B Mothers and guardians in the Greek East

The prescriptions of classical Roman law, which said that mothers could not officially serve as guardians, do not reflect the situation all over the Empire (and indeed, may not reflect the de facto situation even in Rome and the most Romanized parts of the Empire).

1 Appointment of guardians

In Roman Egypt, the guardian of a fatherless minor was called an epitropos, the Greek equiva­lent of Latin tutor. The papyri suggest that in Roman Egypt several different officials might be asked to appoint epitropoi. A number of such requests have been preserved, submitted by the children's mother or other relatives, and there was evidently a standard procedure for such appointments [Lewis 1970; Taubenschlag 1955, 157-70; cf. P.Oxy. VI.888].

The Egyptian papyri also indicate the growing importance of the curator [Taubenschlag 1955, 178-81; cf. Chapter 1, Parts II.C and III.E]. From the third century on, fatherless chil­dren above puberty but below the legal age of twenty-five were expected to have their epitropos/tutor replaced by a curator, who would play a less active role than a tutor, but was still important for the administration of their estates. In 287, the prefect (governor) of Egypt issued an edict calling for the appointment of guardians for all minor orphans (that is, father­less children) who did not have them.

New Roman">In the following petition of the early third century, the widow Demarion, acting with her father as kyrios [see Chapter 1, Part III.C], asks a local official to have a guardian appointed for her son and daughter:⁶⁸

P.Oxy. XXXIV.2709, 206 C.E.

To Androsthenes also called Rufus, strategos of the Oxyrhynchite (nome), from Demarion daughter of Apion son of Dorion, her mother being Helen, from the city of Oxyrhynchus, with her kyrios, her father Apion son of Dorion, whose mother was Kleuparous, from the same city.

My husband, Dionysios also called Sarapion, son of Apollonios, his mother being Sinthonis, from the same city, died on the past second⁶⁹ (day) intestate with minor heirs, his children by me, Hermes and Herais. Therefore, having handed in the petition, I ask that you command the gram­mateus of the city to appoint a guardian for the minors so that nothing will be lost to them. Year 14 of the Emperors Caesars Lucius Septimius Severus Pius Pertinax Arabicus Adiabenicus Parthicus Maximus and Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius Augusti [[and Publius Septimius Geta]]. 24 Mecheir.⁷⁰

[2nd hand] I, Demarion, daughter of Apion, have handed in (the petition).

Demarion had to request a guardian for her children because her husband had died without making a will, and had left no instructions as to who should serve as guardian. Often fathers named a guardian for their young children in their will, as in the following papyrus dated 276.⁷¹ Aurelius Hermogenes, a prominent town councilor of Oxyrhynchus, appor­tioned his considerable property among his five children, three of whom were still underage. For them he appointed an epitropos: in the boys' case, until they came of age; in the girl's case, until she married (at which point her husband would presumably become her kyrios). However, Hermogenes states explicitly that his wife is to be epakolouthousa, “concurring” in the guardianship, and that his nephew was also to assist the guardian in any way necessary. This appointment of a widowed mother as a sort of assistant to the official guardian, called an epakolouthetria, seems to have been a way of reconciling Roman law with a local custom of mothers serving as guardians [Modrzejewski 1970, 361; Montevecchi 1981, 113; see further Part II.B.3 below].

All involved are Roman citizens, as this was more than sixty years after the Edict of Caracalla. The will was written in Greek, but follows a Roman legal format. The final sentence states when the will was opened (after Hermogenes' death), indicating that this papyrus was a copy made afterwards.

P.Oxy. VI.907, 276 C.E.

Aurelius Hermogenes, also called Eudaimon, exegetes, member of the boule [and prytanis⁷² of the illustrious] and most illustrious [city of the Oxyrhynchites, dictated this will] in Greek letters according to the conces­sion (of Roman law):⁷³

The Aurelii Hermeinos and Horeion and Herakleides and Ptolemais and Didyme, my five sweetest children [from my...

[The three sons jointly receive one vineyard with its appurtenances; the two daughters jointly receive another vineyard with appurtenances; one son gets another piece of land and a slave; one daughter, already married, is bequeathed her dowry and a slave; the other daughter receives some property and a slave; and the three brothers and unmarried daughter receive four slaves among them.]

To Aurelia Isidora, also called Prisca, my wedded [wife...] who has conducted herself fittingly in respect to our marriage, I leave with full prop­erty rights those (arouras)⁷⁵ which I have jointly near the [same..around... ] all the arouras of grainland previously mortgaged to her by me for the purpose of the. dowry which was brought to me by her.

