Ancient Rome: Children--Play


Figure 1.--This relief sculpture shows boys playing. We are not sure just what the game was. Nor are we sure if this is one game or the two groups are involved in a different game. A reader writes, "I think it is one game. It involves a stick and balls. Looks to me like a game that might have evolved into cricket or base ball. Looks to me as if the boy is balling over arm and the game involves playing with three balls." As far as we know, however, there is no historical connection with cricket. Notice that here what look like balls are relatively round. Other depictions show more oblong game items that may be nuts. One reader thinks that what look like balls are actuaaly nuts. The sculpture is believed to date from the second quarter of the 2nd century AD. The provenance is unknown, part of the Compana Collection. Source: Louvre.

Children since time memorial have played. We do not know a great deal about how most ancient children played. But in the case of Roman children a great deal is known. Archeologists have found Roman toys. And references togames and play have been found in a range of texts. Popular activities included flying kites, playing with balls, and rolling metal hoops that chimed like bells. Horace is a good source on Roman family life and children. He describes children riding hobby-horses, building playhouses, and making whelled carts. Feminists decry gender specific toys and games. But such toys games have been the case throughout history. Roman girls played with dolls which were commonly made at home. Boys liked to play war games with their wooden swords and shields. War and making wars was at the top of the Roman value system. Boys imitated warriors in their play and wanted to great fighters. Boys played war with wooden swords and shields and mimicked their conception of war. There were many other games including still popular games, hide-and-seek and blind man’s bluff. On the previous page the boys are playing knucklebones (talus) a game very popular among both children and adults. The girls are playing ball (pila). We are not sure how accurate that was. There were ball games, but no rubber for the balls. Boys played various games involved with hitting a ball with hands or arms. Padding was used for protection. Girls also played ball games, but we suspect it was less common. Here we see sme sort of ball game, but we do not understand just what the game was or even if one ot two games are being depicted (figure 1). As with modern times, some of the games children played reflected sports played mostly young men, but we see some yoing women as well. Sports never, however, reached the enormous popularity of the gladatorial games and equestarian contests (horse and chariot racing).

Ancient Societies

Children since time memorial have played. We do not know a great deal about how most ancient children played. Play is something that all children did. Here economics is a factor. Ricjer societies were more likely to endulge children more. Poorer societies are more likely to involvechildren in the work force as soon as possible. In the case of Roman children a great deal is known.

Toys

Archeeologists have found Roman toys. There are also sulptures, mosacics, and paintings showing toys and children at play wih them. There are alaso fascinating descritions. Roman children did not have massive piles of toys like modern children. but even poor children might have a few rustic toys. And because Rme for its time was a weatly empire, archeologists have found more Roman toys and a greater variety of toys than for any other anvciet civilization. Toys and games in ancient times as in our modern era were based on real life ativities. Roman boys and girls liked to mimic their parents as is still the case. Thus there are similarities between Roman and modern toys. Roman children had kites, hoops, hobbyhorses, play houses, tops, marbles (made from marble), and even tiny carts pulled by mice. [Horace] Children had small figures of various sorts, primarily people and animals. They were made in different materials. Clay and wood were the most common materials, but wealthy children might have toys made out of more precious material. We also note board games. Onegame found was rages. Although we do not know just how it ws played, archaeologuss believe it s an early version of Scrable. There was also what seems to be an early version of Chess--Latrunculi. Girls of course loved dolls. Feminists today decry gender specific toys and games. But such toys and games have been the case throughout history. Boys had wooden swords and shields. For poor children sticks would do. Roman girls especially liked dolls. This varied along with income. Well to do children had dolls made from wood, clay (terracotta) or wax or for the wealthy even ivory. The most expensive had joints to bend and pose. Poor children could not afford these, but had what we might call today rag dolls. Hair styles help date the dolls.

Pets

Roman children adored pets. Dogs were a favorite, surely the most popular of all Roman pets. But we also see birds, including pigeons ducks and geese. Cats were not common during the Rpublic, but during the late pribcipare appeared first as useful mousers, but apprently began to be kept as parts as well (beginning about 100 AD). Here the relationship with Egypt was probably a factor. Cats were very important in ancient Egypt, not only as mousers, but as pets and in religious practices.

Games

References to games and play have been found in a range of texts. Popular activities included flying kites, playing with balls, and rolling metal hoops that chimed like bells. Horace is a good source on Roman family life and children and he provides some information on games. He describes children riding hobby-horses, building playhouses, and making tiny whelled carts. Boys played war and practiced with wooden swords. They might play the Trojan war or the battles to defeat Hanibal and destroy Carthage. Some of the games were standards still played today, some of the oldest games still played by modern people. There was a tug-of-war game called Troy. A popular hand game was was Micatio. The modern version is Morra and is still popular in Italy. There was a game rather like jacks played with nucklebones. The imagery we have found suggests a game rather like bowls. But unless there is some mention in Roman texts, it is often difficult to understand just what is being portrayed in the mosacics, paintings, and sculptures.

Gender

Boys liked to play war games with their wooden swords and shields. War and making wars was at the top of the Roman value system. Boys imitated warriors in their play and wanted to great fighters. Boys played war with wooden swords and shields and mimicked their conception of war. There were many other games including still popular games, hide-and-seek and blind man’s bluff. On the previous page the boys are playing knucklebones (talus) a game very popular among both children and adults. The girls are playing ball (pila). We are not sure how accurate that was. There were ball games, but no rubber for the balls. Boys played various games involved with hitting a ball with hands or arms. Padding was used for protection. Girls also played ball games, but we suspect it was less common. Here we see sme sort of ball game, but we do not understand just what the game was or even if one or two games are being depicted (figure 1). As part of the same relief sculpture we see girls playing a ball game. It is unclear just what the came consisted of. but it may be throwing the ball aginst a wall and catching it. The Romans did not have rubber which was a Western Hemishere plant. Theydid have gum resins, but we have no idea how much bounce there was to the balls we see children playing with.

Sports

The Greeks basically invented sports. Sports were not as important as gladatorial in Rome, but they did exist and were one of many important Greek influences. As with modern times, some of the games children played reflected sports played mostly by young men, but we see some yoong women involved as well. Sports never, however, reached the enormous popularity of the gladatorial games and equestarian contests (horse and chariot racing). The Greeks are better known for sports. The Romans at first had nothing like the Greek gymnasia and palaestrae. As the Romans were making the transition from the Republic to the principate, wealthy Romans imitating Greeks, began to build places for exercise in their villas and they referred to them as gymnasia and palaestrae. Emperor Nero was the first to build a public gymnasium in Rome. Emperor Commodus built another. The idea was to introduce Greek gymnastics to Rome, but there seems to have been little success. Rather it is the grand amphitheatres and colossal buildings likes the Coloseum that dominated the Roman mind. We also see stadia in the form of the circus (circi) for racing, both men and horses. A particularly beautiful stadia was built by Domitian. We also see xysti looking rather like porticos, in which the participants in fighting games, wrestlers and boxers, exercised. Other competitions included runnng, jumping, the discus and javelin. The Romans drew a distinction betweem the athletae who pursued sport as a profession and the agonistae who pursued gymnastic exercises only to improving their health and bodily strength. We notice a range of ball games, but they do not seem very important in terms of public exibitions.

Sources

Horace.







CIH






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Created: 9:09 AM 2/26/2017
Last updated: 9:46 PM 2/26/2017