Children and Everyday Life in the Roman and Late Antique World

"Children and Everyday Life in the Roman and Late Antique World" explores what it meant to be a child in the Roman world - what were children’s concerns, interests and beliefs - and whether we can find traces of children’s own cultures. By combining different theoretical approaches and source materials, the contributors explore the environments in which children lived, their experience of everyday life, and what the limits were for their agency. The volume brings together scholars of archaeology and material culture, classicists, ancient historians, theologians, and scholars of early Christianity and Judaism, all of whom have long been involved in the study of the social and cultural history of children. The topics discussed include children's living environments; clothing; childhood care; social relations; leisure and play; health and disability; upbringing and schooling; and children's experiences of death. While the main focus of the volume is on Late Antiquity its coverage begins with the early Roman Empire, and extends to the early ninth century CE. The result is the first book-length scrutiny of the agency and experience of pre-modern children. List of figures viii List of contributors x Notes on abbreviations xiv 1. A new paradigm for the social history of childhood and children in Antiquity / Christian Laes and Ville Vuolanto 1 2. Experience, agency, and the children in the past: the case of Roman childhood / Ville Vuolanto 11 Part I. Setting the scene: experiences and environments 25 3. Children and the urban environment: agency in Pompeii / Ray Laurence 27 4. Little tunics for little people: the problems of visualising the wardrobe of the Roman child / Mary Harlow 43 5. Touching children in Roman Antiquity: the sentimental discourse and the family / Christian Laes 60 6. Being a niece or nephew: children’s social environment in Roman Oxyrhynchos / April Pudsey and Ville Vuolanto 79 Part II. What did the Roman children actually do? 97 7. Leisure as a site of child socialisation, agency and resistance in the Roman empire / Jerry Toner 99 8. Roman girls and boys at play: realities and representations / Fanny Dolansky 116 9. The writing on the wall: age, agency, and material culture in Roman Campania / Katherine V. Huntley 137 10. Why Roman pupils lacked a long vacation / Konrad Vössing 155 11. Becoming a Roman student / W. Martin Bloomer 166 Part III. Religious practices and sacred spaces 177 12. Roman children as religious agents: the cognitive foundations of cult / Jacob L. Mackey 179 13. Jewish childhood in the Roman Galilee: Sabbath in Tiberias (c. 300 CE) / Hagith Sivan 198 14. Resistance and agency in the everyday life of Late Antique children (third–eighth century CE) / Béatrice Caseau 217 15. Children in monastic families in Egypt at the end of Antiquity / Maria Chiara Giorda 232 16. Everyday lives of children in ninth-century Byzantine monasteries / Oana Maria Cojocaru 247 Part IV. A cruel world: accidents, disability and death 265 17. Children’s accidents in the Roman empire: the medical eye on 500 years of mishaps in injured children / Lutz Alexander Graumann 267 18. Listening for the voices of two disabled girls in early Christian literature / Anna Rebecca Solevåg 287 19. Children and the experience of death in Late Antiquity and the Byzantine world / Cornelia Horn 300 Epilogue 20. How close can we get to ancient childhood? Methodological achievements and new advances / Reidar Aasgaard 318 Bibliography 332 Index 383 Cover 1 Title 5 Copyright 6 Contents 7 List of figures 10 List of contributors 12 Notes on abbreviations 16 1 A new paradigm for the social history of childhood and children in Antiquity 17 2 Experience, agency, and the children in the past: the case of Roman childhood 27 PART I Setting the scene: experiences and environments 41 3 Children and the urban environment: agency in Pompeii 43 4 Little tunics for little people: the problems of visualising the wardrobe of the Roman child 59 5 Touching children in Roman Antiquity: the sentimental discourse and the family 76 6 Being a niece or nephew: children’s social environment in Roman Oxyrhynchos 95 PART II What did the Roman children actually do? 113 7 Leisure as a site of child socialisation, agency and resistance in the Roman empire 115 8 Roman girls and boys at play: realities and representations 132 9 The writing on the wall: age, agency, and material culture in Roman Campania 153 10 Why Roman pupils lacked a long vacation 171 11 Becoming a Roman student 182 Part III Religious practices and sacred spaces 193 12 Roman children as religious agents: the cognitive foundations of cult 195 13 Jewish childhood in the Roman Galilee: Sabbath in Tiberias (c. 300 ce) 214 14 Resistance and agency in the everyday life of Late Antique children (third–eighth century ce) 233 15 Children in monastic families in Egypt at the end of Antiquity 248 16 Everyday lives of children in ninth-century Byzantine monasteries 263 PART IV A cruel world: accidents, disability and death 281 17 Children’s accidents in the Roman empire: the medical eye on 500 years of mishaps in injured children 283 18 Listening for the voices of two disabled girls in early Christian literature 303 19 Children and the experience of death in Late Antiquity and the Byzantine world 316 Epilogue 334 20 How close can we get to ancient childhood? Methodological achievements and new advances 334 Bibliography 348 Index 399 "Children and Everyday Life in the Roman and Late Antique World explores what it meant to be a child in the Roman world--what were children's concerns, interests and beliefs--and whether we can find traces of children's own cultures. By combining different theoretical approaches and source materials, the contributors explore the environments in which children lived, their experience of everyday life, and what the limits were for their agency. The volume brings together scholars of archaeology and material culture, classicists, ancient historians, theologians, and scholars of early Christianity and Judaism, all of whom have long been involved in the study of the social and cultural history of children"--Provided by publisher A New Paradigm for the Social History of Childhood and Children in Antiquity / Christian Laes and Ville Vuolanto -- Agency, Experience, and the Children in the Past : the Case of Roman Childhood / Ville Vuolanto -- Setting the Scene : Experiences and Environments -- What Did the Roman Children Actually Do? -- Religious Practices and Sacred Spaces -- A Cruel World : Accidents, Disability and Death By combining different theoretical approaches and source materials, the contributors explore the environments in which children in antiquity lived, their experience of everyday life, and what the limits were for their agency. The volume brings together scholars of archaeology and material culture, classicists, ancient historians, theologians,