ABSTRACT
Throughout many cemeteries in Italy in the early Empire, a number of children were commemorated with a memorial that was not only permanent, but was also inscribed with an age at death. This age at death indicated clearly that they had died before reaching adulthood. The aim of this study is to examine why people made the deliberate choice to record the deaths of certain children in this way; to explore the socio-cultural implications of this phenomenon for Roman society as a whole; and, more specifically, to consider and assess the possible effect of proximity to urban centres on patterns of commemoration. Although these memorials are to and for children, it must be borne in mind that the children themselves were not responsible for producing them. Do the memorials tell us more about their creators than they do about those to whom they were dedicated?
