Children for the Family, Children for the State. Attitudes towards and the Handling of Offspring during the Triumvirate.

This paper aims to examine how Rome’s leaders used children in politics during the Triumvirate. There are numerous episodes preserved in the tradition that suggest that the role of children in politics was not a sporadic or impromptu event, but instead was an established practice. Indeed, scrutiny of the available evidences shows that children were quite important to political and diplomatic processes, as can be gleaned not only from the role of those who launched such initiatives (i.e. the parents or close relatives of the youngsters involved, who themselves were the protagonists of Triumviral politics), but also from the contexts in which children entered the political and diplomatic arenas (i.e. during crucial moments in the period’s history). This paper asks the following questions: What were the usual reasons for using children and how were such plans implemented? Was this a longstanding and traditional custom or did it constitute something innovative in the period? What arguments and tools were employed to legitimize this practice?