ABSTRACT
The perception of Roman childhood (c. 200 BC–AD 300) is today thoroughly renewed thanks to an interdisciplinary approach, based on literary, epigraphic, archaeological, and iconographic evidence. Childhood was viewed as a specific stage in the Roman life cycle, with steps associated with the gradual integration into the family and society. The omnipresence of death was a source of anxiety, reflected in medical, religious, and magical care. Non-adults were characterised with qualities and defects, and the softness of body and soul was associated with early educational concern. Children were socially modelled to fit the expectations of their families, but in return they also played an important role in the construction of family identity, especially in freedmen families.
