Hecto Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Hello fellow Roman enthousiast, I have a simple question concerning the coming of age ceremony for boys, yet the answer eludes me. At what age exactly does it happen? It seems to hav change throughout the centuries but it tickles me since it seems to have been really important during the Republic and yet I have never found a clear answer. From the multiple website I found, it seems the ceremony happened on march 17 during the Liberalia (but not exclusively?). Oh and did it have to be in Rome ? Or for exemple, could a family (of roman citizen) in a province organize the ceremony there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 I don't know the full details, but a young man at the age of 14 dons the toga virilis (his first adult clothes) and shaves ritually for the first time. I don't know of any requirement of a youth to be in Rome since families were all over the empire and still followed Roman traditions. However - the toga virilis also denotes citizenship, and that's an important consideration. Non citizens may not have practised the entire ritual, and considering some children among the poor and slaves had been doing adult work as as they were able to, it had less meaning for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hecto Posted August 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 Thank you very much for your answer. I still have not found much more except some bits and pieces concerning the 17th of March and the liberalia. Still thx a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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