Christianity and the Roman Family

CHRISTIANITY AND THE ROMAN FAMILY

Disruption or Continuity?

Graydon Dennison, 001222612

Classics 4F03, Dr. M. George

McMaster University

November 29, 2016

        In the decades and centuries following Constantine’s conversion to Christianity in 312 CE, the Roman Empire underwent a series of ideological and social changes as a result of this major shift in religious ideals. The institution of the Roman family became one of the most affected facets of Roman society as a result of this new religion. This change is reflected in new laws banning child exposure and the widespread dissuasion of divorce, for example.^[1] A case for continuity is made through the pervasiveness of slavery in Roman families well into the Christian period as well as the overt support of paternal power made by the early church leaders.^[2] As a result, classical scholars have debated over the extent to which Christianity affected the Roman family, or if it fundamentally altered it at all. This paper will argue that the emergence of Christianity resulted in both a continuation of certain family characteristics and a distinct disruption of many family ideals of the pagan era. The supremacy of paternal power and presence of slavery in the household remained intact, but a modified sense of childhood, new social conceptions surrounding marriage and divorce, and the pronounced observance of chastity, fidelity, and celibacy in family life indicate a large degree of social change under Christian influence.

        Changing attitudes surrounding the abandonment and exposure of infants is one of the key disruptions of pagan ideals that Christianity brought to Roman society. The practise of child exposure had existed throughout the empire, dating back to pre-Roman societies, as a means of disposing of an unwanted child for a variety of reasons, including bodily deformities on the infant, the child’s gender, or the family’s inability to support the infant, to name a few.^[3] Christian thought condemned the practise of child exposure, considering it a violation of God’s code for men and women, and therefore as Christian doctrine became more influential in Roman society, the ideals surrounding infant exposure gradually changed.^[4] The concept of protecting life at all costs became a Christian mandate, and this message transcended into Roman society at the executive level. The adaptation in attitudes on exposure started with Constantine, who enforced a rule prohibiting the reclamation of abandoned children, and in 329 CE, created a law which allowed state foodstuffs from imperial storehouses to be given to struggling families who could not afford to adequately feed their children.^[5] In doing so, it is believed that Constantine was actively dissuading exposure in order to align with the ideals of his newfound faith.^[6] The emperor Valentinian I, who took interest in the teachings of church leader Diodorus of Tarsus, outlawed exposure in 374 CE. Despite this law not always being practically enforced, the implementation of it into the Roman legal codes expresses the changing ideals surrounding child exposure under Christian influence. By the reign of Justinian, the Christian concept of valuing and protecting all life had permeated most ranks of society, and therefore the legislation evolved to include the outlawing of enslaving abandoned children and stricter enforcement of the previously created laws against child exposure.^[7]

        These altered ideals towards child exposure were complemented by several alternatives to exposure that were heavily influenced and directed by Christianity. Christian monasteries acted as donation centres for children throughout the empire, providing unwilling and incapable parents with an alternative to exposing their infants. Consequently, the church became a forum for assisting fatherless children as the male clergy acted as guardians to abandoned children by providing financial and practical security.^[8] These early monasteries raised children as “pledges” who undertook the spiritual teachings of Christ and the literary works of the church leaders in an effort to provide these children with a “monastic life,” which was considered to be the supreme life for a child in Christian Rome.^[9] Furthermore, the early church was an advocate of adoptive parenting, even facilitating this process through the Christian monasteries. Augustine of Hippo, who is widely regarded as one of the most influential Christian thinkers, promoted adoptive parenting throughout the empire, stating that any “abandoned child is to be cared for” like any other child in the eyes of God, referring to the biblical story of Moses’ adoption by Egyptian royalty.^[10] As a result, the early Christian church espoused and facilitated alternatives to exposure that resulted in both the growth of the religion and fewer children being exposed.

        The effectiveness of Christianity to influence ideals on child exposure is a by-product of Christian thought championing a sense of childhood as a distinct stage of life where morality is engrained in a person.^[11] Consequently, the social conceptions of children were fundamentally altered in a variety of ways. In Christian thought, children were considered an integral part in the continuation of familial and cultural memory, and therefore its views on childhood differed from those of the pagan era. From the 3rd Century CE onward, hagiographic texts and funerary inscriptions denote childhood as a distinct stage of life where the holy attributes of patience, modesty, and humility were developed in an individual.^[12] Also, the key virtues of gratus (gratefulness) and dulcis (sweetness) were sought after and honed in children, often through a Christian literary education.^[13] In this way, Christianity acted as a vehicle for altering the spiritual and social means of raising children. Furthermore, analyses of epitaphs have demonstrated that the change in religious and cultural values that came in the post-conversion era led to the development of practises that shaped the child’s experiences and atmosphere growing up. These inscriptions show that Roman parents cared greatly for their children, especially when it came to education and preparation for adulthood.^[14] No longer was there the notion of children as the investment they were in the non-Christian era. During the pagan period, children were largely viewed as an investment, by the state in order to fill its need for future soldiers and by individual families in order to secure labourers and heirs. In the Christian era, dedications made by parents to deceased children demonstrate that, although children were still an investment for many families, there was a strong sense of desire to have children for their admirable qualities and love.^[15] Thomas Wiedemann asserted that the switch to Christianity led to the de-marginalization of children in Roman society largely due to new social conceptions of the child and the newfound views towards their physical treatment, such as laws outlawing exposure.^[16]