Women and tutela impuberum during Diocletian’s reign

Abstract

This article focuses on the capacity of the widowed mothers too be guardians of their sons during the reign of Diocletian (284-305 AD). The increasing number of rescripts written by women in this period has led us to consider the characteristics of tutela impuberum (hereinafter, guardianship) for widowed mothers at this time. This work will outline the elements that characterized the guardianship before Diocletian, to later describe the features of this institution during his term, and thus evaluate the possible changes of this at the time. Many of the sources analysed constitute documents that show the interaction between the Roman and other legal systems prevalent in some areas of the empire. These sources show us how private subjects interacted with the Roman authority, asking for solutions to conflicts that arose from the contact between existing legal systems in the various areas of a big empire.