CHILDREN AND EDUCATION
REFERENCES: Marquardt, 80-134; Voigt, 322 f., 397 f., 455 f.; Göll,
"Gallus," II, 65-113; Friedländer, I, 456 f., III, 376 f.; Ramsay, 475
f.; Smith, _lūdus litterārius_; Harper, _education_; Baumeister, 237,
1588 f.; Schreiber, Pl. 79, 82, 89, 90; Lübker, _Erziehung_.
§94. Legal Status.--The position of the children in the _familia_ has
been already explained (§§31, 32). It has been shown that in the eyes
of the law they were little better than the chattels of the Head of
the House. It rested with him to grant them the right to live; all
that they earned was his; they married at his bidding, and either
remained under his _potestās_ or passed under another no less severe.
It has also been suggested that custom (§32) and _pietās_ (§73) had
made this condition less rigorous than it seems to us.
§95. Susceptio.--The power of the _pater familiās_ was displayed
immediately after the birth of the child. By invariable custom it was
laid upon the ground at his feet. If he raised (_tollere_,
_suscipere_) it in his arms, he acknowledged it as his own by the act
(_susceptiō_) and admitted it to all the rights and privileges that
membership in a Roman family implied. If he refused to do so, the
child became an outcast, without family, without the protection of the
spirits of the dead (§27), utterly friendless and forsaken. The
disposal of the child did not ordinarily call for any act of downright
murder, such as was contemplated in the case of Romulus and Remus and
was afterwards forbidden by Romulus the King (§32). The child was
simply "exposed" (_expōnere_), that is, taken by a slave from the
house and left on the highway to live or to die. When we consider the
slender chance for life that the newborn child has with even the
tenderest care, the result of this exposure will not seem doubtful.
§96. But there was a chance for life, and the mother, powerless to
interpose in her infant's behalf, often sent with it some trinkets or
trifling articles of jewelry that would serve perhaps to identify it,
if it should live. Even if the child was found in time by persons
disposed to save its life, its fate might be worse than death. Slavery
was the least of the evils to which it was exposed. Such foundlings
often fell into the hands of those whose trade was beggary and who
trained children for the same profession. In the time of the Empire,
at least, they cruelly maimed and deformed their victims, in order to
excite more readily the compassion of those to whom they appealed for
alms. Such things are still done in southern Europe.
§97. Dies Lustricus.--The first eight days of the life of the
acknowledged child were called _prīmordia_, and were the occasion of
various religious ceremonies. During this time the child was called
_pūpus_ (§55), although to weak and puny children the individual name
might be given soon after birth. On the ninth day in the case of a
boy, on the eighth in the case of a girl, the _praenōmen_ (§43) was
given with due solemnity. A sacrifice was offered and the ceremony of
purification was performed, which gave the day its name, _diēs
lūstricus_, although it was also called the _diēs nōminum_ and
_nōminālia_. These ceremonies seem to have been private; that is, it
can not be shown that there was any taking of the child to a
_templum_, as there was among the Jews, or any enrollment of the name
upon an official list. In the case of the boy the registering of the
name on the list of citizens may have occurred at the time of putting
on the _toga virīlis_ (§127).
[Illustration: FIGURE 17. CREPUNDIA]
§98. The _diēs lūstricus_ was, however, a time of rejoicing and
congratulation among the relatives and friends, and these together
with the household slaves presented the child with little metal toys
or ornaments in the form of flowers, miniature axes and swords, and
especially figures shaped like a half-moon (_lūnulae_), etc. These,
called collectively _crepundia_, were strung together and worn around
the neck and over the breast (Fig. 17). They served in the first place
as playthings to keep the child amused, hence the name "rattles," from
_crepō_. Besides, they were a protection against witchcraft or the
evil eye (_fascinātiō_), especially the _lūnulae_. More than this,
they were a means of identification in the case of lost or stolen
children, and for this reason Terence calls them _monumenta_. Such
were the trinkets sometimes left with an abandoned child (§96), their
value depending, of course, upon the material of which they were made.
