Justinian's contribution

Justinian modified the prohibition on intercessiones by women not inconsiderably; he generally followed the policy of (further) reducing the protection afforded to women by the senatus consultum Vellae- anum and of thus recognizing their increasing emancipation and business experience.^[796] Most importantly, he created for women the possibility of validating their acts of intercession by confirming them after a lapse of two years,^[797] or by acknowledging the receipt of compensation in a formal document, drawn up by a tabellio and signed by three witnesses.^[798] The use of such documents containing, where necessary, a merely fictitious compensation, made intercessiones fairly freely available to women; only the formality of the act was left to prevent a woman from foolishly rushing into these types of transactions.

In one particular case, however, Justinian tightened the screws: he imposed an absolute prohibition on women to intercede on behalf of their husbands, unless (and that was the only exception) the money received as a result of their intercessions was spent for the benefit of the women themselves.^[799] This enactment, later known as the Authentica si qua mulier,^[800] effectively re-enforced the policy of the senatus consultum Vellaeanum for that situation in which women had always been particularly susceptible of acting in an unduly altruistic and unbusinesslike manner, and from which, historically, the idea of preventing women from interceding had actually originated.^{[801] [802]}

5.