Little babies were tightly bound in swaddling clothes soon after birth, and the mother, in anxiety for her child’s safety, usually fastened an amulet or charm of some kind around its neck to keep away unfriendly spirits. The grotesque faces of colored glass previously mentioned (p. 8) may have served this purpose. Roman children wore the bulla, a case of leather or gold, according to the means of the parents, containing a charm. A large gold bulla of Etruscan workmanship is in a case at the left side of the Gold Room (fig. 46). The baby became the charge of an old and trusted slave-woman such as the kind old nurse represented in a terracotta statuette on the middle shelf of Case 3. Another of the same type is in Case K in the Sixth Room (fig. 47). The prettily decorated jug with a spout is a feeding-bottle (fig. 48).

Greek and Roman children played with toys much like those of the present day, but they were simple and inexpensive. Rattles for babies were made of terracotta with a few pebbles enclosed (Case 3, middle shelf). An interesting toy for a small child is the terracotta horse from Cyprus with large jars in its panniers such as those carried by real horses for taking provisions to and from market (Case 2, top shelf, fig. 49). Carts were favorite playthings; a small oinochoë in Case 3 shows a boy driving two goats harnessed to a chariot, and on a white lekythos painted for a child’s grave (Case F in the Fifth Room), a little boy is going to Charon’s boat for his journey over the Styx, drawing his toy cart (fig. 50). Of course, Greek and Roman children kept house with their dolls, and charming miniature vases were made for them, some for the doll’s table and others for her toilet and wedding. These vases, which are decorated with scenes of children at play, were given, it is thought, as presents on a festival day called Choes, “Jugs.” A number of different types are in Case G in the Fifth Room.

Dolls were made of wax and clay. The two seated terracotta dolls without joints in Case L in the Seventh Room were found in graves at Tarentum in Southern Italy. Another made of bone has jointed arms and could easily be dressed (Case 3, tail-piece, p. 46). These dolls were originally painted in bright colors, which have been destroyed by time.

Rolling hoops, contrary to modern ideas, seems to have been a boys’ sport. A boy with a hoop may be seen on a vase in Case J in the Fifth Room (fig. 52). Mothers and nurses swung small children in swings, as in the scene on a vase from Southern Italy (Case P, Sixth Room), and older girls also enjoyed this pastime. As part of a game or perhaps as forfeit, girls sometimes carried one another on their backs. A terracotta statuette represents two girls playing ephedrismos, as this game was called (Case 3, fig. 55). Young women and girls, as well as boys, played with whipping-tops, as is shown on a lekythos on the same shelf (fig. 53), and on one side of a toilet-box two girls are playing a game of ball with a wicket (fig. 51). Children also played hide-and-seek, tug-of-war, and many games with beans, nuts, pebbles, small coins, and the astragals described in the section on Amusements (pp. 68-69).

At about six years of age Greek boys were sent to school, while the girls remained at home to learn from their mothers how to spin and weave, and to read a little and keep accounts. Their education was of the simplest kind and ceased very early.

The first school to which a boy went was that of the letter-teacher, who taught reading, writing, and simple arithmetic. A kylix in Case 3 (see head-band, p. 40) is decorated with figures of schoolboys, one of whom holds a roll of manuscript, and another a writing tablet. These tablets were thin pieces of wood covered with wax and fastened together with cords (fig. 56). A pointed stylus (fig. 54) was used for writing, the blunt end being turned around when it was necessary to erase by smoothing the wax[1]. After three or four years in the letter-school the boys went to the music teacher, who taught them to sing and to play the lyre, and in connection with the music they learned many selections from the great poets. Training in the palaistra or wrestling-school was begun very early, and was usually continued until the boy was old enough to be called into the military service of the state. These lessons will be described in the section on athletics, as the sports of the palaistra were in general the same as those of the men’s gymnasium. In addition to the subjects already mentioned, many boys, during the fifth century and later, studied geometry, rhetoric, and philosophy.

In Italy, Greek ideas of education were generally adopted; boys learned the Greek language and studied the Greek and Roman poets. A little geography and history were taught, and arithmetic occupied much time, for the Roman system of weights, measures, and coins was difficult and inconvenient. Besides the schools for elementary subjects there were special classes for the study of rhetoric and philosophy. The children of rich or noble families were often educated at home by Greek tutors, the girls and boys together, and among the humbler people they went to the same school for a time. In general the education of girls was similar to that of boys, so far as it went, and sometimes in wealthy families was continued after marriage. Many ladies knew the Greek poets well and wrote verses themselves. Music occupied much of their time and they learned to dance for recreation and as a means of giving pleasure to their families and friends.