[Illustration: FIGURE 18. THE BULLA]
[Illustration: FIGURE 19. GIRL'S NECKLACE]
§99. The Bulla.--But of more significance than these was the _bulla
aurea_, which the father hung around the child's neck on this day, if
he had not done so at the time of the _susceptiō_. It consisted of two
concave pieces of gold, like a watch case (Fig. 18), fastened together
by a wide spring of the same metal and containing an amulet as a
protection against _fascinātiō_. It was hung around the neck by a
chain or cord and worn upon the breast. The _bulla_ came originally
from Etruria,[1] and for a long time the children of patricians only
were allowed to wear those of gold, the plebeians contenting
themselves with an imitation made of leather, hung on a leathern
thong. In the course of time the distinction ceased to be observed, as
we have seen such distinctions die out in the use of names and in the
marriage ceremonies, and by Cicero's time the _bulla aurea_ might be
worn by the child of any freeborn citizen. The choice of material
depended rather upon the wealth and generosity of the father than upon
his social position. The girl wore her _bulla_ (Fig. 19) until the eve
of her wedding day, laying it aside with other childish things, as we
have seen (§76); the boy wore his until he assumed the _toga virīlis_,
when it was dedicated to the _Larēs_ of the house and carefully
preserved. If the boy became a successful general and won the coveted
honor of a triumph, he always wore his _bulla_ in the triumphal
procession as a protection against envy.
[Footnote 1: The influence of Etruria upon Rome faded before that of
Greece (§5), but from Etruria the Romans got the art of divination,
certain forms of architecture, the insignia of royalty, and the games
of the circus and the amphitheater.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 20. CHILD IN LITTER]
§100. Nurses.--The mother was the child's nurse (§90) not only in the
days of the Republic but even into the Empire, the Romans having
heeded the teachings of nature in this respect longer than any other
civilized nation of the old world. Of course it was not always
possible then, as it is not always possible now, for the mother to
nurse her children, and then her place was taken by a slave
(_nūtrīx_), to whom the name _māter_ seems to have been given out of
affection. In the ordinary care of the children, too, the mother was
assisted, but only assisted, by slaves. Under the eye of the mother,
slaves washed and dressed the child, told it stories, sang it
lullabies, and rocked it to sleep on the arm or in a cradle. None of
these nursery stories have come down to us, but Quintilian tells us
that Aesop's fables resembled them. For a picture of a cradle see
Smith under the words _cūnae_ and _cūnābula_; in Rich under _cūnāria_
is a picture of a nurse giving a baby its bath. The place of the
modern baby carriage was taken by a litter (_lectīca_), and a terra
cotta figure has come down to us (Fig. 20) representing a child
carried in such a litter by two men.
§101. After the Punic wars (§5) it became customary for the well-to-do
to select for the child's nurse a Greek slave, that the child might
acquire the Greek language as naturally as its own. In Latin
literature are many passages that testify to the affection felt for
each other by nurse and child, an affection that lasted on into
manhood and womanhood. It was a common thing for the young wife to
take with her into her new home, as her adviser and confidant, the
nurse who had watched over her in infancy. Faithfulness on the part of
such slaves was also frequently repaid by manumission.
[Illustration: FIGURE 21. JOINTED DOLL]
[Illustration: FIGURE 22. CHILDREN PLAYING BALL]
§102. Playthings.--But little is known of the playthings, pets, and
games of Roman children, because as has been said (§93) domestic life
was not a favorite theme of Roman writers and no books were then
written especially for the young. Still there are scattered references
in literature from which we can learn something, and more is known
from monumental sources (§10). This evidence shows that playthings
were numerous and of very many kinds. The _crepundia_ have been
mentioned already (§98), and these miniature tools and implements seem
to have been very common. Dolls there were, too, and some of these
have come down to us, though we can not always distinguish between
statuettes and genuine playthings. Some were made of clay, others of
wax, and even jointed arms and legs were not unknown (Fig. 21). Little
wagons and carts were also common (Schreiber, LXXXII, 10), and Horace
speaks of hitching mice to toys of this sort. There are numerous
pictures and descriptions of children spinning tops, making them
revolve by blows of a whiplash, as in Europe nowadays. Hoops also were
a favorite plaything, driven with a stick and having pieces of metal
fastened to them to warn people of their approach. Boys walked on
stilts and played with balls (Fig. 22), too, but as men enjoyed this
sport as well, it may be deferred until we reach the subject of
amusements (§318).
