Abstract EN:

From the early organisations of the roman youth, only the "juventutes" survived. It was originally the army of rome, and, after the reform of servius tullius, turned into a paramilitary organism, and then, a premilitary one; when conquering the occident, the romans found similar organisations along their way. By lack of activity, most of them became dormant, except for the latest conquested ones. However, they did not disappear, and showed great activity during the empire. The "juventutes" still existed, but when they declined, non official associations appeared. The "collegia juvenum", although few in number, and only italian, are the most well known. The provincial "juventutes" subdivided themselves into "collegia juventutis". Their main activity is the celebration of religious cults in italy and the participation to the defense of the empire in the provinces. The games organisation is only a very limited activity done by some italian associations. They don't fill the office of staff schools at all. They have no political role, except in case of revolts. The christianisation of the empire lead them to death. They disappeared under theodose, at the split of the empire.