4 – Mothers Had to Murder Their Babies
Much has been written about the Spartan practice of killing deformed children, but it was also commonplace in ancient Rome. A study that was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science found that infanticide was actually a widely tolerated practice in various human societies throughout history. Before modern contraceptive methods, infanticide was considered to be a realistic method of limiting family size because it was effective, and safe for the mother.
In 1921, an expedition at Hambelden, a Roman villa in Britain, determined that the site was the location of 97 infant burials, more than in any other Roman location in Britain. One issue with the discovery was the difficulties in identifying a cause of death. A more recent excavation also showed evidence of mass infanticide. Almost 100 infants were found at Ashkelon in Israel which was once part of the Roman Empire. All of the babies died at around the same full-term age and were dumped in a sewer that ran beneath a brothel.
Other cases of infanticide are suspected around the globe with archaeological evidence for prehistoric sites in Serbia and Thailand pointing towards infanticide. Indeed, a 1973 study of human societies found that an incredible 80% of them practiced the intentional murder of babies at some time throughout history. Researchers have found a link between income inequality and cases of infant murder. In poorer societies, infanticide was used as a means of reducing economic strain on a family.
It is likely that a significant percentage of these babies weren’t even deformed although in impoverished families in ancient Rome for example, deformity was almost certainly a death sentence. If a child was born and had a disability, the mother had to either murder it or abandon it. Suffocation was the most common form of murder and one wonders how many more sites like Ashkelon lie undiscovered. We will never know how many babies were killed in this way but estimates suggest that in ancient Rome at least, 25% of babies didn’t reach their first birthday.