Abstract
This paper explores the playthings and amusements of Byzantine children through an inquiry into material culture, evidence from the literature, and visual references. The material world of children in Byzantium is not easily grasped. Only a limited number of actual toys has survived, primarily because they tended to be fashioned from perishable materials. There are also categories of objects of an ambivalent nature, such as dolls, animal figurines, miniature artifacts, that may have served as votive offerings or magical objects. The Byzantines structured their social lives around a range of rituals that secondarily provided children with inspiration for their games and playthings. Outdoor physical activity was also important. The cultural biography and agency of objects as developed in social anthropology offer insightful perspectives into the ludic world of children, opening an intriguing window onto Byzantine society.