From a very early period, Roman law had recognized that pre-adolescent children whose paterfamilias was dead were vulnerable to deceit and manipulation by those with designs on their property.

class=20 align=left style='text-align:left;line-height:normal'>Originally, the law's concern was simply to protect the property left to such children by their fathers, in the interest of the agnates, the father's relatives.

Thus arose the institution of guardianship of an underage ward {tutela pupilli). But by the beginning of the imperial period it was generally felt that guardians should be concerned with the welfare as well as the property of their wards [Saller 1994, 181-203; Schulz 1951, 162-79]. This does not mean that tutores would live with their pupilli\ mothers (if they were still alive) were usually the ones responsible for the rearing of their children and their physical welfare.

The guardian of a child who had not yet reached adolescence (legally speaking, fourteen for boys and twelve for girls) was called a tutor. He might be appointed by the paterfamilias in his will; this was a tutor testamentarius. If the paterfamilias had not named a tutor, the role would usually be assumed by the nearest male relative on the father's side (agnate), called a tutor legitimus. However, maternal as well as paternal relatives could be guardians; the choice would depend on the family's circumstances [Gardner 1998, 241-7].

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Source: Grubbs J.E.. Women and the Law in the Roman Empire. Routledge,2002. — 374 p.. 2002

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From a very early period, Roman law had recognized that pre-adolescent children whose paterfamilias was dead were vulnerable to deceit and manipulation by those with designs on their property.

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