Roman Children

Fun And Play & Clothing

Young kids played with rag dolls+clay/wax dolls (some=jointed arms/legs).
Dogs were children's favourite pets, cats introduced to Rome in 1AD.
There are no definite descriptions of children's games but there may have been games like blindman's buff, hide-and-seek, seesaw, and jackstones.
Games also played on boards, and pebbles and nuts were used like marbles.
Boys would often play fight and practice sword fighting.
Girls shown, Roman art, as playing same games as boys e.g. ball, hoop rolling.
Dolls sometimes found in children's tombs who died before reaching adulthood.

Children wore simple tunic made of linen/wool reaching their knees.
A boy's tunic would have a crimson edge running all around it.
Children wore a bulla: made of two concave gold pieces (like a locket) and was fastened together by a wide spring that contained an amulet (as protection against evil) worn on a chain, cord or strap.
A bulla worn by boys until he became a citizen, where it was dedicated to the lares (the god of the Roman family).

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Between 15-17, Roman boys would become men and citizens of Rome.
A coming-of-age usually took place on 17^th March (the festival of Liberalia).
Began after he laid his bulla and toga before the lares in the morning.
A sacrifice was offered and the bulla was hung up.
The boy dressed himself in a white tunic, adjusted by his father.
Senator's son = 2 wide red stripes. Knight's son = 2 narrow red stripes.
Over this was draped the toga virilis/libera (toga of the grown man).
When the boy was ready, the procession to the Forum began.
The father used his influence to make his son's escort seem numerous and imposing by gathering his slaves, freedmen, clients, relatives, friends etc.
His name added to the list of citizens, formal congratulations were made.
Family climbed the Capitoline Hill for Temple of Liber and made offerings.
They returned home and had a dinner party for the new Roman citizen.
Marriage was usually when she would be seen as passing into womanhood.
Women would be expected to make offerings to the lares of their childhood toys to mark their transition into adulthood.

Children's training done by parents - emphasis on morals instead of intellectual.
Important virtues for a child to learn: reverence for gods, respect for law, unquestioning/obedience to authority, truthfulness, and self-reliance.
Boys became the next paterfamilias and received guidance from fathers.
Girls learned from mothers and marry someone who'd improve family's status.

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A wealthy family's son was carefully brought up and educated thoroughly.
In their early life, they were looked after by a nurse.
As the boy grew, his father would take a keener interest in his development, educating him in physical skills such as riding and informing him about the achievement of his ancestors.

Around 7, a boy would be entrusted with a paidagogos.
Responsibility for the boy's behaviour, appearance, and teaching the boy how to read, write and speak Greek, fell to the paidagogos.
Many wealthy boys would attend the Ludus (primary school) from 7, where they would be taught for 5 years by a schoolmaster.
Schools usually extension of a shop and separated from crowd by curtains.
Children worked on abacus for maths. Stylus and wax tablet for writing.
Lessons started dawn (late=beating) finished mid-afternoon, with lunch break.
Curriculum included chanting alphabet backwards/forwards and singing timetables for hours - lessons were learned by heart.
Children needn't know why things were true, only to learn it was right, to escape a beating.
Lessons were dictated as books were too expensive to have.

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Grammaticus - advanced school with specific topics e.g.public speaking.
Basis of the school day would follow a similar pattern to the Ludus.
Teachers earned small yearly salary, which could be why some schools did not have a good education standard.
They studied the writings of great intellects of Rome such as Cicero.
Didn't have much time for maths, history, or studying the world around them.
Aimed for young Romans to have a reasonble command of Latin and Greek.
Practiced writing on wax tablets. When showed good writing, wrote on paper - made with the Egyptian method of papyrus reeds. Mistakes were punished by beatings.
Wrote with quills, ink had gum, soot, and sometimes the ink of an octopus.
However, many Romans would look back on their school days fondly as they believed a sound beating, when needed, could do no harm.

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