Hi
What was the extent of infanticide in ancient Rome? Were unwanted children really dumped on public rubbish heaps? Were Roman families forbidden to have more than one girl? What were the laws regarding infanticide? was there any punishment for it? I’m trying to sort out facts from myths. I look forward to your feedback.
davidmich
According to Roman law “A father shall immediately put to death a son recently born, who is a monster, or has a form different from that of members of the human race.”
Romulus and Remus were abandoned by the Tiber by their mother. Check out this letter from Egypt about how casually the business was taken;
“I beg and beseech of you to take care of the little child, and as soon as we receive wages I will send them to you. If-good luck to you!-you bear offspring, if it is a male, let it live; if it is a female, expose it”
However this wasn’t universal, in Britain a cache of infant bones of those murdered at birth aren’t noticeably skewed.
It was definitely legal but I can’t say how common it was in practice.
I’ve also heard it wasn’t the automatic death sentence it appeared to be. People knew where unwanted infants were being left. Slavers would then go and pick them up and raise them until they were old enough to be sold.