property and upon the family.]

This change, as it occurred among Aryan and Semitic peoples, marked one
of the most momentous revolutions in the history of mankind. It probably
occurred early in the upper period of barbarism, or late in the middle
period, after the long-continued domestication of animals had resulted
in the acquisition of private property (_pecus, peculium, pecunia_) in
large amounts by individuals. In primitive society there was very little
personal property except in weapons, clothing (such as it was), and
trinkets. Real estate was unknown. Land was simply _occupied_ by the
tribe. There was general communism and social equality. In the Old
World the earliest instance of extensive "adverse possession" on the
part of individuals, as against other individuals in the clan-community,
was the possession of flocks and herds. Distinctions in wealth and rank
were thus inaugurated; slavery began to be profitable and personal
retainers and adherents useful in new ways. As in earlier stages the
community in marital relations had been part of the general community in
possessions, so now the exclusive possession of a wife or wives was part
of the system of private property that was coming into vogue. The man of
many cattle, the man who could attach subordinates to him through
motives of self-interest as well as personal deference, the man who
could defend his property against robbers, could also have his separate
household and maintain its sanctity. In this way, it is believed,
indissoluble marriage, in its two forms of monogamy and polygamy,
originated. That it had already existed sporadically is not denied, but
it now acquired such stability and permanence that the older and looser
forms of alliance, hitherto prevalent, fell into disfavour. A natural
result of the growth of private wealth and the permanence of the marital
relation was the change in reckoning kinship from the maternal to the
paternal line. This change was probably favoured by the prevalence of
polygamy among those who were coming to be distinguished as "upper
classes," since a large family of children by different mothers could be
held together only by reckoning the kinship through the father. Thus, we
may suppose, originated the patriarchal family. Even in its rudest form
it was an immense improvement upon what had gone before, and to the
stronger and higher social organization thus acquired we must largely
ascribe the rise of the Aryan and Semit