Note 301 — Chapter XI · - THE ROMAN GENS.
Reading edition
“There were certain sacred rites (sacra gentilicia) which belonged to a gens, to the observance of which all the members of a gens, as such, were bound, whether they were members by birth, adoption or adrogation. A person was freed from the observance of such sacra, and lost the privileges connected with his gentile rights when he lost his gens.”—Smith’s Dic. Antiq., Gens.