The End of Tutela Mulierum

Despite the well-known weakening of the Roman guardianship of women by the early Principate, its final disappearance from Roman law has remained a mystery. In modern scholarship, the proposed dates for the abolishment of tutela have ranged from the late third century to the early fifth, or to the claim that it just fell out of use without ever being formally abrogated. This article combines legal and papyrological sources to show that we can in fact establish the time when tutela was abolished in the reign of Constantine. It further places the disappearance of the guardianship in the broader context of the historical development of Roman law and the legal independence of women in the Roman world.