Roman children

[Cave Equum]

Thanks, I'll check those books out.

"also see Suetonius' Life of Tiberius XLIV on the Emperors use of 'minnows' - quite disturbing if true"

According to Beryl Rawson many wealthy Roman people liked to have young, pretty children (boys as well a girls) in their company. The little slaves would serve dinner and provide entertainment. They'd be shown off, kind of like pets, to the master's guests. They are often called delicia/deliciae (delights or little darlings). It's quite likely that in some of these cases this would lead to pedophilia. Not only Tiberius was accused of this, but also, for example, Augustus and Domitian. I hadn't heard of cases where the children were as young as the so called minnows of Tiberius, which were basically infants. Keep in mind though that Suetonius' De vita caesarum is, as are most roman texts, coloured by the writer's opinion. It's undeniable though that some children were exploited in terrible ways, which is indeed quite disturbing.