ABSTRACT
Introduction Studies in the ancient history of childhood have already examined the material, art historical, epigraphical, and literary evidence that allows us access to aspects of the impact of the loss of life when it affected children in Antiquity.1 The data has been explored in order to obtain insights for instance into the demographics of the classical world or the role of the age of the deceased on the development of burial customs and commemorative practices. Thus far, scholars have paid attention in particular to the evidence that is available for the classical periods of ancient Greece and Rome. This contribution refocuses our investigation to the late antique and Byzantine periods in the Mediterranean world and especially its eastern regions and beyond.2 With no greater intent than to glean some nuggets of relevant evidence, this chapter considers primarily the roughly one thousand years that extend from Late Antiquity to the middle and late Byzantine times.
