in the time of Paul, children were absolutely in their father’s power. (2) There was the custom of child exposure. When a child was born, it was placed at its father’s feet; and, if the father stooped and lifted the child, that meant that he acknowledged it and wanted to keep it. If he turned and walked away, it meant that he refused to acknowledge it, and the child could quite literally be thrown out. There is a letter whose date is 1 BC from a man called Hilarion to his wife Alis. He has gone to