I make Aurelius Demetrios, son of Dionysotheon, epitropos of my three above-mentioned underage children, Horeion and Herakleides and Didyme, until the males [come of age and the female] marries a husband, with [my afore-mentioned wife] Isidora also called Prisca concurring (epakolouthousa) in all the things relating to the guardianship, and therefore, I do not want a magistrate or anyone acting in place of a magistrate or anyone else to get involved⁷⁶ . For I enjoin upon the piety also of my nephew Didymos to help Demetrios in these things if ever he [asks] him.

[Bequests to friends follow, and his sons are enjoined to provide a dowry of four silver talents to Didyme, the unmarried daughter.]

7 Pauni of (year) 1 of Emperor Caesar Marcus Claudius Tacitus Pius Felix Augustus.

2    A mother brings suit against her son’s guardians

In Roman law, mothers could not be guardians themselves and were supposed to see that guardians were appointed for their underage fatherless children, but they did have the respon­sibility to see that their children were not cheated or misused by their guardians. An action against untrustworthy guardians could be brought during the period of guardianship by anyone, including female relatives, who alleged fraud or misbehavior on the part of a ward's tutores, and third-century rescripts to concerned mothers [Part II.A.2] indicate that some women contemplated bringing such an action.⁷⁸ We know of such a case from the Roman province of Arabia, formerly the kingdom of Nabatea. Documents relating to this case are among the papers of the Jewish woman Babatha, which were discovered in a cave on the Dead Sea [see Chapter 2, Part III.B].

Nabatea had been an independent kingdom for centuries until in 106 it was subsumed into the Roman Empire under the emperor Trajan (reigned 98—117). One of the most surprising things revealed by the Babatha archive is the extent to which Roman administra­tive and legal apparatus had already become entrenched in the new province of Arabia, only two decades after its formation. Even more fascinating is the fact that a provincial woman (not even a Roman citizen), in a culture where women were certainly not encouraged to undertake legal action, had enough self-confidence — and enough knowledge of Roman law— to use the Romal legal system to sue her son's guardians.

In Jewish law mothers could serve as their children’s guardians if appointed by the father [Cotton 1993, 98]. However, Babatha was not the guardian of her son by her first marriage, Jesus (Joshua). Jesus had two male guardians, who had been appointed by the town council (boule) of Petra, a metropolis of the province of Arabia. But Babatha was not happy with the arrangement, and in 124, she went to court against her son’s guardians, alleging that they were not giving him a maintenance allowance (out of his own estate) in keeping with the lifestyle he deserved. Interestingly, though neither Babatha nor her opponents were Roman citizens and Arabia had been a province less than two decades, she chose to go through the Roman legal system and use the provincial governor’s court. This suggests that the Roman legal system, whatever its flaws, was seen as an attractive alternative to local law by some provincials, including women.

Several papyri in the Babatha dossier are concerned with Babatha’s lawsuit. The first (P.Yadin 12, not translated here) is an extract from minutes of a meeting of the boule of Petra in 124, giving the names of the two guardians appointed by the boule for Jesus, Abdobdas son of Illouthas, a Nabatean and John Eglas,⁷⁹ a Jew like Babatha and her son. Evidently Babatha had copied the exact names of the men she wished to sue from a register of appointed guardians posted at Petra [Cotton 1993, 95]. The second (P.Yadin 13, not translated here and unfortunately very fragmentary) was a copy of the petition which Babatha submitted later in the same year to the governor of Arabia, Julius Julianus, alleging that Abdobdas and John, who had been appointed four months earlier, were not giving Jesus the amount of money he needed, but only two denarii a month. (This appears to have been sufficiently generous in comparison to maintenance allowances for wards in Roman Egypt: see Lewis 1993, 30.) Presumably Babatha submitted the petition in order to get the governor’s signature (subscriptio), which would enable her to bring a summons against her opponents (cf. the peti­tion of Bathsabbatha in Chapter 1, Part V.C). There is no subscriptio in the dossier (P.Yadin 13 is Babatha’s own copy of her petition, not the original which she gave to the governor’s office). However, we can assume that one was received, since P.Yadin 14 (below), is the actual summons to John son of Eglas, demanding that he appear before the governor’s court [Cotton 1993, 106].

