14. The Ancient Roman festival of Liberalia was a full of alcohol and symbolism, for boys and their mothers alike
Each March, the Romans would celebrate The Liberalia, a festival dedicated to Liber Pater, the ancient god of both wine and fertility. Like many Roman festivals, it was a suitably debauched affair, with copious amounts of drinking, eating and dancing. But it had a serious purpose too. It was used to mark the transition from boyhood to manhood – albeit only for children of freedmen and women. At the start of the celebration, boys of 15 or 16 would wear their bulla praetexta, charms made out of gold or leather and worn around the neck. They would then take these off and place them on an alter, offering them up as a gift to the Lares, the Roman gods of the family and home.
Once they had given up their bulla praetexta, the boys could finally don their adult togas. They were officially men of Rome, and had a wealth of privileges, including the right to own slaves and to vote. Like mothers of all ages, proud Roman moms would often collect their sons’ bulla praetexta from the alter at the end of the party and keep them for sentimental reasons. Or perhaps for superstitious reasons – it was said that, if a young man grew to be so successful that he was given a public triumph, the bulla would guard him against jealous evil spirits.