Definition: Nothos in the singular and nothoi in the plural is the ancient Greek term for bastard. The child of a non-citizen and a citizen in Classical Athens was not legitimate (a nothos) and would not have citizenship rights.
In Rome, nothi or naturales were the children of concubines and were not bastards, although they lacked their father's name, were not members of his family, were not allowed to succeed their father, and could not claim the advantages of civil law, according to "Marriage in Roman Law," by Andrew T. Bierkan, Charles P. Sherman and Emile Stocquart, Jur. in The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 16, No. 5 (Mar., 1907), pp. 303-327. They could legally succeed their mother.
