Ten Year Old Girl in Ancient Rome
Dear Diary,
My name is Faustina and I am ten years old today. I received this diary as a birthday present from my paedagogus. Technically he not actually mine but my little brother Scipios. However Clement my brother paedagogus spends just as much time with me as he does with Scipios. Clement is terribly educated and speaks Greek so well. I’m jealous. My mom however tells me that this is because Clement was actually born in Greece and was brought to the great city of Rome. However in her next breath she is also telling me that I shouldn’t be concerned with learning greek or latin. I have three older brothers and one younger brother .They have to do all the learning; I should be focused on preparing for my husband. After all I’m almost 12.
Blah, blah, blah, I hate listening to these speeches. I really wish I were a boy. Did you know that Clement carries my brother to school on his back sometimes? I’m not allowed to go to school let alone be carried on shoulders according to my mom its unseemly.
But I shouldn’t fill my dairy with complaining about how I wish I were a boy. Let me tell you about myself. I live with my mom, dad, three older brothers, one younger brother a older sister and we have a new baby along the way in my mom’s stomach. This isn’t even mentioning the couple of slaves we own. In fact im very lucky compared to most of friends that I know to have both my parents. Several friends of mine have lost one or even both parents over the years. However I can’t say I see much of a difference in their lives since we are still pretty much raised by slaves. I barely see my parents during the day; my dad is busy with clients and my mom is busy doing gods know whats.
The new baby however is very exciting. I’m hoping its girl I can play with her. Clement when I asked him told me all about the ceremony of birth today. He said as I quote directly, “When a child is born, it is placed on the floor in front of the father If it was a male and he
My name is Faustina and I am ten years old today. I received this diary as a birthday present from my paedagogus. Technically he not actually mine but my little brother Scipios. However Clement my brother paedagogus spends just as much time with me as he does with Scipios. Clement is terribly educated and speaks Greek so well. I’m jealous. My mom however tells me that this is because Clement was actually born in Greece and was brought to the great city of Rome. However in her next breath she is also telling me that I shouldn’t be concerned with learning greek or latin. I have three older brothers and one younger brother .They have to do all the learning; I should be focused on preparing for my husband. After all I’m almost 12.
Blah, blah, blah, I hate listening to these speeches. I really wish I were a boy. Did you know that Clement carries my brother to school on his back sometimes? I’m not allowed to go to school let alone be carried on shoulders according to my mom its unseemly.
But I shouldn’t fill my dairy with complaining about how I wish I were a boy. Let me tell you about myself. I live with my mom, dad, three older brothers, one younger brother a older sister and we have a new baby along the way in my mom’s stomach. This isn’t even mentioning the couple of slaves we own. In fact im very lucky compared to most of friends that I know to have both my parents. Several friends of mine have lost one or even both parents over the years. However I can’t say I see much of a difference in their lives since we are still pretty much raised by slaves. I barely see my parents during the day; my dad is busy with clients and my mom is busy doing gods know whats.
The new baby however is very exciting. I’m hoping its girl I can play with her. Clement when I asked him told me all about the ceremony of birth today. He said as I quote directly, “When a child is born, it is placed on the floor in front of the father If it was a male and he
Bibliography: * Dyson, Stephen. Rome A Living Portrait of An Ancient City. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2010. * Laes, Christian. Children in the Roman Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. * Aldrete, Gregory S. Daily life in the Roman City. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2004. * Rawson, Beryl. Children and Childhood in Ancient Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. Alderate, 62.