The answer is: He held absolute authority and power over all members family
The roman Republic adopt a very conservative roles in its society. This made all the men automatically became the head of the house by the time they marry and had the authority to regulate their household while the women and children were required to be completely obedient to the men of the house.
For the women, their role in roman republic were limited to maintaining the household operations (cooking, washing dishes,etc) and providing the education for their children.