In addition to the documents below, three papyri with blank legal forms for bringing an action on the conduct of the guardianship (actio tutelae) were found [P.Yadin 28—30], evidently for possible use against the guardians. However, since an actio tutelae could only be brought after a guardianship had ended, Babatha did not use the forms [Cotton 1993, 105; cf. Part II.A.2].

As with official documents in Roman Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East, the language used is Greek. However, several of the witnesses to these legal documents signed in local languages, either Nabatean or Aramaic. Babatha herself, like most women in the Roman Empire, was illiterate, and so had someone sign on her behalf.⁸⁰

Babatha’s summons to John Eglas was (like most of the documents in the Babatha archive) a double document, written twice on the same papyrus, with one copy written above the other [see Chapter 2, Part III.B].⁸¹ It is not clear why only John Eglas is summoned, and not her son’s other guardian, Abdobdas (also spelled Abdoobdas) son of Illouthas (also spelled Ellouthas). Perhaps he had come to an arrangement with Babatha outside of court [cf. Lewis 1989, 54].

Like Roman women, who needed a tutor mulierum unless they had the right of three chil­dren, and like women in Roman Egypt, who needed a kyrios for undertaking certain transactions, Babatha presents her summons through her guardian, her second husband, Judah son of Khthousion. (In documents from Judaea and Arabia, a woman’s guardian is called an epitropos, the same word used to describe guardians of minors; see Chapter 1, Part III.C).

P.Yadin 14 (outer text), 11(?)⁸² October,125

In the ninth year of Emperor Trajan Hadrian Caesar Augustus, in the second consulship of Marcus Valerius Asiaticus and the consulship of Titius Aquileius, on the fourth day before the Ides of October, of the twentieth year according to the numbering of the province of Arabia, the twenty­fourth of the month Hyperberetaios called Thesrei, in Maoza around Zoara. Babatha, daughter of Simon son of Menahem, in the presence of the witnesses concerned, through her guardian for this affair Judah son of Khthousion, summoned John son of Joseph Eglas, one of the guardians appointed by the boule of the Petreans for her son Jesus, being the orphan of Jesus, saying: “Because of your not having given to my son... the same orphan from whom. just as Abdoobdas son of Ellouthas your colleague gave by a receipt, therefore I summon you to attend at the court of the governor Julius Julianus in Petra, the metropolis of Arabia, until we are heard in the tribunal in Petra on the second day of the month Dios or at his next assizes in Petra⁸³...

The witnesses concerned: John son of Makoutha

Shammu’a son of Menahem

Joseph son of Ananias

. son of Libanos

[possibly traces of 2—3 lines in Aramaic]

I have written.

[On the back of the document the witnesses signed, the first in Nabatean, the second in Aramaic, the third in Greek, and the fourth in Aramaic; the fifth signature is not readable.]

The next document, P.Yadin 15, bears the same date as P.Yadin 14. Like P.Yadin 14, this was a double document with inner and outer texts.⁸⁴ It is Babatha’s deposition in court in which she detailed her charges that the allowance given her son by his guardians was inade­quate, and that if it was not increased, her statement was to serve as evidence in a case of suspecti tutoris, on charges that the guardians were profiteering from the funds intended for her son’s maintenance. Babatha also notes that she had earlier offered to take on the distribution of the allowance herself, pledging her own property as security, but her offer had evidently not been taken up.⁸⁵ Again, Babatha acts through her guardian (and husband), though presumably she was present in court.

P.Yadin 15 (outer text), 11(?) October, 125

In the ninth year of Emperor Trajan Hadrian Caesar Augustus, in the second consulship of Marcus Valerius Asiaticus and the consulship of Titius Aquileius, on the fourth day before the Ides of October, of the twentieth year according to the numbering of the province of Arabia, the twenty­fourth of the month Hyperberetaios called Thesrei, in Maoza around Zoara. In the presence of the witnesses concerned, Babatha daughter of Simon son of Menahem produced evidence against John son of Joseph Eglas and Abdoobdas son of Ellouthas, guardians of Jesus son of Jesus, her orphan son, having been appointed guardians for the same orphan by the boule of the Petreans, with the same guardians being present, saying:

"Because of your not having given to my son, the orphan... maintenance (trophia) according to the value of the interest on his money and his other properties, and especially according to a lifestyle which., and (because of your) not furnishing him with the interest of the money except one half­denarius per one hundred denarii, I, having properties sufficient for the money which you have of the orphan's, therefore I have previously borne witness that, if it seems good to you, you give to me the money on security. concerning a pledge of my properties, with me furnishing the interest on the money of one and a half denarii per hundred denarii. Whence my son might be splendidly maintained, giving thanks for the most blessed times of the governorship of the governor Julius Julianus, in the presence of whom I, Babatha, have summoned the afore-mentioned John, one of the guardians of the orphan, concerning the refusal of rendering of maintenance. If not, this will be a statement on oath for the purpose of supporting documentation of (your) profiting from the money of the orphan if giving...”

