Download This PaperGreco-Roman Sex Ratios and Femicide in Comparative Perspective
12 Pages Posted: 14 Nov 2009 Last revised: 6 Apr 2010
Date Written: April 1, 2010
Abstract
Is it possible to demonstrate that ancient Greeks or Romans disposed of newborn daughters in ways that skewed sex ratios in favor of males? Epigraphic, papyrological, and archaeological evidence fails to provide reliable empirical support for this notion. At the same time, we cannot rule out the possibility that femicide did in fact occur. Drawing on comparative anthropological and historical evidence, this paper briefly develops two models of femicidal practice.
Keywords: Sex ratio, Infanticide, Femicide
JEL Classification: J13, J16
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Scheidel, Walter, Greco-Roman Sex Ratios and Femicide in Comparative Perspective (April 1, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1505793 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1505793
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