V
CHILDREN AND EDUCATION
CASES 2 AND 3
Little babies were tightly bound in swaddling clothes soon after birth, and the mother, in anxiety for her child’s safety, usually fastened an amulet or charm of some kind around its neck to keep away unfriendly spirits. The grotesque faces of colored glass previously mentioned (p. 8) may have served this purpose. Roman children wore the bulla, a case of leather or gold, according to the means of the parents, containing a charm. A large gold bulla of Etruscan workmanship is in a case at the left side of the Gold Room ([fig. 46]). The baby became the charge of an old and trusted slave-woman such as the kind old nurse represented in a terracotta statuette on the middle shelf of Case 3. Another of the same type is in Case K in the Sixth Room ([fig. 47]). The prettily decorated jug with a spout is a feeding-bottle ([fig. 48]).
FIG. 46. GOLD BULLA
FIG. 47. OLD NURSE HOLDING A BABY
FIG. 48. TERRACOTTA FEEDING-BOTTLE