Babatha has presented evidence as written above through her guardian for the matter, Judah Kthousion, who, being present, signed.

[second hand] Babatha, daughter of Simon, I have presented evidence against John son of Eglas and Abdoobdas of Ellouthas, guardians of Jesus, my orphan son, through my guardian Judah Kathousion (sic), in accordance with the conditions written above. I, Eleazar son of Eleazar, have written on her behalf, having been asked to because of her not knowing letters.

[first hand] And seven witnesses were present.

[At the bottom Judah son of Khthousion signed his name in Aramaic, and Abdoobdas son of Ellouthas, signed in Nabatean for himself and his fellow guardian, John Eglas. John’s son, Joseph, also signed for him in Aramaic.]

[in Greek] The one who wrote this was Theenas son of Simon, the scribe.⁸⁶

[On the back were the signatures of the seven witnesses; the first three names are lost.]

We do not have a record of the governor’s decision, but the final document below, P. Yadin 27, is a receipt from Babatha to Simon, described as the “hunchback,” the son of John Eglas, who seems to have taken over the guardianship of Jesus from his father John. In the receipt, Babatha acknowledges that she had received from Simon six denarii for a three-month period for Jesus’ maintenance. This is two denarii a month, the same amount which eight years earlier she had claimed was inadequate. Perhaps the governor had ordered the original sum be doubled, with each guardian disbursing two denarii a month, and Babatha had also received two denarii from Abdobdas [Chiusi 1994, 185]. Or perhaps she had lost her case, and Jesus had continued to receive two denarii a month [cf. Lewis 1989, 116]. Possibly she had been making up the difference with her own funds, or had been able to take over the distribution of some of the allowance herself, as she had offered years before. The document is in Greek with the exception of Babatha’s statement in Aramaic, which is then translated into Greek. This is the latest dated document in the Babatha papers found in the Dead Sea cave.⁸⁷

P.Yadin 27, 19 August, 132

In the consulship of Gaius Serrius Augoreinus and Ploutius Trebius Sergianus, on the fourteenth day before the Kalends of September, of the twenty-seventh year according to the numbering of the new province of Arabia, on the first of the month Gorpiaios, in Maoza in the surrounding area of the Zoorans. Babatha daughter of Simon, with her guardian Babeli son of Manaemos (Menahem) being present and writing on her behalf, both of them from the same Maoza, to Simon hunchback son of John Eglas of the same Maoza, greetings.

Since you have been appointed as the second guardian... by the boule of the Petreans for my orphan son Jesus son of Jesus, I have received from you for the account of maintenance and garments for the same Jesus my son, six denarii of silver from the first of the month of Panemos of the same twenty­seventh year up to the thirtieth of Gorpiaios, three completed months.

[Second hand, in Aramaic, Babatha acknowledges having received the six silver denarii for maintenance and clothing; her guardian writes for her.]

[first hand] Translation of Babatha daughter of Simon: I have received from Simon hunchback son of John, guardian of my son Jesus, for the account of maintenance and his garments, six denarii of silver from the first of the month of Panemos up to the thirtieth of Gorpiaios of the twenty-seventh year, which are three complete months. Through her guardian, Babeli son of Manaemos.

I, Germanus son of Judah, wrote this.

The dispute over her son's maintenance was not the only legal matter concerning the property of underage wards in which Babatha was involved. In 131, she was summoned to court by another woman, Julia Crispina, who claimed that Babatha was holding by force lands belonging to the orphans of Jesus son of Khthousion, the deceased brother of Babatha's second husband Judah (who was also dead by this time). Babatha issued a countersummons to Julia Crispina denying the charge [P.Yadin 25]. In this and in an earlier document [P.Yadin 20, dated 130], Julia Crispina is described as the episkopos, “overseer” of the orphans of Jesus son of Khthousion, along with a man, Besas son of Jesus, who is called an epitropos. (Besas did not take part in the summons issued by Julia Crispina in P.Yadin 25, because he was ill.) Julia Crispina obviously exercises some sort of guardianship over the orphans, though she does not seem to be related to them,⁸⁸ and it is noteworthy that she is not called an epitropos, the term usually used in Greek for the guardian of minors. Her name indicates she was a Roman citizen, and she seems to have been a woman of status and wealth.⁸⁹ She is not said to be acting through a guardian; perhaps she had the ius liberorum [Cotton 1993, 97; Chapter 1, Part III.D.] Her role in the guardianship is evidently analogous to that of the epakaloutbetria of third-century documents from Eygpt [Lewis 1993, 31—3; see Part II.B.3 below].