[Illustration: FIGURE 23. BOY AND GOOSE]
§103. Pets and Games.--Pets were even more common then than now, and
then as now the dog was easily first in the affections of children
(Schreiber, LXXXII, 6). The cat, on the other hand, was hardly known
until very late in the history of Greece and Rome. Birds were very
commonly made pets, and besides the doves and pigeons which are
familiar to us as well, we are told that ducks, crows, and quail were
pets of children. So also were geese, odd as this seems to us, and the
statue of a child struggling with a goose as large as himself is well
known (Fig. 23). Monkeys were known, but could not have been common.
Mice have been mentioned already. Games of many kinds were played by
children, but we can only guess at the nature of most of them, as we
have hardly any formal descriptions. There were games corresponding to
our Odd or Even, Blindman's Buff, Hide and Seek, Jackstones (§320),
and Seesaw (Schreiber, LXXIX and LXXX). Pebbles and nuts were used in
games something like our marbles, and there were board-games also. To
these may be added for boys riding, swimming, and wrestling, although
these were taken too seriously, perhaps, to be called games and
belonged rather to their training for the duties of citizenship.
§104. Home Training.--The training of the children was conducted by
the father and mother in person. More stress was laid upon the moral
than upon the intellectual development: reverence for the gods,
respect for the law, unquestioning and instant obedience to authority,
truthfulness, and self-reliance were the most important lessons for
the child to learn. Much of this came from the constant association of
the children with their parents, which was the characteristic feature
of the home training of the Romans as compared with that of other
peoples of the time. The children sat at table with their elders or
helped to serve the meals. Until the age of seven both boys and girls
had their mother for their teacher. From her they learned to speak
correctly their native tongue, and Latin rhetoricians tell us that the
best Latin was spoken by the noble women of the great houses of Rome.
The mother taught them the elements of reading and writing and as much
of the simpler operations of arithmetic as children so young could
learn.
§105. From about the age of seven the boy passed under the care of
regular teachers, but the girl remained her mother's constant
companion. Her schooling was necessarily cut short, because the Roman
girl became a wife so young (§67), and there were things to learn in
the meantime that books do not teach. From her mother she learned to
spin and weave and sew: even Augustus wore garments woven by his wife.
By her mother she was initiated into all the mysteries of household
economy and fitted to take her place as the mistress of a household of
her own, to be a Roman _mātrōna_, the most dignified position to which
a woman could aspire in the ancient world (§§90, 91).
§106. The boy, except during the hours of school, was equally his
father's companion. If the father was a farmer, as all Romans were in
earlier times, the boy helped in the fields and learned to plow and
plant and reap. If the father was a man of high position and lived in
the capital, the boy stood by him in his hall as he received his
guests, learned to know their faces, names, and rank, and acquired a
practical knowledge of politics and affairs of state. If the father
was a senator, the boy, in the earlier days only it is true,
accompanied him to the senate house to hear the debates and listen to
the great orators of the time; and the son could always go with him to
the forum when he was an advocate or concerned in a public trial.
§107. Then as every Roman was bred a soldier the father trained the
son in the use of arms and in the various military exercises, as well
as in the manly sports of riding, swimming, wrestling, and boxing. In
these exercises strength and agility were kept in view, rather than
the grace of movement and symmetrical development of form, on which
the Greeks laid so much stress. On great occasions, too, when the
cabinets in the atrium were opened and the wax busts of their
ancestors displayed, the boy and girl of noble family were always
present and learned the history of the family of which they were a
part, and with it the history of Rome.
