=Amusements.= The chief amusements of the Persians were hunting and playing at dice. The boys no doubt followed their elders and had imitation hunts. The boys also played games similar to blindman's buff and tag. They flew kites and played ball. Boys and girls did not play together. The girls preferred to sit about and listen to fairy stories, or at least such was the case in later days. Both boys and girls were fond of singing. =Education.= Among the ancient Persians, education does not seem to have been given other than to the higher classes, except that general training that comes through religion and custom and institutions that would be shared in by every citizen. Education was not meant to be literary or scholastic but principally of such a kind as would produce warriors. There were five periods in the life of the Persian. The first ended at the fifth year, or, as some claim, at the seventh year; the second period ended with the fifteenth year; the third ended at twenty-five; the fourth ended at fifty, and the fifth period was the time after fifty years of age. During the first period the child was under the care of the mother and the other women of the family. "'Up to the fifth year,' Herodotus tells us, 'they are not allowed to come into the sight of their father, but pass their lives with the women. This is done that if the child die young, the father would not be afflicted with the loss.'"[140] The child was not supposed to be capable of distinguishing between right and wrong, and so he was taught simply to obey the directions given him. A child was not to be whipped before his seventh year, and he was to receive only kind treatment. At the close of this first period, at the end of the fifth year, the boy left his mother and went into the care of the state. This second period was a time of physical training. The boy was given exercises in running, stone slinging, bow shooting, and javelin throwing. He was taught to ride, and, later, to hunt. He was trained to endure heat and cold and hunger and fatigue. Through the national traditions, the boys learned of the doings of the heroes and the meaning of noble deeds. They were taught to speak the truth and learned to be just and pure and courageous and to gain self-control. They were instructed in the myths of the gods and other religious matters, and about the fifteenth year the boys were invested with the holy girdle. At fifteen the boy entered the youth period. During this period military training was the great exercise. The youth received careful training in the use of military implements, in the knowledge of military terms and usages, and given the strict discipline of military life. "The Magi required a higher education. This must have consisted in the study and explanation of the sacred writings, and may have included a limited training in philosophy, astrology, medicine, law, and finance, so that they were able to become advisers to the Great King and his satraps."[141]