Description: Investigations into the daily life of Roman families show that children were key actors in the process of the construction of social memory: they were the pivotal point of the transmission of family tradition and values in both elite and non-elite families. This collection of essays draws together the perspectives of various disciplines to provide a multifaceted picture of the Roman family based on a wide range of evidence drawn from the 1st century BCE to Late Antiquity and the Christian period. The contributors define the notion of memory, discuss the role of children in the transmission of social memory and social identities, and also deal with threats to familial memory, in the cases of children deliberately or accidentally excluded from tradition, long believed to be invisible, such as those born at home to slaves, or outcast because of illness or their unusual status, for example as the offspring of an incestuous relationship.
Review Quotes: "Children, Memory, and Family Identity in Roman Culture presents an interesting array of studies on Roman childhood and family identity. This collection alerts us to new directions in the study of the Roman family and childhood, and demonstrates clearly that thirty years after the first Roman Family Conference, interest in these subfields has not waned." --Bryn Mawr Classical Review