Resistance and agency in the everyday life of Late Antique children (third–eighth century ce)

Introduction In the city of Emesa, at the end of Antiquity, a group of joyous young girls were having fun, singing satirical songs, and dancing in the street. Unfortunately for them, a holy fool called Symeon did not approve of this buoyancy, and he cursed them with a squint. Those among the little girls who allowed him to kiss them on the eye were cured, but those who refused in disgust, squinted for the rest of their lives.1