The Mother as Guardian of her Children in Rome and in the Oriental Provinces of the Empire

The author argues that the mother as guardian of her prepubescent children in Roman law existed since the second century CE and not since 390 CE, as maintained by most modern scholars. Moreover, both in Rome and in some Oriental provinces of the Roman Empire (there is evidence from Egypt and Arabia), in the classical period of Roman law the mother could act as administrator aiding the appointed guardian. In the Greek speaking provinces of the empire, the latter was called epakolouthetria. The author denies that the mother as administrator aiding the guardian in Rome and the provincial epakolouthetria are generically interrelated.