A new paradigm for the social history of childhood and children in Antiquity

Hearing the tiny voices – Nil novi sub sole? His early years were in a way quite close to the ancient childhood experience. Giovanni Pascoli was born in 1855, in a village which was then called San Mauro di Romagna. He was the fourth child of a family of ten children, two of whom died in infancy. At the age of 12, he lost his father. In the next three years, his mother, one sister and one brother would follow. The oldest brother took over the role of parent for the family of six young people who had to survive in difficult financial and emotional conditions. But in 1876, the dire typhus disease struck him. Giovanni would survive only thanks to the financial help of an uncle, who now acted as a tutor for the family.