Scientists emphasize in “Journal of Archaeological Science” from 2015 that female children did not account for the vast majority of infanticide victims. It was customary to think that at birth, the Romans spared the male offspring more often due to the obvious gender imbalance at the time.
Scientists say that the remains found belong to children who were killed shortly after birth. If death would affect newborns naturally, the bodies would then belong to premature babies, babies just after birth, and those who died weeks later. It is also suspected that a large number of remains gathered in one place may indicate the existence of a brothel in this place, and the children gave birth to prostitutes.
Infanticide under the Romans was an accepted practice that allowed the number of family members to be controlled before effective contraception appeared. While such a practice may seem cruel to us, it was once considered normal. Babies shortly after birth were not considered fully human. They acquired their humanity only a few days after birth, when they were given the name, and then, when the first teeth appeared that allowed them to eat food.
