Editing Adoption in ancient Rome (section)

===Testamentary adoption===
[[File:Glittica romana, augusto, livia e nerone, sardonice, I sec dc..JPG|thumb|Cameo (1st century) depicting Augustus, Livia, and [[Nero]] as a child]]
{{See also|Inheritance law in ancient Rome}}
Testamentary adoption became more common during the late Republic.{{sfn|Lindsay|2011|p=355}} Octavian, the future Augustus, was adopted in this way by his maternal great-uncle [[Julius Caesar]].{{sfn|Corbier|1991|p=70}} Although ''adoptio'' was a practice aimed at furthering the succession of male privileges, both men and women could in effect "adopt" by passing along their property in a will with the condition that the heir carry on the family name ''(condicio nominis ferendi)''.{{sfn|Corbier|1991|p=64}} The role of women in passing property along the family line became "increasingly important".{{sfn|Lindsay|2011|p=354}} Technically, this was not adoption but the "institution of an heir."{{sfn|Corbier|1991|p=64}} The advantage of this arrangement was that the testator did not have to assume patriarchal responsibilities for the adoptee while he was alive but had assured the continuity of the family name, rites, and estate after his death;  the testamentary adoptee did not surrender his own status as a ''pater'' as he would in adrogation but received the benefits of inheritance.{{sfn|Lindsay|2011|p=355}}

Adoption was also the means by which married women could become part of their husband's family. From the late Republic through the Principate, most Roman women [[Manus marriage#Sine manu|married ''sine manu'']], meaning that they remained part of their birth family and did not submit to their husband's ''potestas''. [[Livia]], the wife of Augustus, outlived him, and only upon his death did testamentary adoption make her a part of the Julian family.{{sfn|Saller|1994|p=76, citing [[Tacitus]], ''Annales'' 6.51}}