§108. Schools.--The actual instruction given to the children by the
father would vary with his own education and at best be subject to all
sorts of interruptions due to his private business or his public
duties. We find that this embarrassment was appreciated in very early
times, and that it was customary for a _pater familiās_ who happened
to have among his slaves one competent to give the needed instruction,
to turn over to him the actual teaching of the children. It must be
remembered that slaves taken in war were often much better educated
than their Roman masters. Not all households, however, would include a
competent teacher, and it would seem only natural for the fortunate
owner of such a slave to receive into his house at fixed hours of the
day the children of his friends and neighbors to be taught together
with his own.
§109. For this privilege he might charge a fee for his own benefit, as
we are told that Cato actually did, or he might allow the slave to
retain as his _pecūlium_ (§33) the little presents given him by his
pupils in lieu of direct payment. The next step, one taken in times
too early to be accurately fixed, was to select for the school a more
convenient place than a private house, one that was central and easily
accessible, and to receive as pupils all who could pay the modest fee
that was demanded. To these schools girls as well as boys were
admitted, but for the reason given in §105 the girls had little time
for studying more than their mothers could teach them, and those who
did carry their studies further came usually of families who preferred
to educate their daughters in the privacy of their own homes and could
afford to do so. The exceptions to this rule were so few, that from
this point we may consider the education of boys alone.
[Illustration: FIGURE 24. WAXED TABLETS AND STILUS]
§110. Subjects Taught in Elementary Schools.--In these elementary
schools the only subjects taught were reading, writing, and
arithmetic. In the first, great stress was laid upon the
pronunciation: the sounds were easy enough but quantity was hard to
master. The teacher pronounced first syllable by syllable, then the
separate words, and finally the whole sentence, the pupils pronouncing
after him at the tops of their voices. In the teaching of writing, wax
tablets (Fig. 24) were employed, much as slates were a generation ago.
The teacher first traced with a _stilus_ the letters that served as a
copy, then he guided the pupil's hand with his own until the child had
learned to form the letters independently. When some dexterity had
been acquired, the pupil was taught to use the reed pen and write with
ink upon papyrus. For practice, sheets were used that had had one side
written upon already for more important purposes. If any books at all
were used in these schools, the pupils must have made them for
themselves by writing from the teacher's dictation.
[Illustration: FIGURE 25. ABACUS]
§111. In arithmetic mental calculation was emphasized, but the pupil
was taught to use his fingers in a very elaborate way that is not now
thoroughly understood, and harder sums were worked out with the help
of the reckoning board (_abacus_, Fig. 25). In addition to all this,
attention was paid to the training of the memory, and the pupil was
made to learn by heart all sorts of wise and pithy sayings and
especially the Twelve Tables of the Law. These last became a regular
fetich in the schools, and even when the language in which they were
written had become obsolete pupils continued to learn and recite them.
Cicero had learned them in his boyhood, but within his lifetime they
were dropped from the schools.
§112. Grammar Schools.--Among the results of contact with other
peoples that followed the Punic wars (§5) was the extension of
education at Rome beyond these elementary and strictly utilitarian
subjects. The Greek language came to be generally learned (§101) and
Greek ideas of education were in some degree adopted. Schools were
established in which the central thing was the study of the Greek
poets, and these schools we may call Grammar Schools because the
teacher was called _grammaticus_. Homer was long the universal
text-book, and students were not only taught the language, but were
instructed in the matters of geography, mythology, antiquities,
history, and ethics suggested by the portions of the text which they
read. The range of instruction and its value depended entirely upon
the teacher, as does such instruction to-day, but it was at best
fragmentary and disconnected. There was no systematic study of any of
these subjects, not even of history, despite its interest and
practical value to a world-ranging people like the Romans.
