The paper examines a third-century BCE papyrus recording the conviction of a man who had somehow usurped the guardianship of a woman. A new interpretation is offered for a key phrase in the text; this leads to a modified view both of the case under consideration (possibly that of a marriage contracted without the consent of the bride’s proper guardian, her father) and of an otherwise unknown regulation invoked by the judges in their ruling (possibly to be seen as an attempt by the Ptolemies to combat undesirable innovations in marriage customs).
