None but a Roman citizen could make a will, or be witnesses to a testament, or inherit any thing by it.
The usual method of making a will after the laws of the twelve tables were enacted, was by brass and balance, as it was called. In the presence of five witnesses, a weigher and witness, the testator by an imaginary sale disposed of his family and property to one who was called familiæ emptor, who was not the heir as some have thought, but only admitted for the sake of form, that the testator might seem to have alienated his effects in his life time. This act was called familiæ mancipatio.
Sometimes the testator wrote his will wholly with his own hand, in which case it was called hologrăphum—sometimes it was written by a friend, or by others. Thus the testament of Augustus was written partly by himself, and partly by two of his freedmen.
Testaments were always subscribed by the testator, and usually by the witnesses, and sealed with their seals or rings. They were likewise tied with a thread drawn thrice through holes and sealed; like all other civil deeds, they were always written in Latin. A legacy expressed in Greek was not valid.
They were deposited either privately in the hands of a friend, or in a temple with the keeper of it. Thus Julius Cæsar is said to have intrusted his testament to the oldest of the vestal virgins.
A father might leave whom he pleased as guardian to his children;—but if he died, this charge devolved by law on the nearest relation by the father's side. When there was no guardian by testament, nor a legal one, the prætor and the majority of the tribunes of the people appointed a guardian. If any one died without making a will, his goods devolved on his nearest relations.
Women could not transact any business of importance without the concurrence of their parents, husbands, or guardians.