There were traditions for the Roman families. Each family had a head of the household. This was called "Pater familias." The power of the family was the father. The father had the power over their life and death. If there was a baby that born the father has to accept it into the family. If the baby was accepted the family would have a big celebration. When the family was having a celebration they would decorate the house. They would decorate it with leaves and flower garlands. Children went to school when they were about six years old. The parents would sent their children to school, or they would educate them at their homes. Private tutors would go their houses. The tutors were mostly Greek. They learned the basics which were: reading, writing, and mathematics. By the age of 11, they would go to a more advanced teacher. The advanced teachers teach their students literature, history, math, and astronomy. The students who were 14 years old and wanted to be politicians would go study how to do public speaking. Another way they said public speaking was "rhetoric". The girls didn't go to school. The girls learned household skills at home. The poor children never had a chance to go to school. They would have to go to work. Back to the top
The most popular games were wild beast hunts, chariot races, and gladiator fights. When there were races and fights there would be huge crowds to see it. The huge crowds would also place money for the person who would win the races and fights. The gladiators fought each other using materials like spears, swords, and nets to survive the fight. When one of the gladiators were wounded the crowd would decide if he would live or die. When they decided if they would live or die they would give them a sign. The signs were thumbs-up and thumbs-down, thumbs-up to live and thumbs-down to die.
All the boys that were around the age of nine would wear a protective charm. The charm was called a "bulla". This charm was worn around the neck. At age 14 they will take their charm off and wear a toga. The toga would make them a Roman male citizen. A toga is a large white cloth. When the young boys and girls were old enough to get married, their parents decided who they would marry. Girls wore a stole which was different from the toga that the man wore.
Toga
The Romans' language was Latin. There are five main languages that come from Latin. They are French, Spanish, Romanian, Italian, and Portuguese. These languages were developed by "Vernacular Latin". In 1200 A.D. that the Europeans in the west were speaking Latin and other Romance language. These languages developed into the style of writing and grammar used today. They made the modern shape of letters.