June 18, 2008

Surplus children

Romans could never understand why Jews, Egyptians and Germans never 'exposed' children. I.e. why they never drowned or abandoned newborns that were unplanned, surplus, illegitimate or slightly deformed - but instead decided to raise them all. The Romans considered this very inefficient management. You could always buy, adopt or arrange a marriage for the child (or adult) you actually wanted to bring into your family.