258 HISTOEICAL RACES 



surrounding nations, Phoenicians, Aramaeans, Syrians, and Baby- 

 lonians as well as among their kindred the Carthaginians.' ^ 



Glotz has an interesting chapter on the subject of infanticide 

 in Greece. In prehistoric times in Greece the head of the family 

 could, as among all people of ' Aryan origin ', dispose of his 

 children as he wished.^ After examining the myths it is clear, 

 according to Glotz, that infanticide was a daily occurrence during 

 the period at which myths were being formed.^ In historical 

 times it was universal. Most often infanticide was ordered by 

 the father, who generally on the fifth, sometimes on the seventh 

 or tenth, day after the birth publicly proclaimed whether he would 

 keep the child or not.* If he decided not to keep the child, it was 

 exposed, and there is reason to think that most of the exposed 

 children died.^ Infanticide was enjoined by the ideal legislation 

 of Plato and Aristotle and by the actual legislation of Lycurgus 

 and Solon. Summing up his examination of this subject Glotz 

 says : ' L 'opinion de la Grece ancienne est done a peu pres unanime. 

 Re^ue dans la vie privee, cette pratique a ete admise en droit 

 par les legislatures et fondees en raison par les maitres de la 

 pensee.' ^ 



In very early times infanticide was general in Rome. Later 

 the right of the father to destroy his children was somewhat 

 restricted. ' The power of life and death, which in Rome was 

 originally conceded to the father over his children, would appear 

 to involve an unlimited permission of infanticide ; but a very 

 old law, popularly ascribed to Romulus, in this respect restricted 

 the parental rights, enjoining the father to bring up all his male 

 children, and at least his eldest female child, forbidding him to 

 destroy any well-formed child till it had completed its third year, 

 when the affections of the parents might be supposed to be 

 developed, but permitting the exposition of deformed or maimed 

 children with the consent of their five nearest relations.'' There 

 is evidence to show that this permission was frequently utilized. 

 The plots of Plautus and Terence sometimes turn upon the 

 reappearance of children supposed to have been destroyed. 



* Pliny says that infanticide is really a lamentable necessity 

 " seeing that the fertility of some women is so over-abundant in 



' Sutherland, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 132. ^ Glotz, Etudes sociales, p. 187. 



' Ibid., p. 188. * Ibid., p. 191. Possibly, however, there was no public 



ceremony unless the father had decided to keep the child. ' Ibid., p. 212. 



* Ibid., p 224. ' Lecky, European Morals, vol. ii, p. 26. 



