27/12/2025
We know the names of history’s great protagonists: emperors, generals, politicians, and philosophers that have been passed down over centuries. But in antiquity — just like today — cities were made up primarily of ordinary people.
Archaeological excavations sometimes allow us to meet them once again with their names engraved on funerary monuments – and this has also happened here at Vicus Caprarius. During our excavations, in fact, some fragments of funerary inscriptions have preserved the names Cirrius Euthycus, Euphrosynianus and Clodia Leda.
Therefore, we often only know about the end of these ordinary people’s lives.
But how did they start?
How did the Ancient Romans welcome a new child?
Child mortality was high, and a third of children born did not live to their first birthday. To maintain population, women would have to give birth many times. Unwanted children were ‘exposed’, which meant being abandoned, as in the legend of Romulus and Remus, who were later miraculously saved by a she-wolf and a shepherd.
If the newborn survived the first week, a special ceremony took place that gave the child a first name, or praenomen. Names like Primus, Secundus, and Tertius often indicated the order of births within the family, while name like Lucius referred to the time of day the child was born.
Before the purification ceremony, and before the umbilical cord fell off around day seven, the baby was considered ‘more like a plant than an animal’ (Plutarch, Roman Questions).
The ceremony of the dies lustricus took place eight days after birth for girls, or nine for boys. Newborns also received an amulet to protect against evil forces. The golden bulla was often given to boys, and lunulae, moon-crescent–shaped pendants, were often given to girls.
📸 From the excavations of the Vicus Caprarius:
1. Cinerary urn with an inscription dedicated to “Euphrosynianus” (or Euphrosynus) by his daughter and his wife “Clodia Leda”
2. Sepulchral slab with a dedication to “Cirrius Euthycus” from his wife
