ABSTRACT

Introduction Within Roman archaeology, children’s agency is an oft-overlooked factor in the formation of the archaeological record. This stems in part from a modern perception that children’s behaviors are capricious, unproductive, and disturb the normal patterns created by adults. In contrast, ethnographic and cognitive research has found children’s behaviors to be both patterned and meaningful and that children are active participants in many aspects of social life. Through an interdisciplinary approach incorporating these findings, it is possible to better understand the archaeological evidence of children’s lives in the Roman world. Graffiti, an abundant type of material culture from the Roman period, presents a unique opportunity to study children’s agency because it is possible to identify with some certainty graffiti that was the work of children. Patterns in the location and subject matter of the graffiti demonstrate that Roman children, rather than being capricious and removed from ‘normal’ society, are involved in activities, and networks within the house and outside of it. Furthermore, the graffiti demonstrates that children were capable interpreters of social expectations and aware of their physical and social environments. Their behaviors are in fact highly patterned.