§113. The Latin language was soon made the subject of similar study,
at first in separate schools. The lack of Latin poetry to work upon,
for prose authors were not yet made text-books, led to the translation
by a Greek slave, Livius Andronicus (3d century B.C.), of the Odyssey
of Homer into Latin Saturnian verses. From this translation, rude as
the surviving fragments show it to have been, dates the beginning of
Latin literature, and it was not until this literature had furnished
poets like Terence, Vergil, and Horace, that the rough Saturnians of
Livius Andronicus disappeared from the schools.
§114. In these Grammar Schools, Greek as well as Latin, great stress
seems to have been laid upon elocution, a thing less surprising when
we consider the importance of oratory under the Republic. The teacher
had the pupils pronounce after him first the words, then the clauses,
and finally the complete sentences. The elements of rhetoric were
taught in some of these schools, but technical instruction in the
subject was not given until the establishment at a much later period
of special schools of rhetoric. In the Grammar Schools were also
taught music and geometry, and these made complete the ordinary
education of boyhood.
§115. Schools of Rhetoric.--The Schools of Rhetoric were formed on
Greek lines and conducted by Greek teachers. They were not a part of
the regular system of education, but corresponded more nearly to our
colleges, being frequented by persons beyond the age of boyhood and
with rare exceptions, of the higher classes only. In these schools the
study of prose authors was begun, but the main thing was the practice
of composition. This was begun in its simplest form, the narrative
(_nārrātiō_), and continued step by step until the end in view was
reached, the practice of public speaking (_dēclāmātiō_). One of the
intermediate forms was the _suāsōria_, in which the students took
sides on some disputed point of history and supported their views by
argument. A favorite exercise also was the writing of a speech to be
put in the mouth of some person famous in legend or history. How
effective these could be made is seen in the speeches inserted in
their histories by Sallust, Livy, and Tacitus.
§116. Travel.--In the case of persons of the noblest and most wealthy
families, or those whose talents in early manhood promised a brilliant
future, the training of the schools was sure to be supplemented by a
period of travel and residence abroad. Greece, Rhodes, and Asia Minor
were the most frequently visited, whether the young Roman cared for
the scenes of great historical events and the rich collections of
works of literature and art, or merely enjoyed the natural charms and
social splendors of the gay and luxurious capitals of the east. For
the purposes of serious study Athens offered the greatest attractions
and might almost have been called the university of Rome, in this
respect standing to Italy much as Germany now stands to the United
States. It must be remembered, however, that the Roman who studied in
Athens was as familiar with Greek as with his native Latin and for
this reason was much better prepared to profit by the lectures he
heard than is the average American who now studies on the continent.
§117. Apprenticeship.--There were certain matters, a knowledge of
which was essential to a successful public life, for training in which
no provision was made by the Roman system of education. Such matters
were jurisprudence, administration and diplomacy, and war. It was
customary, therefore, for the young citizen to attach himself for a
time to some older man, eminent in these lines or in some one of them,
in order to gain an opportunity for observation and practical
experience in the performance of duties that would sooner or later
devolve upon him. So Cicero learned the civil law under Quintus Mucius
Scaevola, the most eminent jurist of the time, and in later years the
young Marcus Coelius Rufus in turn served the same voluntary
apprenticeship (_tīrōcinium forī_) under Cicero. This arrangement was
not only very advantageous to the young men but was considered very
honorable for those under whom they studied.
§118. In the same way the governors of provinces and generals in the
field were attended by a voluntary staff (_cohors_) of young men, whom
they had invited to accompany them at state expense for personal or
political reasons. These _tīrōnēs_ became familiar in this way
(_tīrōcinium mīlitiae_) with the practical side of administration and
war, while at the same time they were relieved of many of the
hardships and dangers suffered by those, less fortunate, who had to
rise from the ranks. It was this staff of inexperienced young men who
hid in their tents or went back to Rome when Caesar determined to meet
Ariovistus in battle, although some of them, no doubt, made gallant
soldiers and wise commanders afterward.
