Tutēla
The office of guardian among the Romans. It affected not only minors,
but also widows and grown-up daughters until the time of their marriage, with the exception of
the Vestals. In the case of
impuberes or
pupilli,
ordinary minors, the guardian (
tutor) managed their property until the
time of their majority, which with girls began at twelve, with boys at fourteen. (See
Infans;
Impubes.) At this age the guardianship ended, and girls became, like widows, possessed
of independent power over their property, but still remained so far under guardianship that
they were unable to take legal proceedings without the consent of their guardians.
Three kinds of
tutores have been distinguished:
(a)
tutor testamentarius, who was named in the will. By a provision in the will women were
sometimes allowed the choice of their guardian, who was then called
tutor
optivus (“chosen guardian”), to distinguish him from the
tutor dativus (or “specified guardian”). If no guardian
was named in the will, or the guardian named declined the office, or subsequently resigned it,
the next of kin stepped in as
(b) tutor legitimus. In the case of a
widow, this was the son, if of age, or the husband's brother, and so on. In the case of a
daughter, the brother, if of age, the uncle on the father's side, and so on. Among the
patricians, if there were no kinsmen, the
gentiles undertook the duties.
If there was neither a
tutor testamentarius nor a
tutor
legitimus, then the praetor appointed (
c) a
tutor
Atilianus, so called because the
lex Atilia (about B.C. 188) had
introduced this kind of guardian. Under the Empire these guardians were named by the consuls,
from the time of Marcus Aurelius by a regular
praetor tutelaris. Women
having three children were exempted by Augustus from all guardianship. Then Claudius abolished
guardianship on the part of the
agnati in the case of all women.
Diocletian extended this abolition to the case of minors. After the time of Diocletian,
guardianship over women fell into disuse, and afterwards women were themselves allowed to act
as guardians. A guardian found guilty of betraying his trust was punished by
infamia (q. v.). See
Curator.
Among the Athenians the guardian (
ἐπίτροπος), if not named
by the father in the will, was generally appointed by the archon from the nearest relations.
The archon was also the proper authority in suits relating to guardianship, which, during the
minority of the ward, could be brought forward in the form of a public prosecution; and, after
the ward had attained his majority, in that of a private lawsuit. See
Epitropus.
