HISTORICAL AND LEGAL ANALYSIS OF THE FORMATION OF THE INSTITUTION OF PATRONAGE IN ANCIENT ROME

Abstract

The article provides a historical and legal analysis of the formation of the institution of patronage in Ancient Rome. Based on the analysis of Roman law sources and scholarly research, it is established that patronage in Roman society emerged as a system of socio-legal relations between the patron (patronus) and the client, which involved mutual obligations of protection, support, and subordination. It is determined that in its original form, patronage had primarily political, social, and economic significance and was not aimed at ensuring the rights and interests of the child. At the same time, it is substantiated that within patronage relations certain elements of childcare gradually developed, particularly in cases where the patron assumed responsibilities for guardianship over the children of freed persons or performed caregiving functions for children deprived of proper parental care. The phenomenon of fictitious kinship is analyzed, which was manifested, inter alia, through the use of the term «tata» to denote a person performing the functions of a substitute father, as well as the category of «alumnus», reflecting the practice of raising children in foster families without a clearly defined legal status. It is argued that alongside formalized institutions such as adoption, guardianship (tutela), and curatorship (curatela), Roman society developed flexible extra-legal forms of childcare, including the placement of children in other families, sometimes for remuneration. Although such practices were not aimed at ensuring the best interests of the child, they indicate a gradual expansion of approaches to childcare beyond the biological family. The article concludes that the institution of patronage, despite its originally socio-hierarchical nature, contained elements of personalized protection and responsibility for another person, which, in the course of historical development, were transformed and acquired a new meaning. These elements laid the foundation for the emergence of the modern institution of foster care (patronage) as a human-centered form of child placement aimed at ensuring the rights and best interests of the child.