§119. Remarks on the Schools.--Having considered the possibilities in
the way of education and training within the reach of the more favored
few, we may now go back to the Elementary and Grammar Schools to get
an idea of the actual school life of the ordinary Roman boy. While
these were not public schools in our sense of the word, that is, while
they were not supported or supervised by the state, and while
attendance was not compulsory, it is nevertheless true that the
elements at least of education, a knowledge of the three R's, were
more generally diffused among the Romans than among any other people
of the ancient world. The schools were distinctly democratic in this,
that they were open to all classes, that the fees were little more
than nominal, that so far as concerned discipline and the treatment of
the pupils no distinction was made between the children of the
humblest and of the most lordly families.
[Illustration: FIGURE 26. A ROMAN SCHOOL]
[Illustration: FIGURE 27: CARICATURE OF A SCHOOL]
§120. The school was usually in a _pergula_, a shedlike attachment to
a public building, roofed against the sun and rain, but open at the
sides and furnished merely with rough benches without backs. The
children were exposed, therefore, to all the distractions of the busy
town life around them, and the people living near were in turn annoyed
by the noisy recitations (§110) and even noisier punishments. A
picture of a schoolroom from a wall painting in Herculaneum is shown
in Fig. 26 and an ancient caricature, by a schoolboy probably, in Fig.
27.
§121. The Teacher.--The teacher was originally a slave, perhaps
usually a freedman. The position was not an honorable one, though this
depended upon the character of the teacher himself, and while the
pupils feared the master they seem to have had little respect for him.
The pay he received was a mere pittance, varying from three dollars a
year for the elementary teacher (_litterātor_, _magister litterārum_)
to five or six times that sum for a _grammaticus_ (§112). In addition
to the fee, the pupils were expected to bring the master from time to
time little presents, a custom persisting probably from the time when
these presents were his only reward (§109). The fees varied, however,
with the qualifications of the master, and some whose reputations were
established and whose schools were "fashionable" charged no fees at
all, but left the amount to be paid (_honōrārium_) to the generosity
of their patrons.
§122. Schooldays and Holidays.--The schoolday began before sunrise, as
did all the work at Rome on account of the heat in the middle of the
day (cf. §79). The students brought candles by which to study until it
became light, and the roof was soon black with the grime and smoke.
The session lasted until time for the noonday luncheon and siesta
(§302), and was resumed in the afternoon. We do not know definitely
that there was any fixed length for the school-year. We know that it
regularly began on the 24th of March and that there were numerous
holidays, notably the Saturnalia in December and the Quinquatria from
the 19th to the 23rd of March. The great religious festivals, too,
especially those celebrated with games, would naturally be observed by
the schools, and apparently the market days (_nūndinae_) were also
holidays. It was until lately supposed that there was no school from
the last of June until the first of November, but this view rested
upon an incorrect interpretation of certain passages of Horace and
Martial which are now otherwise explained. It is certain, however,
that the children of wealthy parents would be absent from Rome during
the hot season, and this would at least cut down the attendance in
some of the schools and might perhaps close them altogether.
[Illustration: FIGURE 28. PAEDAGOGUS]
§123. The Paedagogus.--The boy of good family was always attended by a
trustworthy slave (_paedagōgus_), who accompanied him to school,
remained with him during the sessions, and saw him safely home again
when school was out. If the boy had wealthy parents, he might have,
besides, one or more slaves (_pedisequī_) to carry his satchel and
tablets. The _paedagōgus_ was usually an elderly man, selected for his
good character and expected to keep the boy out of all harm, moral as
well as physical. He was not a teacher, despite the meaning of the
English derivative, except that after the learning of Greek became
general a Greek slave was usually selected for the position in order
that the boy might not forget what he had learned from his nurse
(§101). The scope of his regular duties is clearly shown by the Latin
words used sometimes instead of _paedagōgus_: _comes_, _custōs_,
_monitor_, and _rēctor_. He was addressed by his ward as _dominus_,
and seems to have had the right to compel obedience by mild
punishments (Fig. 28). His duties ceased when the boy assumed the toga
of manhood, but the same warm affection often continued between them
as between the woman and her nurse (§101).
