Toys in Ancient Rome
For years, people have been telling me that once you have a child, you see the world with different eyes. They were right! Since I became a father in my early 40s, I have wondered less about historical military equipment and more about everyday things. For instance, were there toys in Ancient Rome?
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Table of Contents
Toys in Ancient Rome
Nothing compares to the joy of babies playing with their toys except the relief of their weary parents. To be honest, we wouldn’t have survived without pacifiers (binkies, dummies, or whatever it is called) and rattles.
One time, when I managed to sneak out and enjoy a few quiet moments in the toilet, I said a silent prayer for modern soothing devices, wondering how Roman parents managed without it. It turns out they didn’t.
Archaeologists unearthed a 3000-year-old pacifier in Italy. It was a clay object shaped like a pig (or frog?) with a hole in it for sucking honey, presumably. The thing wasn’t good for the baby’s dental health, and giving honey to infants can lead to botulism, but don’t be too harsh: all the parents wanted was a good night’s sleep!
As a side note to parent-wannabes, it is not easy, but it is absolutely worth it!
Baby and Toddler Toys
Roman babies played with charms, bells, and whistles. Also, many larger rattles called crepitacula were found in archeological sites.
Rattles came in different shapes and forms and could contain pebbles to make noise.
Romans loved showing off from an early age. Children of wealthy parents wore small silver or golden rattles as earrings. The parents’ names were inscribed into them in case they got lost.
Toddlers played with pushcarts to help them walk. Unsurprisingly, boys loved playing with toy horses, chariots, and other wheeled playthings. There are recorded cases of miniature chariots pulled by pet mice.
In similar fashion, wooden swords, marbles, spinning tops, kites, and terracotta dolls were everyday items, the same as swings and seesaws.
Children Toys
Older children pushed hoops with sticks, mimicking the chariot races popular with the adults.
Then, the same as now, girls preferred dolls. Despite the criticism of modern female dolls, their ancient Roman grandmothers were also sexualized, depicting the beauty standards of the day.
Moreover, Roman dolls were fashioned to resemble famous contemporary women, such as Empresses Faustina the Older and Faustina de Younger. The wives of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius were held up as perfect examples of aristocratic Roman mothers and spouses. Thus, dolls promoted not only beauty but also the role of women in society.
Unsurprisingly, male toys were unearthed by modern archaeologists. I guess they were called action figures or something similar to hide a shameful secret: Boys also liked playing with dolls. Gladiators and soldiers were popular.
Teenagers were expected to dedicate their dolls to the household guardian, the lares. In other words, Romans had a ritual of discarding their toys as they grew up.
Games for Children
Roman adults’ love for gambling had roots in children’s games. For instance, children gambled using nuts—the saying “to leave the walnuts behind” referred to someone becoming an adult. We inherited the descriptions of different nut-related games.
Young Romans also enjoyed different board games, Twelve Lines and Game of Robbers being among the most popular.
Role-playing is as old as humanity. Naturally, Roman children pretended to be magistrates, firemen (vigiles), policemen (cohortes urbanae), and so on.
DIY Toys
Roman parents manufactured most of their children’s toys. From the most basic carved wood or bone playthings to the more complex chariots, having a handy dad was a prerequisite for a happy childhood.
Alternatively, parents could buy them from craftsmen. Naturally, a lucky carpenter moonlighted as a toy maker for every ungifted dad like me.
Conclusion
I believe it is safe to say that it was fun being an average Roman child.
The wide array and craftsmanship of toys testify to loving parents trying to offer the best to their children.
As for the large variety of Roman children’s games, a bit of imagination and a group of friends compensated for the lack of video games and mobile phones.
Thus, if you take away slavery, tone down the violence, and ignore the lack of modern medicine, being a child in Ancient Rome was similar to growing up in the ’80s Soviet Bloc.
