The Child in with Regards to Legal Status in the Archaic Period Roman Society

Abstract

Although a person is first a child and then an adult, the legal world has not been interested in the child enough. This includes the field of legal history. In the oldest ages of history, the child was seen as an object of law, not a subject. This was also the case in the ancient Roman world. In Roman society, the child was not a subject of law within or outside the family, but was a person subject to the father's dominance, without rights in terms of person and property, or who could not use his rights. It is concluded through interpretation that the Romans considered those below the age of 12/14, which has been accepted as the age of physical maturity since the archaic period, as children. In Roman law, there are two basic regimes that determine the legal status of the child: patria potestas/paternal dominance and tutela/guardianship.