3    Mothers as guardians

style='font-size:8.5pt'>Evidence for mothers acting as the guardians of their fatherless children can be found in both Roman Egypt and the Greek cities of Asia Minor. In both places the custom goes back to the period before Roman rule. From Egypt, a petition dated 142 B.C.E. refers to a mother prostatis (‘'protector”) who evidently served as guardian of her fatherless son.⁹⁰ By the mid- first century, the term epitropos is being used to describe a mother-guardian. In a petition of the mid-first century B.C.E. to the Hellenistic rulers of Egypt, Cleopatra and Berenike, a widow claims that she was appointed epitropos anenlogistos (‘'guardian without audit”) of her daughter in her husband's will, meaning that she did not have to submit an account of the guardianship after it ended [see Wegener 1947]. A marriage contract of 127 from the city of Oxyrhynchus specifies that if the husband dies first and there are children, the wife or her nearest relation is to be joint epitropos along with a relative to be appointed by the husband (presumably in his will) from his side of the family. If he does not appoint someone else, she is to be sole epitropos, “with no one being able to eject her from the guardianship or a part (of it) [P.Oxy. III.496, at lines 10—13], and two other marriage contracts from the same city say that if the husband dies first, the wife is to be joint guardian with another appointed male.⁹¹ In all cases, these are Greco-Egyptian women who are not Roman citizens, to whom the Roman legal restriction on mothers as guardians did not apply [Montevecchi 1981]. On the other hand, the will of the soldier Antonius Silvanus, who was a Roman citizen, calls for an arrangement in keeping with Roman law. His son (whose age is not given, but who is evidently still a child) is to be heir, but the boy's mother, Antonia Thermutha (whose name indicates she is also a Roman citizen), is to “preserve” the inheritance until the boy's tutela ends; she is not guardian herself.⁹²

Of course, mothers who did serve as guardians might not always have the best interests of their children at heart. So at least claims a young man, Didymos, in a petition from Oxyrhynchos dated 123.⁹³ Didymos complains that his epitropos mother has defrauded him of his rightful property and has not paid his maintenance allowance for three months. Even before this petition, Didymos (or someone acting in his interest), had taken steps to have another guardian appointed for him.

P.Oxy. VI.898, 123 C.E.

To Hermodoros, royal scribe also acting for the strategos,⁹⁴ from Didymos son of Dionysios, also called Phatres, from the city of Oxyrhynchus:

My mother, Matrina, daughter of Herakles also called Matres, being my epitropos and wronging me in many ways, still deceives me, and she has made me go down into the Oasis and cause to be written up for Dioskoros, husband of her freedwoman, who is her intimate, a... of one and a half silver talents and to mortgage whatever possessions I have in the Oasis, after receiving a decree of indemnification from Dioskoros. And when I came up to Oxyrhynchus along with Dioskoros, she lay in wait until she could ask me for the decree of indemnification.⁹⁵ And having gained posses­sion of it and being conscious that she has snatched away many of my possessions, she does not want to confess (this) before asking me for a receipt for the guardianship, thinking that by this she is able to escape what she has done. And yet Philonikos the strategos, according to the minutes of proceedings, has decided to have another guardian appointed for me, since he does not trust either her or me, on account of my youth. And besides these things, she has not furnished me with my allowance for three months now, oppressing me in every way so that I cannot bring legal proceedings against her. Because of all these things, I have handed in the petition by necessity and ask that you have it registered and handle it as seems best to you. Year 7 of the Emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus, 29 Pauni.

