction between the oldest or youngest, male or female, if the decedent died [[Intestacy|intestate]].<ref name="www2.hn.psu.edu">[http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/adamsmith.htm HN.psu.edu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413191047/http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/adamsmith.htm |date=13 April 2010 }} Smith, Adam (1776), Penn State Electronic Classics edition, republished 2006, p. 312.</ref> Although admission to the two highest ''[[Roman Empire#ordines|ordines]]'' (orders), i.e. the [[Roman Senate|senators]] and [[equestrian order|equestrians]], potentially brought lifelong privileges that the next generation could inherit, the principle of inherited rank in general was little used.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Millar |first1=Fergus |author-link=Fergus Millar |year=1983 |title=Empire and City, Augustus to Julian: Obligations, Excuses and Status |journal=[[Journal of Roman Studies]] |volume=73 |pages=87–88 |doi=10.2307/300073|jstor=300073 |s2cid=159799017 }}</ref> Rather, Roman aristocracy was based on competition, and a Roman family could not maintain its position in the ''ordines'' merely by hereditary succession or title to land.<ref>Hopkins, Keith (2000). "The Political Economy of the Roman Empire". ''The Dynamics of Ancient Empires: State Power from Assyria to Byzantium''. [[Oxford University Press]]. p. 188.</ref> Although the eldest son typically carried [[Roman naming conventions|his father's name]] in some form, he was expected to construct his own [[cursus honorum|career]] based on competence as an [[legatus|administrator or general]] and on remaining in favor with the emperor and his council at court.<ref>Hopkins, ''The Political Economy of the Roman Empire'', p. 188.</ref> Other than meeting requirements for personal wealth, the qualifications for belonging to the senatorial or equestrian orders varied from generation to generation, and in the later Empire, the ''[[Dignitas (Roman concept)|dignitas]]'' ("esteem") that attended on senatorial or equestrian rank was refined further with additional titles, such as ''[[vir illustris]]'', that were not inherited.<ref>Millar. ''Empire and City''. p. 90, calls them "status-appellations".</ref>

Most [[Roman emperor]]s indicated their choice of successor, usually a close family member or [[Adoption in ancient Rome|adopted]] heir, and the presumption that the eldest or even a natural son would inherit was not enshrined. The death of an emperor led to a critical period of uncertainty and crisis. In theory, the Senate was entitled to choose the new emperor, but did so mindful of acclamation by the army or the [[Praetorian Guard]].<ref>Winterling, Aloys. ''Politics and Society in Imperial Rome''. (John Wiley & Sons, 2009, originally published 1988 in German.) p. 16.</ref> Thus, neither an emperor nor his heir had an inherent "right" to rule, and did so through military power and the Senate's symbolic consent.