Ancient Roman Children: The father had a lot of responsibility in those times in raising the child. When the child was born he was almost laid at the feet of his father. The child was accepted as a very important part of the family and he was at that point of time given all the rights and privileges of becoming the part of the Roman family.

Ancient Roman Children

The first eight days since the birth of the child were very important. There was a lot of celebration and rejoicing done in those days. Even the naming ceremony of the child was done during this time. The naming day was a day when the family rejoiced and had a lot of fun.

The rule was such that a boy will not become a citizen, till he attained the age of 16 or 17 and wore the toga. It was the responsibility of the father to register the baby and his name and the birth details within a span of 30 days from the date of birth.

Like every child, the Ancient Roman children also had a lot of toys to play with. First there used to be the really tiny toys. Very soon, these tiny toys were replaced by dolls that were either made up of rags or of clay. The arms and the legs of these toys were separately joined.

Some of the toys that we know belonged to that time include the balls, the carts, the special carts for the mice, letter blocks, hoops that were driven by the sticks. Dogs were among the favorite pets. It was later that cats also became popular.

Roman toys and games

The children’s games are quite unknown to us but some of the games like hide and seek and see-saw were played. There were some virtues that were taught to the children at a very young age. These virtues included being obedient to the authority, self-reliance, and truthfulness.

Roman Family Life

The mother had an important role in teaching Latin to the children in the early years. By the time, the boy for 7 years old, he was sent for a more formal and structured education. The girls although still remained with the mother. Thus the girls’ formal education was for a very small span of time.

The father taught their sons how to use weapons and how to fight. If the father was a farmer, then farming was something that was taught to the son.

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