§124. Discipline.--The discipline seems to have been really Roman in
its severity, if we may judge from the picture of a school above
referred to (§120) and by the grim references to the rod and ferule in
Juvenal and Martial. Horace has given to his teacher, Orbilius, a
deathless fame by the adjective _plāgōsus_. From Nepos we learn that
then as now teachers might have appealed to the natural emulation
between well-bred boys, and we know that prizes, too, were offered.
Perhaps we may think the ferule well deserved when we read of the
schoolboy's trick immortalized by Persius. The passage (III, 44 f.) is
worth quoting in full:
_Saepe oculōs, meminī, tangēbam parvus olīvō,_
_Grandia sī nōllem moritūrī verba Cātōnis_
_Discere et īnsānō multum laudanda magistrō!_[2]
[Footnote 2: "Often, I remember, as a small boy I used to give my eyes
a touch with oil, if I did not want to learn Cato's grand dying
speech, sure to be rapturously applauded by my wrong-headed master."]
§125. End of Childhood.--There was no special ceremony to mark the
passing of girlhood into womanhood, but for the boy the attainment of
his majority was marked by the laying aside of the crimson-bordered
_toga praetexta_ and the putting on of the pure white _toga virīlis_.
There was no fixed year, corresponding to the twenty-first with us, in
which the _puer_ became _iuvenis_; something depended upon the
physical and intellectual development of the boy himself, something
upon the will or caprice of his _pater familiās_, more perhaps upon
the time in which he lived. We may say generally, however, that the
_toga virīlis_ was assumed between the fourteenth and seventeenth
years, the later age belonging to the earlier time when citizenship
carried with it more responsibility than under the Empire and demanded
a greater maturity.
§126. For the classical period we may put the age required at sixteen,
and if we add to this the _tīrōcinium_ (§117), which followed the
donning of the garb of manhood, we shall have the seventeen years
after the expiration of which the citizen had been liable in ancient
times to military duty. The day was even less precisely fixed. We
should expect the birthday at the beginning of the seventeenth year,
but it seems to have been the more usual, but by no means invariable,
custom to select for the ceremony the feast of Liber which happened to
come nearest to the seventeenth birthday. This feast was celebrated on
the 17th of March and was called the _līberālia_. No more appropriate
time could have been selected to suggest the freer life of manhood
upon which the boy was now about to enter.
§127. The Liberalia.--The festivities of the great day began in the
early morning, when the boy laid before the Lares of his house the
_bulla_ (§99) and _toga praetexta_, called together the _īnsignia
pueritiae_. A sacrifice was then offered, and the _bulla_ was hung
over the hearth, not to be taken down and worn again except on some
occasion when the man who had worn it as a boy should be in danger of
the envy of men and gods. The boy then dressed himself in the _tunica
rēcta_ (§76), having one or two crimson stripes if he was the son of a
senator or a knight, and over this was carefully draped the _toga
virīlis_. This was also called in contrast to the gayer garb of
boyhood the _toga pūra_, and with reference to the freedom of manhood
the _toga lībera_.
§128. Then began the procession to the forum. The father had gathered
his slaves and freedmen and clients, had been careful to notify his
relatives and friends, and had used all his personal and political
influence to make the escort of his son as numerous and imposing as
possible. If the ceremony took place on the _līberālia_, the forum was
sure to be crowded with similar processions of rejoicing friends. Here
were extended the formal congratulations, and the name of one more
citizen was added to the official list. An offering was then made in
the temple of Liber on the Capitoline Hill, and the day ended with a
feast at the father's house.