It is also useful to enure them to
the cold when they are very little; for this is very serviceable for
their health; and also to enure them to the business of war; for which
reason it is customary with many of the barbarians to dip their
children in rivers when the water is cold; with others to clothe them
very slightly, as among the Celts; for whatever it is possible to
accustom children to, it is best to accustom them to it at first, but
to do it by degrees: besides, boys have naturally a habit of loving
the cold, on account of the heat. These, then, and such-like things
ought to be the first object of our attention: the next age to this
continues till the child is five years old; during which time it is
best to teach him nothing at all, not even necessary labour, lest it
should hinder his growth; but he should be accustomed to use so much
motion as not to acquire a lazy habit of body; which he will get by
various means and by play also: his play also ought to be neither
illiberal nor too laborious nor lazy. Their governors and preceptors
also should take care what sort of tales and stories it may be proper
for them to hear; for all these ought to pave the way for their future
instruction: for which reason the generality of their play should be
imitations of what they are afterwards to do seriously. They too do
wrong who forbid by laws the disputes between boys and their quarrels,
for they contribute to increase their growth--as they are a sort of
exercise to the body: for the struggles of the heart and the
compression of the spirits give strength to those who labour, which
happens to boys in their disputes.
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