ABSTRACT
In the past, certain fi gural graffi ti from Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae have been interpreted by archaeologists and epigraphers as the work of children (Mau 1899: 482; Koloski-Ostrow 1990: 59; Maulucci 1993: 77; Beard 2008: 15). These interpretations have often been linked to the crudeness of the graffi ti and to their relatively low placement on walls. However, due to the lack of a systematic process for identifying children as the authors of graffi ti beyond such basic assumptions, there has been little discussion of its potential for the study of children in the Roman world.
