‘Child Labour’ and Law in Ancient Rome. A New Approach to Research?

Abstract

The aim of paper is to present an initial, absolutely provisional, assessment of the legal regulation of what, in modern terminology, we have called ‘child labour’. The point of view is that of the legal historian, but in an interdisciplinary perspective it can also assume relevance in the medical sphere, as it allows us to better focus on certain aspects, referring in particular to the conditions of psycho-physical stress of children and adolescents engaged in work activities, which can then be reflected in bio-archaeological analyses. More precisely, the aim of this paper is to submit to scholars working on these themes the proposal to extend research to a hitherto unexamined sphere that, on the basis of the testimonies of the ancient sources, we can define as ‘work for the gods’, meticulously regulated by law.