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Children in Ancient Rome From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about children in ancient Rome. •	1Pregnancy, birth, and babyhood •	2Naming •	3Parenting philosophy •	4Relationships •	5Education •	6.Leisure •	7.Public Life •	6Death and Burial •	7See also •	8References Pregnancy, birth, and babyhood[edit source] In ancient Rome, childbirth brought upon high risk to both mother and child due to a greater chance of complications which includes infection, uterine hemorrhage, and the young age of the mothers. Women relied mainly on the religious and superstitious practices associated with medicine at this time. After conception, women would rest in bed to “preserve the seed.”. To treat pregnancy symptoms they would eat a bland diet of eggs or rice and would be massaged with olive oil. Actual childbirth would take place in the husband’s home with the assistance of a midwife. Plants and herbs such as dittany leaves, scordotis in hydromel and the root of vervain were used for relief during labor. Also, methodologies such as a drink powdered with sow’s dung to relieve labor pains and fumes from hyena loin fat or placing the right foot of a hyena on the woman to induce an easy delivery were of use. Midwives assisted births in the home and prepared the mothers with oil for lubrication, warm water, sponges, and provided bandages for the newborn. During difficult births tools with sharp hooks would be used to extract the baby. Once the baby was born the midwife would cut the umbilical cord, remove the placenta and then they would decide if the child was worth keeping. Babies with obvious deformities were frequently abandoned. Once declared fit to live, the midwife would place the child on the ground for the head of the house hold to raise up the child and claim to rear it as a Roman ritual, referred to as “tollere liberos” The baby would spend its early days swaddled in a blanket; this practice was believed to mold the body and allow it to grow to regular and attractive proportions. The baby would also be frequently massaged and given warm baths in the name of health and future attractiveness. The child would be fed by a wet nurse. The wet nurse would usually be a poor woman who had recently given birth herself. Wet nursing was common in all classes except the very poorest. The nurse would remain a significant figure in the child’s life, even sleeping in bed with them. This stage of life—until the age of 7—is what the ancient Romans referred to as “infantia”. Naming[edit source] Infants in ancient Rome were not named until days after they were born (females 8 days, males 9 days) due to a high infant mortality rate. On the 8th or 9th day a gathering would occur consisting of family and friends bearing gifts. Then a sacrifice would be made and the child would be named and given a bulla to identify him or her as freeborn. Parenting Philosophy[edit source] Roman thinkers had advice for parents and other adults on how to properly rear children. Seneca emphasized balance, encouraging parents to be neither too indulgent, nor too cruel to their children. He insisted that explicit teaching of virtue and training children in discipline was necessary in order to raise responsible citizens. He also recommended that children be restrained in word and action; this was called “modestia” Quintilian believed that children should be given time to play as well as to learn so that they do not grow up hating learning. He considered stimulation to be very important for young children, believing that their minds were born ready to absorb information.

Relationships[edit source] See Family and Marriage in ancient Rome.

Education [edit source] Both boys and girls received some form of education. Mothers looked after their sons’ education until they reached the age of seven, after which point their father took over. The focus of boys’ education was on philosophy, poetry, rhetoric, and law. Rote memorization was practiced. As the boy aged, his education would include an apprenticeship to a statesman or orator. Girls would learn household skills like weaving from the older women in their household. They might also learn literature and philosophy if their parents wished it. Grandmothers were in charge of educating children on family stories, legends, and religion Leisure [edit source] Children spent their time outside of education in a variety of leisure activities. They played with toys like rattles, dolls, clay, blocks, tops, balls, hoops, push carts, and dice. Common games boys indulged in included horse-riding, archery, wrestling, boxing and hunting. Dogs were also common pets that children played with. Public Life [edit source] Roman children had a role in public life. They participated in in religious rites such as the “lusus Trojae,” a parade where noble boys rode on horseback for an audience of adults. Girls in this ceremony weaved a special garment called a “rica”. Children also acted as ceremonial assistants and participated in processions; they also sang at public feasts Romans kept track of the passing of time by celebrating their birthday every year. These celebrations consisted of wine, garlands of flowers, ritual cakes, and fire on the domestic altar. A child who reached its first birthday (stage known as anniculus) was able to have legal privileges and the parents could apply for full Roman citizenship for their child. Boys came of age when they donned the toga urillias. It was a white toga without the purple band associated with childhood. At this point,t hey would also shave their face and cut their hair. For girls, coming of age was simply marriage. Before the wedding, they would dedicated their girlhood dolls to Venus. Girls were eligible to marry at 12 and boys at 14, although marriage this young was rare in classes other than the most wealthy. Roman law classified some ages at which a child can have social, moral, or criminal responsibility. . Under the age of 14, a child was considered to be doli incapax (incapable of criminal intent). A child older than 10, however, still had the possibility of being held responsible for a criminal act if it could be proven that they understood their offense. Death and Burial[edit source] Due to disease, epidemics, and high mortality in the Roman world, children experienced death regularly. Children were very much a part of the funeral process with the death of close family. There is no findings that suggest that children were not present during the required purification of the death a family member. They were also allowed to participate in Parentalia in February which was a time to visit the graves remember the dead. Because children were memorialized on tombstones it shows that they were recognized as an individual when they died though they had a better chance of being commemorated after surviving infancy. Older children were commemorated in the Roman religious tradition but babies that were less than 40 days of age were usually buried instead of cremated and were to be buried within the city walls under the house because they were considered not developed enough to negatively impact Roman religion for not burying them outside the walls. Babies were at very high risk of death the first few days after birth or around four to six months and there was no formal mourning period for an infant less than 1 year of age. As children got older their mourning period grew longer until they were 10 years old and had the same mourning period as an adult (10 months).