Many interesting little sports were in vogue among Hellenic children, and it may well be believed that in Sparta they were practised with a peculiar earnestness. Most of the amusements of modern children were also the delight of Hellenic children, while some of the sports of the latter are no longer in use. Even the infant’s rattle (πλαταγή) was a Greek toy ascribed to the invention of the philosopher, Archytas. Then there were hoops (τροχοί or κρίκοι). The childish game of rolling the hoop was called κρικηλασία. The κρίκος corresponded to the Roman trochus described by Horace (_Ode_ 3; 24, 57) and Ovid, as well as by Propertius, Martialis, and other writers. The κρίκος was a large hoop probably of iron or copper. According to Antyllos, its diameter was less than the height of a man, reaching probably to his chest. The implement used in rolling it is said to have been a crooked-necked iron with a wooden handle, called ἐλατήρ (Mart. xiv, 169). Sometimes, as with us, the hoop was set round with small metal rings or bells which when in motion caused a jingling sound very pleasing to a child’s ears. Some regarded these rings as unnecessary, but Antyllos favored them on the ground that the sound they produced added much to the child’s happiness and engaged his attention in a pleasant way. Antyllos also considered this game to be a very healthful form of exercise and advised that it be practised immediately before bathing and eating. The familiar top (βέμβηξ, βέμβιξ, ῥόμβος, στρόβιλος), old as the days of Homer, was a common amusement with Greek boys, as in our own times--“στρόμβον δ’ ὣς ἔσσευε βαλών, περὶ δ’ ἔδραμε πάντη” (_Il._ xiv, 413). The humming top, used by Greek and Roman children and made to revolve by whipping, is also prettily alluded to by Virgil in the following lines: “Ceu quondam torto volitans sub verbere turbo, Quem pueri magno in gyro vacua atria circum Intenti ludo exercent.” _Æneid_ vii, 378-380. Kite-flying also seems to have been known to the Greek children. Stilts (καλόβαθρα) were much used by children and also by adults in certain mimic dances. The girls had dolls (κόραι) of wax or clay, and the usual paraphernalia connected with this ever popular plaything. Many of these, which still survive, show that they were painted and that the arms and legs were so fastened with strings as to be easily movable. The word κόρη literally means a “little girl.” At marriage the Greek girls dedicated their dolls to Artemis, the Roman girls to Venus. If they died unwedded, their dolls were buried with them. The terms δάγυνον, δαγύς and πλαγγών were often applied by the Greeks to the wax doll. The swing αἰώρα occupied the same position in Greece as in our nurseries. Then there were clappers (πλῆκτρα), toy-carts (ἁμαξίδες), hobby-horses (ἱππίδια ξύλινα), toy soldiers and animals, made of clay.