Roman children

[Carlton Bach]

I still wouldnt side with someone who thinks it's better to let a baby die than to at least try taking care of it. I would support them trying to give the baby to a good family, but not just throwing it away.

Exposure did not usually entail throwing the child away, but rather seems to have functioned in a context of recognised 'pickup points' where a baby would be found and could be taken in by others as a slave, a member of the household, or an adopted child. John Boswell studied the phenomenon in his book 'The Kindness of Strangers', and comes to the conclusion that the Roman system continued to operate until the early point of the High Medieval period, when exposure dried to a trickle (probably because economic opportunity was better), and was then replaced by foundling homes.

Many scholars assume that Greek naming patterns based on 'Kopro-' designate exposed children picked up from dungheaps. The Latin term 'alumnus' seems to describe a family status that exposed children taken in by families would attain if it was not enslaved, but also not adopted.