Mothers who served as the guardians of their underage children are also known from the Greek cities of the eastern Mediterraenan. Three inscriptions from Asia Minor, dating from the late third-early second century B.C.E.) record mothers as epitropoi. As in Egypt, this prac­tice continued after the Roman takeover, at least to the late first century C.E.⁹⁶

The following inscription from Xanthos in Lycia (on the southern coast of Turkey)⁹⁷ records the thanks of one such son, a provincial notable to his mother, Senbreidase, who (in contrast to Didymos' mother Matrina in the petiton above) exercised her guardianship in a satisfactory way.⁹⁸ The son's private dedication was engraved on the architrave of a building in the sanctuary of Leto (Letoon) beside another inscription honoring Senbreidase from the citizens of Xanthos.⁹⁹ A third inscription on a statue base that once held a bronze statue of Senbreidase, also erected by the Xanthians, commemorates her for her “modest behavior” (sophrosyne) and “greatness of mind” (megalophrosyne). All testify to the esteem in which she was held, not only by her son but by her city [Balland 1981, 250-6]. The date is unknown, but is from the late first century B.C.E. or early first century C.E.

Fouilles de Xanthos VII.81, late 1st c. B.C.E.—early 1st c. C.E.

Kleon, son of Kleon the son of Apollonides, the Xanthian, serving in the government in all the cities around Lycia, (set this up) for Senbreidase, daughter of Kleon, the Xanthian, his own mother, who exercised the guardianship (epitropeusasan) well and justly and was honored by the city of the Xanthians with second honors¹⁰⁰ because of her good will and affection.

Another inscription erected near Attaleia, also in Lycia and Pamphylia, under the reign of Domitian (81-96 C.E.), records that a certain Timotheus son of Menneos, acting through his epitropos mother, Killa daughter of Moos, restored a tower that had previously been erected by his grandmother while she was priestess of Demeter. Thus a wealthy widow's guardianship of her underage son had consequences not only for him and his family, but for their city, which relied upon the benefactions of its leading citizens, male and female, for maintaining civic and social structures.¹⁰¹

However, references to mothers as epitropoi disappear around 130 C.E., perhaps as a result of influence from Roman law [Montevecchi 1981, 113-15]. Instead, some widowed mothers in Egyptian papyri are described as “concurring” in the guardianship of their children, rather than actually serving as guardian themselves. One example has already been noted, Aurelia Isidora, whose husband Aurelius Hermogenes specified in his will that she was to be epakolouthousa [Part II B.1; see Lewis 1993, 31-3 for other examples].

Another third-century papyrus from Oxyrhynchus, a contract for the sale of acacia trees, shows how a “concurring” mother would assist her children's guardian in selling property belonging to the minors. The document begins: “Aurelius Ptollion son of Ptollion from the city of Oxyrhynchus, epitropos of the underage children of Apollonius also called Didymus son of Onesas, and the mother of the underage children, and the concurring party (epakolouthetria), Aurelia Eudaimonis daughter of Antinoos also called Hermes, acting without a kyrios according to the customs of the Romans by the right of children, to the Aurelii Serenus son of Aurelius Ammonios, former exegete of the city of the Oxyrhynchites and to Serenus son of Serenus also using (the name) Theonates, whose mother is Taamiusis and to Soterichos Didymos from the same city, greetings....”¹⁰² In addition to being epakolouthetria, the mother Aurelia Eudaimonis was able to act without a guardian herself by virtue of the ius liberorum [see Chapter 1, Part III.D]. Not only mothers could be named as epakolouthetria·. in 172/3, in the Arsinoite nome, a veteran (and Roman citizen) named two male epitropoi for his daughter in his will, with her grandmother as epakolouthetria .¹⁰³

A papyrus dated 219 gives a variation of the term epakolouthetria. Aurelius Hierax, the epitropos of two fatherless minors, acting with the children's mother, Nicarus, gives an account of receipts and expenditures made from the children’s funds during the previous year. The word used to describe Nicarus’ function is unclear, but it seems to be parakolouthetria ^{[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]}

In the late third century we again find women acting as guardians of underage children, but now the term used is kedestria, evidently the female equivalent of kedemon, a blanket term in Greek for “guardian” covering both tutor (epitropos) and curator. A fragmentary petition of the late third or early fourth century refers to a woman, Apollonia, exercising the guardian­ship (kedemonia) of the children of her deceased sister, along with another sibling, either male or female (the second name is lost) [Beaucamp 1992, 172—9]. The most notable example of a mother-kedestria is Aurelia Artemis, the widow from Theadelphia who vehemently defended her sons’ interests after their father’s death [see Part B.4 below].

