Childhood, Class and Kin in the Roman World

by Suzanne D. Dixon (Editor)

It can be difficult to hear the voices of Roman children, women and slaves, given that most surviving texts of the period are by elite adult men. This volume redresses the balance.
An international collection of expert contributors go beyond the usual canon of literary texts, and assess a vast range of evidence - inscriptions, burial data, domestic architecture, sculpture and the law, as well as Christian and dream-interpretation literature. Topics covered
* child exposure and abandonment
* children in imperial propaganda
* reconstructing lower-class families
* gender, burial and status
* epitaphs and funerary monuments
* adoption and late parenthood.
The result is an up-to-date survey of some of the most exciting avenues currently being explored in Roman social history.

298 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Traveller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving this three stars because it's not too bad if you're a pure academic and interested in symbology and iconology and how it was depicted with regard to the roles of children and family members within the different strata of Roman society, especially with reference to iconology as depicted on tombs and in mausoleums.

However, the book is really very much bogged down in detail and academic references, and not really as useful to the general reader wanting to know more about family roles within the different class structures, as I had hoped for before picking up the book. I was therefore quite tempted to give the book 2 stars to express my disappointment, but hopefully this little explanation will do.