Exposing Practice Exposed by Justin Martyr

The Roman practice of exposing—also known as expositio—was the act of abandoning unwanted infants, typically in public places, where they were left to die or be taken by others. This practice was primarily motivated by social, economic, or personal reasons, such as the inability to provide for the child, the birth of an illegitimate or deformed infant, or a preference for male heirs.

Exposure was generally more common in urban areas, where the child could be easily found by others who might raise them as slaves or servants. Though the fate of exposed infants varied, many did not survive due to harsh conditions. This practice reflects the societal attitudes towards unwanted children in ancient Rome, where infanticide and abandonment were legally permissible under Roman law, unlike in many modern societies where such actions are prohibited.

In the book “ Destroyer of the gods; Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World,” by Larry W. Hurtado, on pages 144-145, it states the following in the section regarding Infant Exposure:

But, all the same, it was also a time when people legally and without qualms, it appears, engaged in some practices that, hopefully, we would regard as abhorrent today. Consider, as one particularly striking example, the practice of discarding unwanted babies and the reasons they were discarded. This practice, often referred to in scholarly studies as “infant exposure,” typically involved casting the unwanted newborn baby on a trash-heap site or some abandoned place, the infant left to die or be collected by someone, usually to be reared for slavery. Although today it will be difficult to consider the practice without revulsion, in the Roman period it was apparently not a source of great moral outrage, at least not widely. As an illustration, let us note an oft-cited letter from a man named Hilarion, who was probably serving in the Roman army, to his wife, Alis, written in 1 BC. His letter reflects the apparent frequency of, and casual attitude toward, infant abandonment. Moreover, the letter shows that it was practiced by people who otherwise seem to have had recognizably humane feelings.