Interestingly, there are no explicit references to widowed mothers as guardians of their children in papyri after the early fourth century, even though the practice of the mother-tutor was recognized in Roman law under Theodosius I [see Part II.A above]. Yet it can be shown that widowed mothers were acting as guardians in the late Roman period, even when there were male relatives available, and that they exercised authority over their fatherless children. This is one aspect of the legal and social independence of widows in late Roman Egypt, compared to married women, whose husbands took over the role of a kyrios [Beaucamp 1992, 179-91; see Chapter 1, Part III.E].

A widowed mother’s guardianship of her children in late antiquity thus continues a prac­tice of mothers acting as guardians which, as we have seen, predated Roman rule and went on even in the third century, when mothers were not supposed to serve as guardians under Roman law. The rescripts of Alexander Severus to Otacilia [Cod. Just. 5.35.1 and 5.31.6, in Part II.A] and Diocletian and Maximian to Dionysia [Cod. Just. 2.12.18, in Part II.A], informing them that women are not to undertake the guardianship of their children, may well have been directed to women in eastern provinces, like Egypt or Lycia and Pamphylia, where such guardianship was customary. Roman law was aware that some husbands were appointing their wives guardian in their will, and that some governors were even approving such a move [D.26.2.26 pr., in Part II.A]. We do not have evidence of actual practice for Italy or the western provinces to match the documentary sources of the east. It is possible that in the west too, particularly below the elite, widowed mothers were acting as their children’s guardians without interference from the authorities. Eventually Roman law recognized the practice, though not until the end of the fourth century.

repeatedly mentions her widowed state and her responsibility for her children, now fatherless, whom she describes as “infant” (nepioi), though this may be an exaggeration (in the court records [P.Sakaon 31], and in her later petitions [P.Sakaon 37], they are described only as aphelikes, “underage”¹⁰⁶). The stress on her widowhood is intended to evoke pity and support from the prefect, like the claims of “womanly weakness” by other female petitioners in the papyri (see Chapter 1, Part IV.C.2, esp. P.Oxy. I.71 for another widow's petition).

The prefect's reply (subscription), at the end of the petition, tells her to approach the epis- trategos, the official one step below the prefect.

P.Sakaon 36 (P.Ryl. II.114) c.280

To Hadrianus Sallustius the most eminent governor, from Aurelia Artemis, daughter of Paesios, from the village Thraso of the Arsinoite nome:

Perceiving your love of moderation,¹⁰⁷ my lord governor, and your care for all, especially for women and widows, I approach you, thinking myself worthy to receive aid from you. The matter is like this:

Syrion, having become a dekaprotos from the same village, Thraso, persuaded my husband, Kaet by name, to shepherd his flocks — who unjustly took off with my afore-mentioned husband’s goats and sheep to the number of sixty. And as long as my afore-mentioned husband was alive, each man reaped his own profits, my husband his own and the afore-mentioned (Syrion) his own. But when my afore-mentioned husband went the way of men, Syrion burst in, exploiting his local power, even wishing to snatch away the property of my infant children from my husband's very bed and with his body lying there. And when I tried to take back our property and to cover up (the body of) my husband, he sent me away with threats, and up till today he happens to have hold of our flocks.

Therefore I ask you, lord, to send help to me by your command, in order that I might get back the property of my infant children and of myself, a widow, and that I might be able to comply with my tax assessment readily. For my afore-mentioned husband was not caught out regarding property belonging to the Treasury, but it is in the nature of the afore-mentioned Syrion always to despoil me, a widow with infant children — so that having taken the grain of my deceased husband through his assistant [name missing], he did not give a receipt for the payments in kind that were due — in order that I might get back my own property by your benevolent decision, lord and benefactor of all, and might be able to stay together with my infant children in my own home and always be able to acknowledge my thanks to your fortune. Farewell.

[in a 2nd hand]... 9 [month missing]. With a view to what is advantageous to the revenues,... [name missing] the excellent epistrategos will judge the matter according to what is most just.

Sheet 69, Roll 1.¹⁰⁸

Aurelia Artemis duly went with her complaint to the epistrategos, who ordered Syrion to appear in court to answer the charges. But Syrion, evidently a man of considerable influence in the community, flouted the summons of epistrategos and kept the livestock. In this record of a court proceeding, the advocate speaking for Aurelia Artemis and her children again asks that Syrion be made to appear in court and give back the stolen animals.¹⁰⁹ According to the procurator (an imperial official representing the interests of the state Treasury¹¹⁰), Syrion was away on important state business, and unable to attend. Consequently the epistrategos refuses to take action for the time being.

P.Sakaon 31 (P.Thead.15), 280/1

Year 6 of our lord Marcus Aurelius Probus Augustus, in the Arsinoite nome, before the tribunal.

Isidoros, one of the advocates, said: Artemis [,..]¹¹² two months ago is petitioning, and her underage children are appearing in your court. They are appearing in court upon the order of the most eminent governor, who remanded the matter to you, in order that you might prevent an act of violence. We have often cited this act of violence in your official minutes. For Syrion, after the death of the children’s father, greedily eyeing the animals left to them by their father — for he happened to be a shepherd — seized sixty of them in number. And you, displeased at this, ordered the same Syrion to present the shepherds with whom the children’s father was herding flocks, both Aunes and his brother, in order that, there not being any dispute, he might restore the flocks to the children. But look at what Syrion is doing: he is opposing the orders given by you and by the governor. And therefore even now we call upon you to order once and again that he be brought here and give back to the children what he seized.

The procurator said: Since Syrion has been dispatched for the purpose of necessary business regarding the Treasury, just as soon as he has returned he will answer the charges brought against him.

Isidorus, one of the advocates, said: And if he should flee from justice?

Aurelius Herakleides, the most excellent epistrategos, said: When I have been petitioned, I will give a decision.

We do not know if Aurelia Artemis was ever able to recover her children’s property from Syrion. But another document from several years later shows that she was still active on their behalf, this time in a dispute with her sister-in-law Aurelia Annous, her children’s paternal aunt, over inheritance taxes that Aurelia Artemis claimed she had paid on Aurelia Annous’ behalf. This document consists of two petitions, the first a cover letter to the local official, the nome strategos, enclosing a copy of a petition sent earlier to the governor of Egypt.¹¹³ The governor had added his subscription to that petition, approving it, thus enabling Aurelia Artemis to go back to the strategos and request that he force her sister-in-law to pay what she owed. Both petitions are in the name of Aurelia Artemis’ children, but in both she states clearly that they are acting through her as guardian (kedestria). Again, we do not know the outcome of this dispute.

P.Sakaon 37 (P.Thead. 18), January/February 284

To... former (?) hypomnematographos,¹¹⁴ strategos of the Arsinoite nome, from the Aurelii... and Keletes, both underage children of Kaet, through their kedestria mother, Aurelia Artemis, daughter of Paesios, from the village Thraso of the Arsinoite nome.

I have attached below and deliver to you, best of hypomnematographoi, the copy of the petition which I handed in to the most eminent governor, Pomponius Ianuarianus, along with a copy of the subscription which I obtained from his Magnificence. I ask that you send a copy of it through one of your attendants to the woman accused by me, Aurelia Annous, in order that she can know and not plead ignorance as an excuse. from bringing in the public payments according to the two-thirds share that falls to her. Farewell. It is as follows:

To the prefect of Egypt, from the Aurelii. and Keletes, both underage children of Kaet, through me, their mother, Aurelia Artemis, daughter of Paesios, from the village Thraso of the Arsinoite nome. I offer to you a most just and lawful petition concerning my underage children, my lord governor, begging. my underage children. The matter is like this: Their grandfather on their father's side, from the village Thraso,. inspection concerning public land around the afore-mentioned village Thraso for which dues . And then when Sotikes died, with his children as heirs — I mean the afore-mentioned father of the children, Kaet. and Isidorus and Annous — and then also it was necessary for Annous herself to present herself at the most sacred Treasury in order to pay together in common. of my children of needy age, she does (not) want to give the public payments falling to her share. And I, being annoyed and. by the dekaprotoi in the district, I render the payments on her behalf, so that I run the risk of abandoning my own. with my children. Therefore I flee to your feet, begging and pleading on behalf of my underage children, so that you might order the strategos of the nome,¹¹⁵ or whomever your Magnificence approves, to force Annous to fulfill and render the accounts for the land, since she has received her paternal inheritance. For thus, having received aid, we will be able to acknowledge the greatest thanks to you for everything. Farewell. Of the second year, 5 Hathyr. Demand for the dues. to the strategos.

Sheet 38 of Roll 1.¹¹⁶

[2nd hand] We, the Aurelii. and Keletes, being underage, have handed this in through our mother. I, Aurelius Didymos, son of Ammonios, wrote on their behalf.

[1st hand] In the second year of our lords Carinus and Numerianus Augusti,... Mecheir.¹¹⁷

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